We caught a Sailfish today.
It was a large one. We don’t kill sailfish, but we measured it for a replica mount and it was 92 inches long. That’s a big one for these waters. Today’s trip was only a 6 hr, and we wanted to make sure everyone caught some fish. So we started off in close to the reef and caught some bonitos to start.
We got a few bonitos
and released a small dolphin and decided to head offshore looking for some “keeper” dolphin for dinner. Once we got out to about 750 ft of water we found some weed patches and started trolling around them.
It was not red hot fishing,
but we caught a bunch of throwback sized fish for fun and managed a couple of “keeper” dolphin for dinner. We also released a bunch of small-medium sized jacks.
We have not caught a Sailfish
in a couple of weeks, so it was good to get one. This fish was in about 600 ft of water. It hit the deep troll line as we were trolling north toward the end of the trip. It didn’t get hooked on the deep troll, but it popped the line out and my mate Paul instinctively started to jig the line.
That is standard practice
when the deep troll line goes off but doesn’t bend over. Jigging the line will usually produce a second bite. Often a wahoo or tuna. Billfish will generally wack the bait with their bill and then follow it up. This fish did not do that. It came up on the outrigger bait behind the deep troll. That is the bait we got it on. it is not uncommon for a fish to hit the deep troll and then come up on another bait. So while a good mate is jigging the deep troll line in his hand, he is watching the other baits for another strike.
The fish pulled out about 200 yds of line.
Not surprising because a 92-inch sailfish is a big fish. Our young angler did a great job keeping the line tight and keeping the pressure on the fish and we released it after about a 20-minute fight. We never kill any billfish, they are just too special. I would much rather let them live to fight another day
The Sailfish was the last fish of the day.
The “buzzer” fish. I was just about to tell my mate to wind the lines up to go home when it hit. That was a perfect way to end another good day- Action for everyone. Spectacular weather, A couple of dolphin for dinner and A trophy Sailfish!
Looking forward to tomorrow