Southbound
Key West, Florida
Catch of the Day
Picture Archive
July, 2017
July 31st, 2017
Half Day Today
Big Yellow Jack
Fun to catch and excellent to eat
Barracudas were snapping!
July 30th, 2017
Full Day Today
Headed off shore looking for Dolphin and whatever else we could find.
We got as far as 23 miles south of Key West.
The water was about 3,000ft deep
I won’t say the fishing was red hot, but we managed to get a few.
Pulled the hooks on a couple more.
All in all if was a beautiful day and worth being out there.
July 29th, 2017
6 hr trip today
We started out shark fishing.
Had a couple on but pulled the hooks.
Ended up fishing the reef for action with barracudas and bonitos
July 28th, 2017
2 Trips Today
Half day Snapper fishing in the Morning
Yellow Tails and Mangro Snapper make for a delicious dinner!
6 hr trip in the afternoon
We went offshore to see what we could find.
We got out to 750 ft of water, but not much happening.
I found some decent weed patches and some promising debris,
but only caught a couple “throw-back” dolphin”.
Caught some Bonitos and Barracuda on the way back in
July 27th, 2017
Afternoon Half Day
Weather was spectacular,
and there was decent action
with Barracuda and Bonitos
Another day with a beautiful view from my “office Window”
July 25th, 2017
Half Day Today
Good Action with Barracuda and Bonitos
July 24th, 2017
2 Half Day Trips Today
Weather was beautiful and the seas were calm
Good Action in the morning.
Released a bunch of Bonitos and
kept 2 Kingfish for Dinner
Fished the same area in the afternoon but the
tide had changed and the action was a bit slower.
Mostly bonitos and a Barracuda
July 23rd, 2017
Half Day Today
We had another group from the Air Force squadron that is down here for training. Both groups were outstanding young men and it was an honor to have them aboard the Southbound
Fishing was decent, enough action to send them away happy, but the inshore does seem to be slowing down. Still some bonitos and Barracudas around, but the water is getting warm and that’s usually not good for the trolling. Hopefully we get another “push” of eastbound current coming in with the next full moon, (Aug 7th), and that may help the fishing.
July 22nd, 2017
Half Day Today
Beautiful weather & Good action
for some of the Air Force’s Finest in Key West for 2 week training exercise
Released some Bonitos!
Released some Barracudas!
Kept a couple of Mackerels for dinner!
July 21st, 2017
Lots of Action Today
and released a Sailfish
July 19th & 20th, 2017
New Impeller in the Raw Water Intake Pump Sometimes you got to crawl around down here.
Not my favorite place
Noticed the engine temperature started creeping up on my Starboard engine yesterday. After the trip, I pulled the raw water intake pump and checked the impeller. It looked fine, but as long as I had it apart, I put a new one in. Then I replaced the Thermostat, they don’t usually go bad, but that would be the next logical thing to make the engine heat up. Also replaced the sending unit that goes to the gauge, only 10 months old and they rarely go bad, but trying to cover my bases. I switched the gauges up at the helm to make sure it wasn’t bad, happens sometimes, It wasn’t. Worked until 8:30 at night after getting to the boat at 6:30 in the morning.
Next day it still ran warm so after exhausting everything I could do on my own, I called the mechanic. Luckily, they had time to come down to the boat Wednesday afternoon. He used vacuum gauges to check for restrictions on the intake valve, the heat exchanger, the gear cooler and the after cooler. Everything checked out fine. So he pulled the heat exchanger core and the gear cooler core and took them to the shop to clean them. They didn’t looked all clogged up but sometimes you can’t see the crud inside. Mechanic put them back in on Thursday and we took it for a test ride. Temperature went to 210′ in no time. That’s too hot, but we had run out of things to check….. almost. Bought a $13 infrared temperature gun and pointed it at the engine that was showing 210′ on the gauge. It was only 178′. That’s normal operating temperature. Today I replaced the wire that ran between the sending unit and the gauge, it was the only thing left and sure enough that was the problem. Resistance in the wire was giving a false reading at the gauge. So after about 2 1/2 days working on a hot engine in the heat of July and probably $1,000 in parts and labor all it took was 25ft of 16 gage wire and a couple crimp connectors to fix. This is one of the reasons I drink rum!
Living the Dream!!
