I mentioned in an earlier post
that the Bonitos and Black Fin Tuna usually bite around this time of year. I had not seen many so far, but sooner or later, I figured they would show up. At least for today, they are here. We had a regular customer of mine and his grandson onboard. His grandson is 10 yrs old and already a pretty good angler. Bonitos are perfect for a young angler like him. They were hitting pretty steady, they were a good size and they pulled hard. He had a blast and was able to hone his angling skills. He was a pretty good angler, to begin with, but like a lot of things in life, the more you do it, the better you get at it.
Bonitos are a great practice fish.
They are a member of the Tuna family, but unfortunately not a good eating member. Their meat is very dark red and strong tasting. You could eat them if you are desperate, but not considered a “tasty” fish by our standards. I hear they are regularly consumed in many third world countries, but considering we have better fish to eat and even in Key West, there are numerous fast food restaurants to choose from, we don’t eat bonitos.
But because they are fairly easy to entice
into striking and pull hard, it’s a great fish for action for beginners and people on a half day. Plenty of bites and usually, plenty of smiles to go with it. They also make great bait. We use bonito for bottom fishing bait and, because it’s a bloody fish, it’s an excellent Shark bait. Normally we would keep a few for a picture at the end of the day and to put in the freezer to use as bait later in the year. But our freezer is full from previous trips, so we let all the bonitos go today. I did not want to kill them just for a better photo
We had a little excitement during the day
when a 10 ft Hammerhead shark ate one of the bonitos we had on as we were reeling it in. I didn’t get a picture, it happened too fast. but everybody on board saw it happen. We had the shark on for about 5 minutes. That’s longer than I expected. We were fishing with a mono leader and it was only a matter of time before the shark chewed through it. Still, it was exciting to see and my young angler got to see the circle of life in the ocean first hand
Because they are a member of the Tuna family,
it’s not uncommon to have Bonitos and Black Fin tuna traveling together. That means when you catch one, you have the chance to catch the other. That happened today. We caught mostly bonitos, but we got a couple of Black Fin tuna mixed in. As a Captain, I think it’s a perfect scenario. Lots of bites to keep people busy and some tuna for dinner. 