Woke up yesterday morning after a brief 3hr nap to catch the helo in from the ship. Two flights later I am enjoying some fine dining at none other than the Brass Ring for my first meal of the day. The plan was to catch a 5-6hr nap then head up to grab gear and hit the water. As is usually par for the course, a 5hr nap turned into an hour and 45min heart beat before the alarm was blaring. Doesnt help when your buddy lives walking distance from the fishiest bar in South Florida.
Well we made it up to Stuart in short order and headed out the Pocket. Somewhere along the ride over to Finest Kind, I commented on the lack of boats in Pirates Cove. Here all this time I thought people never used their boats. After grabbing fuel we made it out to Bull Shark around 7-730. A solid 30 boats trying to make bait. 40+ baits in the well in 10 min and we were off. Set up off Hobe Sound, 285ft of water, dead east of the LORAN tower.
Drift started about 8am. ZERO wind = no kite. No big deal. Returned a phone call which was cut short (sorry Shoe) and we wound up with our first release at approx 8:10am. Second bite followed about 30min later.
Between the hours of 9 and 11, we had a flat out circus around the boat. After release #3, Dane and I both happened to look North.
"Bro, is that a Sail swimming on the surface rite over there?"
"Yeah."
"Oh shit, look to the rite, theres another one."
"DUDE! THERE ARE 4 RITE THERE."
As we both climbed up on gunnel to get a better view, we saw what I can only describe as an orgy of Sails cutting one of the biggest bait balls I have seen in open water.
Conservative estimate on the Sails herding these sardines was 20.
This is when shit got real. We started with 6 rods, hooked and ready to rock. As we began baiting the fish, we would hook up and let them ride on light drag, grab the next rod and drop it in the water. Catch a fish, get the hook or cut it close, and grab the next rod.
I would love to tell you we were a stellar 6 for 6 during the melee, but we didnt. All though we caught 6 in that span, at one time, we had no fewer than 4 fish baited and tight. We had fish get tail wrapped swimming through our lines. We had "a pair of frigates mating in that reel." We were shaking so bad tying a simple uni knot was a chore. 2 guys trying to capitalize on something you SHOULD NOT SEE IN JULY in Florida, and we were moving. Fish eating 5 ft from the boat. Fish eating 50ft underneath the boat. It was unreal.
In that 2 hr span, we caught 6. I cant tell you the number we missed because frankly, I dont care. We were in it and we were doing what we could with what we got.
Between 11 and 1230 we managed fish 10 and 11. Could we have done better today? Hard to say. With a 3rd person, we could have caught several more fish. Pictures are limited, but there are pictures and I will post them as soon as I figure out where I am. Bill, we had slower days in Guatemala this winter.
Am I pumped up? Hell yes! The next closest performance we heard on the radio today was 2. When they called that out, we were at 9. We could have stuck it out till we depleted our bait supply, but we decided to end it then and leave them biting.
11 sails in July, Stuart Florida. Yeah, we just did that.
Last edited by Satans_Chariot; 07-26-2009 at 09:01 PM.
Fine report Alex. Can't believe you had time for pictures. Really appreciate your sharing your once in a lifetime kind of day.
Congratulations!
SeaBiscuit
wow 11 saildogs in a day in July in Florida...thats gettin it done...Congrats on a memorable day....
sounds like the stars, moons and planets were all aligned for you that day.....hell you should of played the lottery and that would of been cha ching $$$......
Last edited by Hatterized; 07-17-2009 at 11:25 AM.
Just had 3 in a few hours of fishing on wed. Fished a little north of where you were in 120ft. Seems like there are alot around right now...and yes PC is dead..where are all the boats?
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One Shy of a Dozen