July 18th, 2017
Half Day Today
Fishing is still good and weather is fantastic.
Caught and released a bunch of Bonitos and kept a few Cero mackerel for Dinner
Big Cero makes for an excellent Dinner
Bonitos are still biting and fun to catch!
Family Fun!
July 17th, 2017
6 Hr. Trip Today
We headed offshore looking for Dolphin.
We found some nice week patches and some debris. There were lots of Dolphin around, but most were too small. Had a lot of fun and released a couple dozen small ones and kept a few for dinner
Released a bonito back inshore
Brother and Sister fishing together!
What’s better than that??
This young lady can fish!
The end of another great day in Key West
July 16th, 2017
What a Difference a Day Makes!!
Half Day Today
Stayed inshore to go for action. We caught and released a bunch of Bonitos. Caught a nice Barracuda and then we hooked this monster.
76 lb Wahoo
Biggest Wahoo I’ve ever had anyone catch on the boat and
only the 3rd Wahoo in the 70lb range in 25 yrs
July 15th, 2017
Tough Day Today
We decided to go offshore and look for Dolphin, Wahoo, Tuna and whatever else we could hook.
We had a grand total of 1 bite and caught 1 dolphin
Fortunately, The weather and the customers were both fantastic. It was a great day to be on the water and these guys were fishermen so they understood. It wasn’t for lack of trying or for not going far enough offshore. It was only a 6 hr trip and I still got over 20 miles offshore. Every once in a while, it’s your “day in the Barrel” and yesterday was mine
July 14th, 2017
Been fishing in shore a lot lately. We’ve been getting great action with Bonitos, Barracudas, Cero Mackerels and an occasional Dolphin. Had a 6 hr trip today and my group elected to go offshore and look for Dolphin. The Weather was beautiful and the fishing was good
24lb. Bull Dolphin
Small Wahoo
Another Nice Day of fishing in Key West!
July 13th, 2017
Half Day Today
Great action again today.
A couple of big Cero Mackerel for Dinner
and about 20 Barracudas
Big Barracuda Released!
Big Cero Mackerel,
Fun to catch and excellent eating
July 12th, 2017
Half Day Today
Still lots of bites inshore.
Non-stop action with Bonitos of all sizes and still some nice sized Cero Mackerel and a nice Dolphin today. These kids are going to sleep well tonight as the were constantly catching fish. We released approximately 25 Bonitos
Nice Dolphin for Dinner!
Big Bonitos are a lot of fun to catch!
Doubled up!
Sometimes they are a little tough to hold for pictures
And sometimes you have to hold them real tight
Lots of family fun on a half day!
July 11th, 2017
Good half day today.
Non-stop action with Bonitos and
some Barracudas as well and
a big Cero Mackerel for dinner!
Bonitos are a lot of fun to catch,
but unfortunately not much as far as table fare.
This is a very big one. They pull very hard and most
angler are expecting a much bigger fish when it’s brought in the boat.
18lbs on the scale!
And some Barracuda’s too!
July 10th, 2017
Excellent Half Day!
Today was very busy. Barracudas and Bonitos kept these gentlemen busy most of the time. Released a bunch of both and some small Mahi. We did get one keeper Mahi for dinner. Caught one Big Kingfish and had a couple of sharks on, but we were unable to get them to the boat
we
Big Kingfish, Keeper Mahi and some Bonitos
July 9th, 2017
Lots of bites today,
but not a lot of “keepers”
Lost a “big one” on the Deep Troll
July 8th, 2017
Half Day Today
Fished inshore
Released a big Barracuda!
And Got a few for Dinner!
July 7th, 2017
Still a few Dolphin around
July 5th, 2017
Early Half Day Today
Customers wanted to see the sunrise on the water,
so we left the dock at 6 am so we would
be at the reef in time for sunrise at 6:43
It was worth getting up early!
Caught 2 barracudas on one line
Released a bunch of Barracudas
and Bonitos for some fun!
We Kept some Mackerels for lunch.
Very nice group from China.
There was a bit of a language barrier, but fortunately 2 of
them spoke English well enough to make communication work.
(Their English was much better than my Chinese).
Always nice to show international visitors the beauty of the waters of the Florida Keys!
July 3rd, 2017
Beautiful Day Today!
