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While most of America got to sleep in on the holiday, that is not the way it works for charter boat Captains. Most Holidays are work days and the 4th of July is no different. Things will slow down soon enough when August gets here and back to school begins. So in this business, you gotta go when you can.

We only had a half day today. Not enough time to get too far offshore where most of the dolphin have been. My customers were more interested in catching fish than worrying about dinner. As it turned out we did both.

We started out in about 180 ft of water. We were looking for pretty much anything that would bite. I decided to start to the west outside the reef because that is where there has been some good action catching bonitos.

Bonitos are a fun fish to catch. They are a member of the tuna family, but unfortunately not a good fish to eat. They do pull very hard! Most people are surprised at their size when we pull them in the boat. They are expecting something twice as big for the amount of effort it took.

The bonitos were biting but it was not red hot. More of what we call a “slow pick”. One here and one there. But we got some. We lost a nice barracuda right behind the boat. Just bad luck, nobody did anything wrong. it just happens some times.

We did get one nice dolphin. About a 15lb Bull Dolphin, (male). There have not been many “keeper” dolphin in close lately, so it was a nice surprise. It should be enough fish to feed the group a great fish lunch or dinner for the holiday.

We took the afternoon off. I was hoping to relax a little, but instead, I got to change out the batteries on my bait boat. Working with heavy things in a small cramped space while lying in the sun in July in the Florida Keys……..I really know how to celebrate, don’t I?