05/29/2010 Offshore Fishing Report

Chris and I hit the inlet around 745am to find NOAA was once again dead wrong and sloppy seas were staring us in the face. We braved the seas and headed right to where I caught the Dolphin the night before and sure enough, we had a dolphin and a Kingfish on within 15 minutes of putting our lines on. Chris had no trouble getting either in. As he was fighting the King, a Dolphin took the Slammer Rod and I handed it off to Chris and "released" Kingfish gently back into the water AKA Captain screwed up and lost it. Karma for catching 3 dolphin by myself i think. After a few Bonito we headed back to the spot and once again got into more Dolphin. This time we landed a big bull, 7lbs, 30". After battling this mahi, we went back for round three and this time all 4 rods went off. Chris got one in, then moved to another rod, then to another and then another before we had 5 total in the cooler and more fish than we needed. We let one go back as it appeared to be too small and after my hands being cut up from grabbing leaders every two seconds. After the chaos a storm started to threaten so we headed in to clean the fish!


Water Temp - 82 degrees
Air Temp - 88 degrees
Water Clarity - very clear, blue water right on beach
Weather Conditions - Sunny, Choppy 2-3'
Wind - 10-15 knots SE
Current - medium
Waves - 2' -4'
Lures/bait - Dead Sardines
Moon - Waning Full Moon

05/28/2010 Offshore Fishing Report

In my first fishing trip alone, it was one of the most memorable trips i have had in the 2.5 year history of BlueSteel. I got out on the water around 5pm and went straight to 120'. Immediately hooked up with 3 bonito and the lines went into one big tangled mess (a little harder to reel in three fish that i thought). I did manage to get one in the boat after cutting the other lines. With it looking like another disappointing friday afternoon fishing, i stepped it up and went out to 200' and found some nice weeds with some flying fish. Low and behold i hooked up with 3 dolphin all at the same time. With one rod in the holder, one rod between my legs, and one rod in my arms reeling, i managed to get all three in the cooler! If you think its chaos when you get into a school of dolphin with a boat full of people, try doing it alone!

Water Temp - 82 degrees
Air Temp - 88 degrees
Water Clarity - very clear, blue water right on beach
Weather Conditions - Sunny, Mostly Calm
Wind - 10 knots SE/E
Current - medium
Waves - 2'
Lures/bait - Dead Sardines/Goggle Eyes
Moon - Waning Full Moon

05/21/2010 Offshore Fishing Report

Doug and I rolled out after work to get some Kings and Snapper. Doug managed several Bonito and one nice snapper. He finally got to keep one since the wife was out of town. Overall the conditions seemed perfect for a big night but we had trouble finding the fish. Most of the action when we did find it seemed to be in 120' or deeper.


Water Temp - 82 degrees
Air Temp - 88 degrees
Water Clarity - very clear, blue water right on beach
Weather Conditions - Sunny, Choppy 2-3'
Wind - 10 knots SE/E
Current - medium
Waves - 2' -3'
Lures/bait - Dead Sardines/Goggle Eyes
Moon - Almost Full Moon

05/08/2010 Offshore Fishing Report

Reelsgood and I went out after work on Friday to catch some Kingfish and Snapper with a successful snapper trip but no kings. We fished in depths all over but mostly found 100 feet to be the hot spot We fished north of the inlet with hopes of finding the kings and hit the south side of the inlet on Saturday. Both days produced a lot of snapper and bonito but no Kingfish. We did have a few bite offs presumably Kings but still have not shown up in large numbers.

Water Temp - 81 degrees
Air Temp - 88 degrees
Water Clarity - very clear, blue water right on beach
Weather Conditions - Sunny, Calm
Wind - 5-10 knots S/SW
Current - medium
Waves - 2' or less
Lures/bait - Dead Sardines/Ballyhoo/Surface Trolling Lures

05/01/2010 Offshore Fishing Report

Doug and I hit the water around 930am assuming the strong SE wind was going to keep us fishing the ICW however we braved the choppy seas and found that the Bonito have returned in full force. Doug caught the mother of all bonitos on cut bait and 4/0 circle hook that weighed in about 16lbs after we thought it was a whale for the way we chased it all over the ocean. I landed a rainbow runner on a dead sardine and 4/0 circle hook while drifting in 100'. We saw a few boats land some kingfish but we did not have any luck. After some drifting we trolled and boated a few more bonito. Normally i would be disappointed with all the bonito but we needed some strips for the upcoming Simmons and White KDW. We also landed a red grouper, remora, blue runner and appeared to be getting a lot of bites from small snapper.


Water Temp - 76 degrees
Air Temp - 84 degrees
Water Clarity - very clear, blue water right on beach
Weather Conditions - Overcast/Windy
Wind - 10-15 knots S/SE
Current - strong
Waves - 2-4'
Lures/bait - Dead Sardines/Ballyhoo/Surface Trolling Lures

04/16/2010 Key Largo Backcountry Report

The crew and I took a camping trip to Key Largo for the weekend. We knew it was going to rain but took our chances and it turns out...it rained, it rained a lot! We were able to fish on Saturday and we landed several mangrove snapper, jacks, and even a trout. Not the greatest fishing report but for our first trip and considering the weather it was successful. The winds were our of the east switching to southeast at about 20mph with higher gusts. Water temps and air temps were about the same around 75 degrees. We noticed that fishing edge of deeper channels worked produced more fish. I dont know if that is typical or just due to the water temps. We camped at KeyLargo Campground and fished in the Blackwater Sound and the creeks.