Started off with a rainbow showing us the way off shore. Our intention was to get out deep and see if there was any new weed lines moving in. Most of the boat haven’t gone much past the drop, which is about 17 miles south of Key West. I was hoping to find a strong east current, which would be the edge of the Gulf Stream and some good fish to go with it. We got about 5 miles past the drop, or about 23 miles south of Key west and found a decent weed line. We worked it for quite a ways, and found 4 or 5 schools of undersized fish. Finally we found some “keepers” and put a catch together
Chasing the Rainbow offshore!
Still some fish out there to be caught!
Released a big Barracuda on a high speed lure!
Crossing the Reef on the way home the water was stunningly beautiful.
Days like this make my glad I picked the life I did!
Another Good Day!
July 2nd, 2017
2 Great Trips Today
Today was a long day, Got to the boat about 6:15 in the morning and I didn’t get home until after 8 pm. I was pretty tired but we had 2 excellent trips today
In the afternoon we had these awesome young ladies. Watch out world, because in a few years, these girls are going to “own it”
They weren’t worried about eating fish, just wanted action and we got plenty of that with big bonitos and barracudas. I’ve seen a lot of grown men get their butts kicked by these full sized bonitos, but not these ladies. They fought them all on Stand up tackle, did a great job fighting the fish and were ready for the next one. This was a fun group to have on the Southbound. Thanks ladies!
Big Barracuda Released!
Big Bonito
Another Big Barracuda!
Double Trouble!
Plenty of action with big Bonitos!
Not Just another pretty face and
not afraid to get a little fish blood on her hands.
Morning
In the morning we went bottom fishing. First spot was a little slow,
mostly small fish so we moved out deeper and it was a good move.
Caught 4 Muttons Snapper, only 2 were keepers with the new size limit, (18 inches),
Keeper Red grouper, Margates, Porgies, Gray Snapper and some nice Yellow Tail Snapper.
We even caught this big Black Fin Tuna, on a live bait on the Bottom.
Not what we were targeting, but we’re not complaining.
The weather was beautiful, action was steady and I’m sure dinner was delicious!
Big Black Fin Tuna!
Good Day Bottom Fishing!
July 1st, 2017
Not a lot of Big dolphin around but
still plenty of action with shoolie sized fish
July 31st, 2017
Half Day Today
Big Yellow Jack
Fun to catch and excellent to eat
Barracudas were snapping!
July 30th, 2017
Full Day Today
Headed off shore looking for Dolphin and whatever else we could find.
We got as far as 23 miles south of Key West.
The water was about 3,000ft deep
I won’t say the fishing was red hot, but we managed to get a few.
Pulled the hooks on a couple more.
All in all if was a beautiful day and worth being out there.
July 29th, 2017
6 hr trip today
We started out shark fishing.
Had a couple on but pulled the hooks.
Ended up fishing the reef for action with barracudas and bonitos
July 28th, 2017
2 Trips Today
Half day Snapper fishing in the Morning
Yellow Tails and Mangro Snapper make for a delicious dinner!
6 hr trip in the afternoon
We went offshore to see what we could find.
We got out to 750 ft of water, but not much happening.
I found some decent weed patches and some promising debris,
but only caught a couple “throw-back” dolphin”.
Caught some Bonitos and Barracuda on the way back in
July 27th, 2017
Afternoon Half Day
Weather was spectacular,
and there was decent action
with Barracuda and Bonitos
Another day with a beautiful view from my “office Window”
July 25th, 2017
Half Day Today
Good Action with Barracuda and Bonitos
July 24th, 2017
2 Half Day Trips Today
Weather was beautiful and the seas were calm
Good Action in the morning.
Released a bunch of Bonitos and
kept 2 Kingfish for Dinner
Fished the same area in the afternoon but the
tide had changed and the action was a bit slower.
Mostly bonitos and a Barracuda
July 23rd, 2017
Half Day Today
We had another group from the Air Force squadron that is down here for training. Both groups were outstanding young men and it was an honor to have them aboard the Southbound
Fishing was decent, enough action to send them away happy, but the inshore does seem to be slowing down. Still some bonitos and Barracudas around, but the water is getting warm and that’s usually not good for the trolling. Hopefully we get another “push” of eastbound current coming in with the next full moon, (Aug 7th), and that may help the fishing.
