While watching the snow brought by Santa the BlueWater crew ( Uncle KC, Mike, Sandra Queen of Kings, Sidney and Richard Bazen) decided it was time to head off to Miami for some warm weather fishing aboard the L and H Captained by Jimmy David. A few calls and we were set for January 8th and 9th.
Things got off to a slow start on Saturday after catching bait with only one sail in the first few hours. With the sun climbing overhead we went off to look for Cobia in the shallow water. We were hoping to find a large ray with tag along Cobia but they eluded us too. Just to up the excitement level Captain Jimmy stopped on a patch reef for the younger boys to catch small Kings and Cudas with a few Snapper added in for good measure. With the wind turning west and dying out we called it an early day and headed in to catch our bait for Sundays trip. Day one results were one for one on sails plus two nice Mutton Snapper and twenty two Kings and Cuda. But the real catch was a beautiful day on the water with great weather, crew, family and friends.
If Saturday started slow Sunday started fast and furiously. The first kite bait was attached by a sail before the second bait could be deployed. This fish was released and on the next set of the kites result in a double hookup both released. A little after eight in the morning I hooked a Wahoo on a kite bait while fighting this fish we hooked three more Sails for an unbelievable quad hookup. Sidney took his fight to the bow while we continued to fight two Sails and Hoo from the cockpit. With some good luck and great skill by Captain Jimmy and crew, the Wahoo found a new home on ice and all three sails were leadered and released. Talk about a thrilling fire drill four of the fastest fish in the sea, hooked all at once, all heading in different directions with reels almost spooled. We added a couple more sail releases and boxed a few more Kings before the sun got high enough to look for Cobia. With the sun climbing we headed off to look for Cobia in the shallows. With great co
The kid in the white shirt James Capt. Jimmy’s son is in the November 2010 Marlin magazine on page 22. At age 11, he may be the youngest mate to gaff a Marlin in a competition the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. Also his Dad told me he fought and landed a 506 pound Blue Marlin on the trip.
MPB, I am not trying to be a smart ass, but was just wondering if I read it right because I am going down there next week, and don’t want to make a mistake. Maybe there are different rules for charter boats, or commercial licenses.
The cobia and sails probably had everybody’s arms nice and sore!
Nice pics with the Avets.
I like your teaser setup. Thinking about rigging something along those lines (forgive the pun) up on our boat soon. Do you run one on each side?
“They came first for the net fishermen, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a net fisherman;
And then they came for all commercial fishermen next, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a commercial fisherman;
and then they came for the charter and headboat fisherman, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t either one;
and now they’ve come for me the recreational fisherman . . . And now there’s no one but us to speak up.” www.JoinRFA.org
fished the L&H 12 yrs ago as a father son trip two days before he headed for Paris Island, same dock off Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne.( $600 a full day charter back then) loaded the boat with tuna and phins within sight of the hotels on miami beach, watched the capt steal a school of phins from a 36’cc loaded with a bunch of very unhappy cubans! we dove for lobster the second day then fished the flats for snook, trout and reds out of flamingo day three. hes been hooked on the saltwater fishing ever since. brings back some fond memories of fishing with my dad in a 18’ canoe trolling for phins off the ledge out of south fla, thank you very much for the memories!
Just to clear it up…In Florida, the state limit is 1 per day with a max of 6 per boat, regardless of number of anglers. If you are coming from federal waters (where he said he caught them), you can keep 2 per person, no boat limit. You must stay underway from federal waters back to the dock. If you stop to fish within state waters with a federal limit that exceeds the state limit, your catch becomes subject to state law and the FWC can treat you accordingly. I was unaware that the “shallows” were out past 3 miles. The majority of cobes cruise the sandbars just off of the beach which is well within state waters, hence the more relaxed federal bag limit. The spawning run is about to get underway so it is vital that the big girls be returned to the water to produce baby cobes for the future.
There are many forces working to end our right to fish. We must all work together to preserve that right if it is to continue. I am not against our community policing our shelves because if we don’t others will. However most of the attaches on Charlestonfishing.com are unjustified, many are the results of the person not correctly reading the post or just wanting to show how enlightened or clever they are.
We had a the type of day dreams are made of. That is because it is so rare. Every Cobia was legal and properly handled. We have been accused of letting the fish lay on the deck spoiling. Not true the fish were only removed from the ice long enough to verify the correct count and take a quick picture. Maybe 3 to 5 minutes max. Several post have made us the poster child for the proposed changes in Cobia regulation. The new proposed regulations call for a one Cobia per boat per day limit. This proposed change in the regulations has nothing to do with our trip but everything to do with the current Federal laws, South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, allowable Catch limits and employment of ABC control rules to set future limits on many species such as Cobia, Wahoo and Dolphin. But let’s see I fished an average of 75 days per year for the last 4 years. That is 300 days, I always fish 4 people on the boat each day that means we fished 1200 man-days in the last 4 years. We killed 15 Cobia in that time all others released unharmed. That is point 0125 Cobia per man-day of fishing or 1 Cobia per 80 man-days of fishing. Not too good for a fish killing machine is it. We went 10 for 10 on sails all with circle hooks all released with the hooks removed unharmed. Yes we did remove one of the smaller fish from the water for 15 seconds for a picture. It was handled carefully, oxygenated and released. Many people will rant about that action and tell everyone about the poor health of our bill fishery and how wrong and illegal taking that picture is. We had all the permits and legal right to kill that fish but choose only
Uncle KC,
You are way too polite.
Bravo for your efforts ashore.
Your single charter trip post got some up on their hind legs.
It was a clean shoot. Thankx for the pics.
CF has a loud internal voice no doubt.
Below is something CF readers can get sick over: [can’t make links but ya’ll can figure it out]
The Hull Truth.com / The Carolinas / Rockfish Slaughter - Awareness
We all need to put our sights onto those harvesting in a way to needlessly damage stocks and to those making policy without supporting data.
Great trip KC!! IF you pay that much money for a trip you deserve to keep what is in your limits. I know the kids had a blast. Thanks for your work with the fisheries and hope to see you on the water soon.
Kent, looks like yall had a great trip. Glad yall finally had some good weather and luck. Thanks for supporting the local Captains and their industry. That is FANTASTIC advertising for them. YOU paid for their services, caught the LEGAL LIMIT of fish, and had a great time with your FAMILY. THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT!! I’ve fished with you several times, and I know no one that puts SAFETY FIRST, insures that the LEGAL SIZE, and LIMIT is taken, so our youth can enjoy the natural resources in the future more than you do sir.
