Mmmmmmmm......Mahi-mahi !

HumbleAg · Posted: 16 Jul 2010 8:44 am Post subject: Mmmmmmmm......Mahi-mahi !

Had the pleasure of spending a week in the Florida Keys last month with some family (wife, her parents, her brother and his mate). After postponing all week due to rough seas we finally decided to Hell with it! and went out deepsea fishing anyway on the Friday before leaving for home on Saturday. 5 of us went out on the boat our of Marathon but only my brother-in-law (on left) and I fished due to the conditions. The seas were averaging 5-7 feet once we got offshore (in the Atlantic) and some swells were in the 15-20 foot range. The captain was up on the flying bridge looking up at a few crests and he said he was just praying "don't break, don't break!".

Anyway, Mahi-mahi was our primary target. We got into a couple of schools and caught 3 quickly in the first one but they were all undersized and were released then the school disappeared. After trolling on out a little further, the women folk were ready to "pull the plug" and get back to land. They were lobbying very argumentively that "enough is enough let's go in". We kinda ignored their pleas/demands as we had spotted a big group of gulls diving on bait fish up ahead. We got into that school and caught 10 keepers in about 15 minutes. We cooked up some that night and froze the rest to take back home.

Delicious!

TrueAggie · Posted: 16 Jul 2010 9:54 am Post subject: Mmmmmmmm......Mahi-mahi !

Humble,

Next time go during their big migration period which starts around April and ends near the beginning of June. I lived on the Atlantic side and had my own boat. I offshore fished regularly. Trust me when I say you want to go during that period. The big boys are coming through.

Fresh dolphin is yuuummmyy!

Just so you know we called those size peanuts. Wink

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Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

HumbleAg · Posted: 16 Jul 2010 10:08 am Post subject: Mmmmmmmm......Mahi-mahi !

Yeah I was going to add that this was not a very large haul and that these were not particularly big dolphin fish but under the circumstances we were glad just to be able to fish and bring in a decent catch to enjoy there and at home.

I have no idea if there will be a "next time" but I would like to go again and will certainly consider going earlier if so. The timing of this trip was determined by the availability of all that went. If we go again, I expect it will be just my wife and I. She was really looking forward to fishing but she was uncomfortable just being out in a boat in those conditions so she was really disappointed she didn't get to participate.

TrueAggie · Posted: 16 Jul 2010 10:13 am Post subject: Mmmmmmmm......Mahi-mahi !

This time of year that's a pretty decent catch. I have been to Marathon a few times myself to dive. It's a nice place.
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Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

HumbleAg · Posted: 16 Jul 2010 1:28 pm Post subject: Mmmmmmmm......Mahi-mahi !

We went snorkeling at Sombrero Reef. Pretty cool except the swells went from 1-2 ft on arrival to 3-5 ft shortly after we entered the water. Currents were a bit strong that day too so didn't swim around the reef area as much as we would have on a calmer day but still saw a bunch of fish. Water clarity was reasonable but not like it could have been.

There were a couple of young boys around 6-8 y/o on the boat. They couldn't do the swim thing but their parents pulled them around on inflatables where they could still put their faces in the water and snorkle in that manner. As I was climbing up the ladder to get back on the boat when I was finished, I could hear them both crying. Turns out they got seasick and they were pretty miserable. Too bad, they were really having fun floating on top of the water.