Got a call Tuesday to go chase the Port Canaveral dolphin on Wednesday. Got the schedule cleared and good to go. We were the second boat at the lock and waited a few minutes until 6:00 when the lock opened.  It was bumpy ride out averaging 22 knots and we passed some fishy areas to stick with the plan to hit 150′ then start looking for a fishy area. We ran a few small weed lines on the way East, then found “the one”

As we trolled up to it we knew we found the spot. We went back and forth on the same line for most of the day, adding a dolphin to the box here, another there, then two, then three. I think we only lost two, but had a few short strikes too. We also ran into a toothy critter that cut the mono leader we were using.  On the way home we stopped and chunked around a large weed patch in ~240′ and saw a school of 20 or more peanuts that had lockjaw, and Bill hooked up with a submarine or moby dick because there was no stopping it. We saw some birds on the way in and picked up another peanut and a football BFT in 160′. Could have loaded up on BFT but it was already 4:30 and we were beat.

Total for the day was 6 dolphin to 18 pounds and the BFT. Most were caught on naked ballyhoo, but we caught them on artificials as well. Water temp was around 84F.

It was a beautiful day, seas laid down nicely once we got out and stayed that way.

 

Andy and I left the dock around 8:30 this morning to go test out some ground. Wind was hard out of the south so but the waves on the Banana river weren’t enough to stop us. We tried a few spots and decided to check out Sykes Creek. We ran into a bunch of bird action and decided to check it out. Tons of ladyfish. I haven’t ever seen that many ladyfish striking the surface before. We left them doing there thing and made a few more stops that looked super fishy, tons of mullet everywhere, but no fish.

After a while we start to head home, but stop to play with the ladyfish again so the day wasn’t so bad.  Satisfied with that we call it a day and start heading home. While we were running I decided to try one more area because I really wanted fresh fish for dinner. Wise decision because Andy almost immediately lands a slot Red. His mullet got flung off and something else quickly smashed it. After a quick rebait and a few minutes later a 21″ Trout joins the Red in the boat.  I catch a 16″ Trout, Andy catches another, and we call it a day.

 

We decided to try fishing for the endangered Red Snapper on Saturday the 12th. We are not normally bottom fishers so we didn’t really know what we were doing and didn’t have many spots that weren’t public. We have tried bottom dropping a few times but the ARS open days made us realize that investing a little time learning more about this method of fishing and going through some trial and error, its not as hard as it seems (even though we never found the ARS) and its fun because you never know what you are going to catch.

Also- Any feedback on how this bottom looks? We are still learning how to properly work/read the sonar.

We had a few spots in 70′-90′ that we had marked in previous trips while running from place to place that weren’t marked publicly so we decided to run to those as they may not be covered in boats. There were a few boats within a few miles of us but for the most part we were on our own. We had all the baits covered (squid, sardines, live bait) and the bottom machine was lit up. We sent baits down and were covered in grunts, short sea bass, and a few porgies. We managed a nice Mangrove and Vermillion Snapper and lost a cobia at the boat (new angler). We moved a few times and changed our rigging some and kept pushing on. Another cobia swims up and eats my squid right behind the boat. A few minutes later he is in the box, nice. A little later and a change of bait later we are getting ready to make a move another cobia follows my bait up from the bottom. I stop reeling he eats and ends up on the box with the other one. Two cobia in less than an hour! After a while we are all pretty well worn out and decide to give up on the snappers that have out smarted us so we decided to call it a day and plan to try again on Sunday.

It seems that the Red Snapper were in 120’+ but we didn’t have any good spots out there (yet).

Days score: Two Cobia, a Trigger fish, a Mango and Vermillion Snapper, and a few porgies.

Water temp at surface was 81-82.

 

 

I got a call from Spence Wise earlier last week asking if I had a desire to do a Port Canaveral Otherside trip and help him dial his new radar in on some tuna birds.  No way I’m missing it, especially with the forecast of 1-2′ seas at 8 seconds.

