Tails from the Keys
After 2 trips to the Hudson Canyon with no tuna my hunger to fight fish was off the chart. I needed to get the rush of a tuna peeling line from my reel. The feeling you get of not knowing who will win the fight. If you ever hooked into a big game fish then you know what I mean.
Enough is enough!! Myself and two brothers Anthony and Chris planned a trip to meet up with my dad in Islamorada Florida Keys for some light tackle big game fishing. Anthony worked the phones and interviewed several captains until he felt comfortable with one. Captain Ken Spaulding from Caribsea charters was the final pick.
Just an Hour and half from Miami airport we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Islamorada which was 100% devoted to anglers complete with a kitchen and refrigerator and freezer .Oh yeah an Out Back Steak house in the hotel. It was paradise if you never been to the Keys you will realize there is no need to go outside the USA ever again.
At 5am we drove to a house a few miles down the road and in the yard was a 42ft custom fishing boat with Captain Ken and first mate Geoffrey a 20 something Florida kid who knew one thing “Fish Hard”. We asked if we should bring our rods aboard which we sent Fed- ex the day before. Captain Kens response was sure I'd rather you burn up your reels then mine. With that said we knew we were in for a great time.
First order of business was to get live bait. Captain Ken explained the bait has been 3 ft thick for the past week and should only take a few throws with the cast net and off to the tuna grounds. Needless to say 2 hours in and no bait. However Captain and mate were determined and never doubted their abilities. That was not the case for my brothers and I. We had been skunked twice before in the Hudson Canyon and started making eye contact with disappointment and losing confidence quickly.
Suddenly Captain Spaulding spots a War Bird. A prehistoric pterodactyl looking bird and within a flash mate Geoffrey effortlessly threw a 12ft cast net and began netting bait. With 2 giant bait wells loaded with live bait we were off to the races.
Only about 25 miles offshore we approached a dozen boats with every one of them hooked up. The blood was pumping and we started to feel the rush in our veins. Freebe, Freebe Captain Ken yelled out. Freebee is throwing live bait into the school of Blakfin Tuna breaking behind the boat. With all 4 spinners out Penn650s 30lb test my dad Ron Sr. hooked into the first fish and straight down it went. Within 10 seconds all four of us had fish on.
Black fin tuna and bonito were crashing our live baits for about 4 hours until we were physically exhausted. No time for a beer or a sandwich.We never had a single break in action. Captain Ken shouted from the tuna tower to reel when he would see the tuna take our baits .Then my brother Chris had something big and smoked his spinner a sail fish that didnt stop and broke off. This was what we live for every year. The keys provided a variety of big game fish.Every hook up can be diffrent.With over 40 football tuna in the boat up to 30 lbs and releasing about 40 we were ready for part two.
Captain Ken took us back inshore to a reef where we immediately hooked into yellow tail 3 to 5 lbs but on light tackle it was a blast. Throwing snowballs of mixed oats and drifting your bait along with it we had a fish every time. Dad went against the grain and needed to fish the bottom for something bigger as if the tuna were not enough. Instantly he hooked into a giant grouper on 10lb test for about 25 minutes before he realized it was playing with him and broke loose.
We headed back to shore where captain and mate staked up our catch. This is where the refrigerator in the room came in handy.
Day 2 we decided to go sword fishing in the daytime. No way we said that’s not possible.
This is new in the last 5 years have charters fished for these giants during the day. Reason being they don’t like sunlight and will only surface at night to feed. Well in 1800 ft of water we dropped to the bottom with a sword rig and waited.
Don’t forget we were spoiled after the day we had with tuna and yellowtail. 2hours in and nothing just waiting. Again we started to doubt our decision to head 45 miles offshore. Suddenly the captain runs down from the tower and casts a spinner into the weed line and "BANG" fish on. Not a sword fish but a 25 lb Mahi Mahi and then all 4 of us had fish on with 4 Mahi jumping out of the water and peeling line we were back in business. The captain went back up the tower and continued to direct our casts at the Mahi that would swarm in 5 at a time like WWII fighter pilots. Boated about 20 fish and then it shut down. With the Sword rig still on bottom the boat next to us was 3 hrs in on a giant sword and then our turn the pole dips down and fish on, a sword. After only 2 minutes it was gone and the waiting game started all over again. This time the Mahi Mahi turned on and continued putting on a show keeping our minds off sword fish. After about 20 more big bulls we were ready for something bigger. The boat next to us lost a 350lb sword but did boat a 150lb. Our luck with swords did not happen. We learned a lot and had plenty of priceless action along with 2 coolers full of Mahi up to 25 lbs.
Headed back we hit some rough seas with 30 knot winds blowing against us but that didn’t stop Captain Ken spotting some debris on the way in with a war bird over head we threw baits into more Mahi this time they were all big 20lbs and up. We managed to boat every one about 20 more before they were gone. Exhausted and soak and wet we got back around 7pm and walked away with a cooler full of fillets. At 9pm we were showered and were told to go to a restaraunt called Lazy Dayz in Islamorada. This topped a father and son fishing experience where they cook what you catch. We went in with a small cooler of Mahi fillets Yellowtail and tuna steaks. Valerie our waitress explained they will cook it 20 different ways so we left it up to her. With in a few minutes seafood Bisk a salad and then a huge silver platter of our catch grilled, blackened, seared, encrusted in coconut, fried, Ahi style and every side dips that you can imagine. Oh yeah the beer was ice cold Rolling Rocks I highly recommend with any fish. If you ever wish to plan a trip Captain Ken Spaulding is the man he can be reached at 305-664-3121 CARIBSEA Charters tell him Fish on with Ron sent you. Islamorada is the Key to be on. It’s an anglers dream come true in every aspect. Iwill say my need for speed is satisfied until .....Fall Bass
Oh yeah there is a price to pay for all this my wife has not spoken to me in 2 weeks 9/28 was her birthday.
Fish on
