Some days we are targeting a specific species of fish. Maybe live baiting for sailfish or possible offshore fishing for Dolphin, (Mahi) or even on the reef catching Yellowtail Snapper. Other days, we have time to fish and we are not looking for any particular fish. We had a little bit of fishing variety today. We started out fishing out deep looking for Dolphin and it worked early. Our first bites were two nice dolphin. They were especially nice considering tomorrow is the beginning of December. Not really Dolphin season, but we will take them.
Offshore slowed after we caught our dolphin and we were not getting any good reports from the boats out deeper. Instead of going south, we worked our way inshore and eventually up on the reef. The reef was pretty good. We released some barracudas and caught 3 very nice Yellow Jacks.
Yellow Jacks are sort of a “fisherman’s secret”. Most members of the Jack family are a blast to catch, but many are not good to eat. Yellow Jacks are both. Like all members of the Jack family, they pull hard and fight until the end. On top of that, they are excellent eating. Honestly, I’m not sure what their maximum size is. I have seen them up to 17lbs. That is pretty much a monster when it comes to Yellow Jacks. The ones we caught today were on the large size. All of them were over 10 lbs. I can catch them all day and call it a good trip.
Nice King Mackerel caught fishing in Key West with Southbound
We also caught a nice King Mackerel. Normally this late in the year, the water is cooler and there would be more Kings around. So far, it’s been warm, and there have not been many around. That should change on Monday evening as we are finally supposed to get a fairly strong cold front. I’m going to believe it when I see it or honestly when I have to put socks on. Today was a pretty good day, but a cold front should improve the fishing, It was a little bit of fishing variety today, cold weather will probably stop the Dolphin from biting, but there should be more Sailfish and Kingfish around. The reef should be more active too. Time will tell.