Busy Afternoon Half Day

It was a windy, fall, afternoon half day and our trip was only four hours. With some frisky live baits swimming happily in the large circulating bait well, I decided to head straight to the edge and get right to it. As the boat slowed down just past the edge of the reef, the baits went out and we were fishing in no time! Our guests for the afternoon were from the mid-west and were happy to catch anything.  Suddenly a decent sized mahi charged in and ate out long rigger bait. I made a turn to go back through the area and another good sized mahi mahi came racing in on my bridge rod. The fish swam behind the skipping bait for a few seconds before committing to it and we were on again. Happy with our quick start, we continued to work the area. This time when the rod bent over it was from the pull of a good sized kingfish. Customers, crew and captain alike were enjoying the immediate success as the L&H pounded the spot. Suddenly I saw a sailfish closing in on my bait dragging from the one rod I was fishing from the fly bridge. The fish tried the bait, but missed. Not to be deterred, the hungry sail came from behind with even more determination. When the sailfish grabbed the rigged, natural bait I dropped back for several seconds to make sure the feeding billfish had time to swallow the bait. Upon feeling the sting of our sharp hook, the beautiful sail took to the air and raced for the horizon. Everyone grabbed a rod and began clearing lines as fast as possible so we could begin to chase the fleeing billfish that was now several hundred yards away! After a tough battle we had the fish along side the boat for a few quick pictures and a healthy release. Quickly the lines were set back out and the hunt for gamefish resumed. Out in the deep, a frigate bird swooped down to the waters surface, a sure sign that a feeding gamefish was not far behind. When we reached the spot where the frigate was diving, I could see a couple sailfish chasing bait only a few feet below the waters surface. Maneuvering the L&H into position, and presenting a live bait was just what the doctor ordered and one of the hungry sailfish casually swam up and engulfed the hapless live bait. By now everyone knew the drill and quickly cleared the other lines so we could chase the fish down. Shortly thereafter we had our second sail of the day alongside the L&H for a quick release. With only a little time left, it was time to start working our way back in. Just before taking the lines out of the water and heading for the marina, I spotted yet another sailfish chasing bait on the surface. For the third time in only a few hours, we were hooked up to a brilliantly colored, majestic sailfish! This fish determined to get away, greyhounded at a feverish pace across the clear, blue water! The L&H performed that familiar reverse rumble as we backed down in hot pursuit. Finally after covering a lot of ground we caught up to the now exhausted sail and made another successful release. On the way home our home, our clients enjoyed the air conditioned salon as they reflected on another great day of sport fishing off Miami aboard the L&H!

We Win the Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo

Every year we fish the rodeo with my wife, children and a few friends.  It is a family oriented tournament and everyone usually has a good time.  The field is very competitive and we work very hard to get ready for the two day event. Finally after countless hours of preparation and days of bait fishing we were ready to go. Twenty to twenty-five mile per hour winds and ten foot seas greeted us the first day. Taking our time, we got to the area we wanted to start at and got set up. The day started slow and was very rough! We caught a few keeper kings and saw a big mahi that we didn’t get.  The very next drift we caught a weigher dolphin and things were looking up. Next drift, my daughter Laurel, had a nice fish that was acting like a tuna. After a while we could see Laurel did in fact have a big tuna and that there was a shark trying to get it. I feared the shark would bite the tuna and disqualify our catch. After a few nerve racking moments, the tuna decided to take its fate into its own hands.   Rather than getting eaten by the hungry shark, the tuna decided it would rather jump on the boats engine bracket and dry out! And that is exactly what happened!!!!!!!  Laurel’s tuna leaped on the bracket only to have my thrifty son James standing ready and quickly grabbed the tuna and threw it in the boat. Minutes later James had a big fish on that managed to get wrapped in a competitor's line. I tried desperately to get close to the other boat hoping James would be able to untangle the mess. It was just too rough we couldn’t get close enough and unfortunately the other boat broke their fish off and James was able to land another big tuna that would help us out in the standings! Later in the afternoon we added a couple more tunas that would give us our limit for the day! At the end of day one our team would weigh a limit of kingfish, limit of tuna and a nice dolphin which would be enough for us to be sitting in second place. 

Day two would offer up calmer seas and with a shorter day we would have to fish fast and make our bites count. Right away we caught a couple keeper kings including a nice twenty-five pounder for Laurel. Then we had a big king sky on the left long kite, but got the bait off the hook, before anyone could say a word, the  flatline took off with a big tuna. It was just one of those tournaments where most everything went right and very little went wrong. As my friend Louis says, “When it’s for you…it’s for you. We would finish the second day with another limit of kingfish and two big tunas! After waiting to weigh our fish and coming up with a total of way over three hundred pounds we were declared the WINNERS!!!!!!!!!  It was such an amazing feeling and I was so very proud of my family and my team!  We ended up Top Boat, Top Male Angler, Top Junior Angler and Top Family!!!! A great tournament with my wonderful family!!!!