We left the ramp at port on time just before 4:00 AM on Sunday and headed due east on Lake Atlantic for our Port Canaveral Otherside run. The plan was to be roughly 60 miles out at sunrise to troll for marlin on the way across the stream, then run out and start looking for birds sometime around 9-10 after they had their morning coffee and got flying.  Lines went in at 6:30 and we had our first knockdown at 6:34, a schoolie dolphin in the box. It was so calm we picked up a rip with the radar at 1.5 miles. About an hour later we have our second fish on, a gaffer dolphin that found its way to the fish box within a few minutes.

We bring the lines in and start running looking for bird packs while we head further East while we joke about not bringing the water ski’s. As we are going the radar has no problem picking up a single bird at 3 miles. After a while we start finding packs that are working what looks like Blackfin busting but are unable to get a hookup with them. We did manage to get our second gaffer dolphin before too long. After hitting however many bird packs we hit (lost count) we are getting close to bingo fuel and start heading back West.

Around 70 miles from Port we pick up a line of birds working on the radar and run over to see whats got their attention and quickly see a nice weed line. We put lines out and very quickly have a fish on. As we are bringing in the fish the school shows up. I haven’t seen a school of dolphin this big in years. There was probably 100+ fish circling the boat. We only had 2 spinning rods- that weren’t rigged for schoolies and a fly rod. We chunk up some ballyhoo and try and make do. Erik quickly catches two on the flyrod and offers it to us to try. I caught my first two fish on fly and let Dave play with them. It was awesome watching the craziness that these fish are in frenzy mode.

Something big splashing behind the boat gets our attention and we decide to drag lines over the area to see if its big enough to be feeding on these schoolies but unfortunately don’t ever find out what it was. We troll the weed line a while longer and pick up some more schoolies. Watching these fish greyhound 3-4 at a time across the weed line and crush baits is something I’ll never get tired of- even if they are only schoolies.

We decided to call it a day just after 3:30 and make the 2 hour ride home.

Water Temp was 81-82 where we were fishing, seas were flat enough to water ski until we got back to the west side of the stream.

A perfect day for a Port Canaveral Otherside trip- Minus the lack of Tuna on the boat

If you are thinking about doing a Port Canaveral Otherside trip in your boat- Please Please(!!!!) check all of your safety equipment and be sure your fuel tanks are fully topped off and you have sufficient range to make the 100+ mile trip across the gulf stream. The weather we had for this trip was not typical and can change at any point. I recommend a buddy boat go with you if at all possible. Please be safe out there.

Don’t forget to switch the video to 1080P HD!!

Port Canaveral Otherside Fishing

We fished the FSFA Tournament on Saturday (6-7-14) out of Sunrise Marina. We were dropped in at 6:15 and went to find some live bait before heading East looking for dolphin. We put lines in around 130′ and kept heading East. We got a double hook up on bonita pretty quickly and then nothing so we decided to run for a while. We found a floating bucket with a little life on it, but no fish. I toss a cobia jig near the bucket and let it sink to see if anyone is home down deeper. As I’m bringing the jig back up I see its being followed by a nice size dolphin that decides to eat right at the boat. After a quick fight we boat the 21# bull. Back on the troll we pick up a schoolie on the flatline a little later in the day.

The weather was beautiful and the water temps were 79-81 all day. Seas were nearly flat.

 

If you were on the boat catching sailfish your video is here.

I’ve been wanting to do a Bahamas tuna trip for a while, and with my friend Adam getting married and choosing me to be the best man, I figured a Bahamas tuna run would be the perfect bachelor party. We decided to stay next to the marina in where Phil keeps his 39′ Yellowfin, the “Kickin’ Tires” on Friday May 9th, leave early Saturday morning fish the way to Grand Cay, spend the night at Rosie’s and fish the way home on Sunday. The only problem with this was the three days of 15-20mph winds before Saturday. Friday we discussed just fishing the Fishing Frenzy tournament and staying local as the forecast ranged from 2′-4′ to 3′-5′ at 5 seconds.