July 22nd, 2017
Half Day Today
Beautiful weather & Good action
for some of the Air Force’s Finest in Key West for 2 week training exercise
Released some Bonitos!
Released some Barracudas!
Kept a couple of Mackerels for dinner!
July 21st, 2017
Lots of Action Today
and released a Sailfish
July 19th & 20th, 2017
New Impeller in the Raw Water Intake Pump Sometimes you got to crawl around down here.
Not my favorite place
Noticed the engine temperature started creeping up on my Starboard engine yesterday. After the trip, I pulled the raw water intake pump and checked the impeller. It looked fine, but as long as I had it apart, I put a new one in. Then I replaced the Thermostat, they don’t usually go bad, but that would be the next logical thing to make the engine heat up. Also replaced the sending unit that goes to the gauge, only 10 months old and they rarely go bad, but trying to cover my bases. I switched the gauges up at the helm to make sure it wasn’t bad, happens sometimes, It wasn’t. Worked until 8:30 at night after getting to the boat at 6:30 in the morning.
Next day it still ran warm so after exhausting everything I could do on my own, I called the mechanic. Luckily, they had time to come down to the boat Wednesday afternoon. He used vacuum gauges to check for restrictions on the intake valve, the heat exchanger, the gear cooler and the after cooler. Everything checked out fine. So he pulled the heat exchanger core and the gear cooler core and took them to the shop to clean them. They didn’t looked all clogged up but sometimes you can’t see the crud inside. Mechanic put them back in on Thursday and we took it for a test ride. Temperature went to 210′ in no time. That’s too hot, but we had run out of things to check….. almost. Bought a $13 infrared temperature gun and pointed it at the engine that was showing 210′ on the gauge. It was only 178′. That’s normal operating temperature. Today I replaced the wire that ran between the sending unit and the gauge, it was the only thing left and sure enough that was the problem. Resistance in the wire was giving a false reading at the gauge. So after about 2 1/2 days working on a hot engine in the heat of July and probably $1,000 in parts and labor all it took was 25ft of 16 gage wire and a couple crimp connectors to fix. This is one of the reasons I drink rum!
Living the Dream!!
July 18th, 2017
Half Day Today
Fishing is still good and weather is fantastic.
Caught and released a bunch of Bonitos and kept a few Cero mackerel for Dinner
Big Cero makes for an excellent Dinner
Bonitos are still biting and fun to catch!
Family Fun!
July 17th, 2017
6 Hr. Trip Today
We headed offshore looking for Dolphin.
We found some nice week patches and some debris. There were lots of Dolphin around, but most were too small. Had a lot of fun and released a couple dozen small ones and kept a few for dinner
Released a bonito back inshore
Brother and Sister fishing together!
What’s better than that??
This young lady can fish!
The end of another great day in Key West
July 16th, 2017
What a Difference a Day Makes!!
Half Day Today
Stayed inshore to go for action. We caught and released a bunch of Bonitos. Caught a nice Barracuda and then we hooked this monster.
76 lb Wahoo
Biggest Wahoo I’ve ever had anyone catch on the boat and
only the 3rd Wahoo in the 70lb range in 25 yrs
July 15th, 2017
Tough Day Today
We decided to go offshore and look for Dolphin, Wahoo, Tuna and whatever else we could hook.
We had a grand total of 1 bite and caught 1 dolphin
Fortunately, The weather and the customers were both fantastic. It was a great day to be on the water and these guys were fishermen so they understood. It wasn’t for lack of trying or for not going far enough offshore. It was only a 6 hr trip and I still got over 20 miles offshore. Every once in a while, it’s your “day in the Barrel” and yesterday was mine
July 14th, 2017
Been fishing in shore a lot lately. We’ve been getting great action with Bonitos, Barracudas, Cero Mackerels and an occasional Dolphin. Had a 6 hr trip today and my group elected to go offshore and look for Dolphin. The Weather was beautiful and the fishing was good
24lb. Bull Dolphin
Small Wahoo
Another Nice Day of fishing in Key West!
July 13th, 2017
Half Day Today
Great action again today.
A couple of big Cero Mackerel for Dinner
and about 20 Barracudas
Big Barracuda Released!
Big Cero Mackerel,
Fun to catch and excellent eating
July 12th, 2017
Half Day Today
Still lots of bites inshore.
