We did not go too far offshore today,
Just outside the reef. Most of the better fish being caught have been in close. Generally in 150-300 ft of water down to the Southwest of Key West. There is an area down there called the “end of Boca Grande Bar”.
The “Bar” is a secondary, deeper reef structure
that runs outside the reef everyone is familiar with. It is about 36 ft at the shallowest, so it is not a hazard to boats. It is too deep for snorkel boats to take their customers. So most tourists don’t know about it. Local dive boats, the ones that take diver exclusively, will dive on different areas of the bar. Local divers spearfish and lobster on it often. The “Bar” is not as consistent as the reef. It has gaps all up and down the reef. About 12-14 miles southwest of Key West, South of Boca Grande Key, it ends. Around the end of Boca Grande Bar has been a very productive place to fish for many years.
Yesterday, that is where
we caught some Black Fin Tuna and Bonitos, as well as a gaffer Dolphin. It wasn’t red hot fishing, but conditions have been tough lately and that’s where the best fishing has been so I figured we give it a try.
The day started out beautiful,
Calm seas and clear skies, but the weather forecast was for the wind to pick up later in the day. We started out with a couple of Black Fin Tuna and Bonitos. I thought we would be able to get the trip in before the winds picked up, but by the end of the day, it was blowing close to 20 mph.
One of the coolest bites we had all day
was when we saw a small Hammerhead shark swimming along the surface. Right about the same time, we hooked a big fat bonito. As soon as the bonito started fighting the Hammerhead went on the attack. It was amazing to see how fast the Hammerhead could move chasing the bonito. In the end, we brought the Bonito to the boat with the Hammerhead following and chewing on its back end. I got some video of it. Because the shark is a dark brown and the water is dark blue, it’s a little hard to see the shark, but you can see his dorsal fin and tail if you look.
We had another bonito
bitten in half by a big Barracuda right behind the boat. Everyone saw it, but it was too quick for a picture or video
We ended up with one nice dolphin,
a couple of small Blackfin tuna and Bonito. Some whole and some bitten half. We also got a decent King Mackerel. We released the bonitos