Saturday morning after loading the live well with bait and sitting a few minutes waiting for the shotgun start we take off to find 3′-5’+ seas stacked on top of each other and scattered weeds everywhere. After a while of clearing lines we decide to go to look for some Bahamas Tuna anyway. The crossing took a while at 22 knots but was doable in the 39′ beast.

As we made our way from bird pack to bird pack we put a few Blackfin Tuna in the box and lost a nice fish while chunking one bird pack. Just before dark we called it a day and finished the run into Grand Cay in the dark.

 

After a few hours of sleep at Rosie’s we met at the boat at 7:00 to meet customs, have a quick breakfast, and go find some Yellowfin Tunas. We made short time getting to our first bird pack, then our second, and third. We come across a nice weed line and throw three Dolphin in the box pretty quickly before we decide to move on to another bird pack.

From bird pack to bird pack while traveling back towards Florida we decide that a shot of Jager might change our luck, and the next bird pack gives us a triple hookup on nice fish that turns into three Yellowfin in the box.

After a few more bird packs and another Blackfin in the box, its 6:00 and we have 80 miles to cover to get home. About 6:20 we throttle up and make the ride home between 35 and 40 knots.

No fish pictures because it was dark when we got back. Tally was 3 YFT to 40 pounds, 3 dolphin to 20 pounds and 4 blackfin.

Video is in the works.

A huge thank you to Phil for making the trip happen and putting us on fish even though the sea conditions were not good.

Well guys- the dolphin are here! And I don’t have much time to fish for them. So I’ll share with you how we catch dolphin fishing out of Port Canaveral.

Dolphin are normally caught here April to June. The run to the gulf stream is normally 33+ miles out of Port.

Dolphin, not to be confused with the mammal type (Porpoise, or “Flipper”) are also known as Dorado or Mahi-Mahi. Dolphin are fast growing pelagic fish that are fun to catch, great to eat, and are known for their vibrant colors. When dolphin are young they generally travel in schools, and as they quickly grow past a few pounds they start pairing off or wandering from weed line to weed line alone.

Dolphin fishing out of Port Canaveral is usually good 20+ miles offshore, or in 100+ feet of water.  Your chances of finding dolphin goes way up near weed lines, floating debris, rips, temp changes, and schools of bait. If you see birds working in an area theres a good chance you’ll find dolphin below.

Most anglers dolphin fishing out of Port Canaveral use 30-50 pound trolling gear with leaders ranging from 50-100#. Most anglers run 5 lines- 2 on outriggers, 2 flatlines and 1 shotgun. You can run more or less depending on your boat setup and crew skill for keeping lines clear and untangled. Most often boats troll baits to catch these tasty fish, using naked ballyhoo, skirted ballyhoo, artificial baits, lures, or a combination of them. While trolling you want to make sure your baits are tracking straight (not helicoptering) and chugging along weed free. A bait with weeds on it won’t catch fish.

The prepared angler can turn a single hookup into multiple fish in the boat as the other fish swims along with the hooked fish and often eats a bait tossed to it by a second angler with a spinning rod. If you have a group of schoolies by the boat, leaving one hooked up and in the water will often keep the school behind the boat to continue to catch more.

 

TIP: If you are not catching anything in an area that looks “fishy” try taking the boat out of gear and letting the baits sink for a moment before shifting back into gear and pulling the baits up.

TIP: Have pre rigged leaders with hooks for live/chunk bait or with jigs on them to use on your spinning gear. When you gaff a fish and throw him in the fish box, unclip the leader at the swivel and swap it for a pr rigged one, saving time and catching more!

TIP: Live bait will out fish chunk/jigs every day! Stop and catch live bait, it could save the day!

TIP: Dolphin Fishing out of Port Canaveral takes you well offshore. Be sure all safety equipment is up to date and working and everything is in good working order on your vessel.

