The last few days, we’ve caught more Tuna than Dolphin but then it’s been a weird year! I guess we all know that at this point. Aside from everyone’s life being turned upside down, the fishing has been “off” too. We have not seen very many big dolphins, but for the most part in June, we were seeing plenty of little dolphins. Some keepers and some throwbacks. We try not to keep a lot of the small fish that are just barely legal, but we have to take enough for people to have a good meal of two. After that, I would prefer to release the small ones in the hope that they will grow to be big one’s next year.
Most of my customers are good with this. Some want as much fish as they can get to take home. Neither is right or wrong. Different people have different reasons for going out on a charter. I appreciate all my customers, whether they are there just for the fun or to try to “stock up” of fish to eat back home. We try to accommodate both although lately, it’s been tough to really “stock up” with any quantity. Most days it more of a matter of keeping the action going with Barracudas and small dolphins while taking a few Keepers and tuna.
Thankfully the Black Fin and The Skip Jack tuna have been biting fairly well. It seems that they are coming up to feed about midday. Unfortunately, that means we are only getting to fish them for the last few hours of the trip. It’s easy to spot where they are as there are usually large flocks of birds following them. Look for the birds and find the fish. Not every school will bite, but there have been enough different schools to work that eventually we get some hookups. Honestly, I’d rather be catching dolphin, but you have to catch what is there and biting. So as long as there are more tuna than dolphin, I catch them and won’t complain