John Gets His First Sailfish And Then Some

Our friends at Gaffed Up Magazine referred John and his dad to us to try and get the boy his first sailfish! The trip started out a little shaky as we had some battery issues, but the father and son were patient as we worked on the problem.  It wasn't long before we were up and running and headed out to sea.  There had been some fish out front so we didn't have to go very far before putting the baits out.  About forty minutes later a sailfish came to the right long kite bait and John dropped back and hooked the fish.  The sailfish took off for the horizon and bullbuster kite vis mono dumped off our fin-nor reel.  Our young angler took his time and did a great job fighting the fish.  After a while we had the fish at boatside and were able to release the fish unharmed.  I was so excited to get that fish especially after the rough start we had.  Once again the baits went back out and this time we did not have to wait long before another hungry sail came our way.  Just like before, John hooked his own fish and did a great job of fighting it.  With two sailfish already, the father and son team, were on their way to a great trip.  The current was pushing us north and when I saw a free jumping sail, I knew we were going to be in position to get a bite.  Seconds later, a lit up sailfish, came racing in on one of our kite baits.  For the third time today, John dropped back, hooked and released a nice sailfish.  We had a little time left, so I pushed out to a wreck that was near by.  Right away, a big sail came up, but this time John let his dad catch the fish.  Dad must have been watching his son, because he made quick work of the sailfish and we let it go to fight another day.  Just then the deep line bent over and John grabbed the rod and began to fight the fish.  This time it was a big yellow jack that we were hooked up to.  We put the fish in the fishbox and headed for home!  It was a great day of fishing with John and his father and we look forward to seeing them again soon.

Great Day For Newman Family

We had our friends, the Newman family, out for a full day of fun filled charter fishing with us on our charter boat, the L&H.  Our good buddy, Trevor, was joined by his father and brothers for what would turn out to be an action packed day of fishing out of Key Biscayne!  With an early start, our team was able to be the first ones to the bait spot and were thus rewarded with excellent bait fishing!  It was just about as good as it gets and in no time there were a couple hundred frisky live baits swimming in the L&H's large circulating bait well.  I pointed the boat south to where the best fishing had been the past few days.  When we reached the area, everyone was excited to see great conditions (beautiful blue water and strong north current).  It did not take long to start getting bites after the kites went out.  First a sailfish then a couple mahis and things were looking good!  As we battled the second sailfish of the day, I saw another fish grab the left short kite bait.  None of us on board were sure what we had, but all of us knew it was a nice fish.  The Newman brothers did great battling the two fish.  When the first end of our double came up, I could see that it was a real nice wahoo!  My son James reached out and gaffed the tasty wahoo and muscled it to the fish box!  Our efforts were then switched to the angry sailfish.  Again we were able to seal the deal and before long released the powerful billfish to fight another day!  After our double, the boys quickly reset and all the baits were back in the water.  From my perch in the tower I could see a frigate bird wheeling and diving several hundred yards offshore.  It was time to get out there and find out what the bird was looking at.  Before long, I had Miami's best charter boat in perfect position to intercept the migrating gamefish!  Seconds later I spotted a nice mahi, then another and another and another.  They were hungry, eating everything, and there were a lot of them!  Like a well oiled machine, our team sprung into action and began firing out more baits on our custom leeward rods and fin-nor spinning reels!  From my view in the tuna tower, high above the action, it was a beautiful sight to behold.  Everyone working together, hooking up and boating the nice size mahis, and repeating the process over and over.  In short order the guys had landed at least twenty fish all of them nice size!  It was not yet lunch time and the days catch was looking very good!  As we drifted north, the Newman family continued to catch fish and stay busy.  More mahi, a couple nice kingfish, a cobia and another sailfish were added to the tally and there were a couple mystery fish, we hooked on the kite that were eaten by the ravenous bull sharks!  By early afternoon, our anglers were tired from reeling in fish and decided to head in a little bit early.  I suggested we give it five more minutes.  Just then another big sailfish grabbed the left short kite bait and we were once again hooked up!  This one was Trevor's fish and he did a great job working the magnificent sail to the boat for a clean, healthy release!  It was a great ending to a great day of fishing with our friends the Newman family!

Kai Has Good Half Day

Kai is from the northeast and came down to fish a half day with us on the L&H!  The wind was out of the east at about fifteen knots and the seas were running two to four feet.  We decided to head offshore to the gulf stream and look for mahi and tuna.  At first the action was slow, but then I saw some birds off in the distance.  As I got closer to the diving gannets, we could see nice size tuna feeding underneath!  Our first pass yielded a triple hook up and things were starting to look better.  I stayed with the birds (and feeding tuna) as they traveled north with the gulf stream current.  Kai (our star angler for the day) continued to catch nice size tuna one after the other.  Finally after a couple hours we had to leave the school as we were getting pretty far north and had to fight the current to get home.  I steered the L&H down the same line that we followed the tuna school earlier and we still managed to catch a few more of the hard fighting fish.  Just before it was time to start heading for the marina, we spotted a frigate bird and decided to check him out.  As the L&H motored close to the diving frigate, a couple of nice dolphin raced in and got hooked up.  Then a big dolphin appeared and Kai hooked this fish on light tackle!  Again, Kai showed us his superb angling skills as he battled the stubborn mahi all the way to gaff!  Jim reached out and sank the gaff in the mahi and pulled the fish over the rail!  By now we were running late for our afternoon charter and our team raced for the dock!  Kai decided to get his trophy mahi mounted and we cut up some nice tuna fillets for dinner.  It was a great half day of fishing and we are looking forward to fishing with our pal Kai again soon!