TIP: Your trolling speeds are usually 4-7 knots for ballyhoo, but can be higher with artificial baits.

I hope this helps you in your quest for the mighty Dolphin. If you would like to add a tip or give me feedback you can always email me.

Dealing with No-seeums is not a fun thing.

What is a No-seeum you ask? They are tiny flying bloodsucking insects. They are less than 1/8th of an inch long fully grown, which is why they are called No-seeums, because you generally can’t see them. They are found primarily along costal waterways where marshland and swamps provide the damp, wet environment they like to live and reproduce in.

The No-seeum, also known as Biting Midges, has over 4000 species worldwide. There are over 47 in Florida alone. They are all similar in size, behavior and habitat, so it is difficult to know which species is biting you. They have a very short life span (2-6 weeks) so it is difficult to control them with commercially available sprays without daily application which would have negative impacts on the environment.

Similar to mosquitos, the female No-seeums need the proteins from blood to make eggs. While they don’t take much blood, many people may have an allergic reaction to the anti-coagulant they use to prevent blood from clotting and clogging up their beaks. The reaction to the anti-coagulant is what causes the painful, itchy welts they leave behind. Over time many people build up a tolerance to No-seeum bites and they are no longer bothered by them.

Some of the things you can do to avoid getting bit are to wear long sleeves, pants, shoes and socks. While this is not ideal for Florida’s climate, many people opt for a spray or lotion containing the chemical DEET which also deters mosquitos. For those of you who do not like chemicals, you can also use Skin-So-Soft or Baby Oil which traps the Noseeums, preventing them from biting in the first place. The CDC also recommends using oil of lemon eucalyptus, which is said to be almost as effective as DEET.

The bad news about No-Seeums is they are here to stay.

The good news is there are things you can do to help when dealing with No-seeums. The easiest way to control No-seeums (and mosquitos) is with a slight breeze. Since they are week when it comes to flying, using a ceiling fan or any other type of household fan to create a light breeze is enough to keep the tiny pests from being able to get aloft. There are also a few other options for running these pests off, including different types of yard sprays, and candles that are made with essential plant oils.

 

I hope this helps if you are dealing with No-seeums!

-Ben

 

 

The Port Canaveral Cobia are here! We went out on 4/2/14 looking for cobia out of Port Canaveral, left port around 12:00 and headed south. On the run down towards PAFB we saw two free swimmers but no hookups. We joined the ~50+ other boats and started looking for rays. Around 3 we started seeing them, probably 7-8 different rays just doing their thing, but without any cobia following along. A little after 4:00 we decided to start heading back towards port and were running in a little closer to the beach looking for pogies. I’m in the tower looking and spot our third free swimmer of the day just off the port side of the boat, we circle back and he is still hanging there. We cast to him, I hook up and he takes off for the bottom and quickly spits the hook.

It was still a nice day on the water, and the cobes are definitely out there.

Water was ~70.5 and calm.

The FSFA vs. CFOA Cobiathon was originally scheduled for March 15th, but was moved to March 22nd. Since Dave, Debby, and myself are all members of the FSFA we made sure we had the opportunity to fish it to support the club. Saturday morning the NOAA reports were saying winds 5-10 knots seas 3 feet so off we go. The crew consisted of Dave, Debby, Nudsy, Adam, and Myself. As soon as we go to the mouth of the port we knew the forecast was wrong. I immediately knew I was going to have a bad day as I was already suffering a bad case of hangoveritis. It was very windy and rough all day long and I have a refreshed knowledge of how terrible being sea sick is. We stopped by the Buoys on the way out hoping to find a triple tail, but no luck. We ended up running as far south as PAFB, and ranging from 35′ all the way to 70′. There were scattered weed lines all over. It was hard to stay in the tower looking for rays and free swimmers. We decided to call it a day early and get out of the weather.

Back at Cape Marina for the weigh in only four fish were weighed with the biggest being 43.7 pounds. All fish were caught by FSFA members. I was told two were free swimmers.