Non-stop action with Bonitos of all sizes and still some nice sized Cero Mackerel and a nice Dolphin today. These kids are going to sleep well tonight as the were constantly catching fish. We released approximately 25 Bonitos
Nice Dolphin for Dinner!
Big Bonitos are a lot of fun to catch!
Doubled up!
Sometimes they are a little tough to hold for pictures
And sometimes you have to hold them real tight
Lots of family fun on a half day!
July 11th, 2017
Good half day today.
Non-stop action with Bonitos and
some Barracudas as well and
a big Cero Mackerel for dinner!
Bonitos are a lot of fun to catch,
but unfortunately not much as far as table fare.
This is a very big one. They pull very hard and most
angler are expecting a much bigger fish when it’s brought in the boat.
18lbs on the scale!
And some Barracuda’s too!
July 10th, 2017
Excellent Half Day!
Today was very busy. Barracudas and Bonitos kept these gentlemen busy most of the time. Released a bunch of both and some small Mahi. We did get one keeper Mahi for dinner. Caught one Big Kingfish and had a couple of sharks on, but we were unable to get them to the boat
we
Big Kingfish, Keeper Mahi and some Bonitos
July 9th, 2017
Lots of bites today,
but not a lot of “keepers”
Lost a “big one” on the Deep Troll
July 8th, 2017
Half Day Today
Fished inshore
Released a big Barracuda!
And Got a few for Dinner!
July 7th, 2017
Still a few Dolphin around
July 5th, 2017
Early Half Day Today
Customers wanted to see the sunrise on the water,
so we left the dock at 6 am so we would
be at the reef in time for sunrise at 6:43
It was worth getting up early!
Caught 2 barracudas on one line
Released a bunch of Barracudas
and Bonitos for some fun!
We Kept some Mackerels for lunch.
Very nice group from China.
There was a bit of a language barrier, but fortunately 2 of
them spoke English well enough to make communication work.
(Their English was much better than my Chinese).
Always nice to show international visitors the beauty of the waters of the Florida Keys!
July 3rd, 2017
Beautiful Day Today!
Started off with a rainbow showing us the way off shore. Our intention was to get out deep and see if there was any new weed lines moving in. Most of the boat haven’t gone much past the drop, which is about 17 miles south of Key West. I was hoping to find a strong east current, which would be the edge of the Gulf Stream and some good fish to go with it. We got about 5 miles past the drop, or about 23 miles south of Key west and found a decent weed line. We worked it for quite a ways, and found 4 or 5 schools of undersized fish. Finally we found some “keepers” and put a catch together
Chasing the Rainbow offshore!
Still some fish out there to be caught!
Released a big Barracuda on a high speed lure!
Crossing the Reef on the way home the water was stunningly beautiful.
Days like this make my glad I picked the life I did!
Another Good Day!
July 2nd, 2017
2 Great Trips Today
Today was a long day, Got to the boat about 6:15 in the morning and I didn’t get home until after 8 pm. I was pretty tired but we had 2 excellent trips today
In the afternoon we had these awesome young ladies. Watch out world, because in a few years, these girls are going to “own it”
They weren’t worried about eating fish, just wanted action and we got plenty of that with big bonitos and barracudas. I’ve seen a lot of grown men get their butts kicked by these full sized bonitos, but not these ladies. They fought them all on Stand up tackle, did a great job fighting the fish and were ready for the next one. This was a fun group to have on the Southbound. Thanks ladies!
Big Barracuda Released!
Big Bonito
Another Big Barracuda!
Double Trouble!
Plenty of action with big Bonitos!
Not Just another pretty face and
not afraid to get a little fish blood on her hands.
Morning
In the morning we went bottom fishing. First spot was a little slow,
mostly small fish so we moved out deeper and it was a good move.
Caught 4 Muttons Snapper, only 2 were keepers with the new size limit, (18 inches),
Keeper Red grouper, Margates, Porgies, Gray Snapper and some nice Yellow Tail Snapper.
We even caught this big Black Fin Tuna, on a live bait on the Bottom.
Not what we were targeting, but we’re not complaining.
The weather was beautiful, action was steady and I’m sure dinner was delicious!
Big Black Fin Tuna!
Good Day Bottom Fishing!
July 1st, 2017
Not a lot of Big dolphin around but
still plenty of action with shoolie sized fish
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