Jack Hexter
03-13-2009, 01:03 AM
For the third time in three years, a couple friends, Tom and Gary and I made a trip to Miami to fish with Capt Bouncer Smith.
The first year had a mission which was to get Gary a sailfish on an 8# flat line. After hooking up with about 4 or 5 fish, we finally leadered one and held on for the release. We caught several sails that day, but Tom failed to hook one. We also caught numerous dolphin and small kings. The second year was met with calm seas, no wind and no current, not ideal sailfish conditions. :roll: All was not lost when Tom hooked a 57# Warsaw on a speed jig, but still he had not caught his sail.
We took off on Tuesday morning, heading south and checked into the motel before heading to Biscayne Rods and a short reunion with Eddie Carmine. Tom II accompanied us on this trip and had a rod he wanted modified, which was an easy job for Eddie. We then headed for Miami Beach Marina to see Capt Bouncer for final arrangements, but Bouncer was not to be found around his boat and we did not have his cell number We left him a message on his home answering machine that we would be at his boat at 7:00 AM and left to get some dinner. Down to the Gables we went to Havana Harry's and had some delicious Cuban cuisine, then picked up some Cuban sandwiches for lunch and back to the room for a short nite and early wake up.
Arriving at Miami Beach Marina, we were met at the boat by Bouncer's mate, Abie(A-Be). We loaded our gear, lunch and after Capt Bouncer arrived on the scene and we renewed friendships we boarded "Bouncers Dusky" and pulled out of Miami Beach Marina for the short ride out Government Cut and bait catching tasks. We arrived at the range markers, and with two bait rods, quickly put about 100 8"-10" threadfins and a couple dozen pinfish in the livewell. We went straight out the cut to 160' (about 2 miles) and put up the kites in the light 5-10 mph breeze. Gary started to speed jig with 4 baits hanging from the kites and Tom the designated angler till he caught his sail. Gary hooked and involuntarily released a small king at boatside at this location, but noticed no, none, zero current, and after no bites in the first hour, we pulled in the kites and ran south off Key Biscayne to an area near the Monument Buoy where we saw a free jumping sail. We set the kites back up and fished 160' for another hour. A 5-7 pound dolphin came up and ate one of the baits and designated angler Tom quickly put him in the boat, but it still wasn't his sailfish. Here we observed a 1/2 knot current, not a lot, but more than off the Cut where we first stopped and definitely not enough to interest a sail. Anyway, we pulled the baits and kites and ran further South to near Fowley Rocks lighthouse. First we stopped over a wreck in 300' to get Tom his Amberjack he wanted to catch and tried to catch but had failed on the previous trip with Bouncer the year before when he caught the Warsaw instead. Why anyone wants to catch Amberjack, I don't know :confused: , but some people enjoy self flagellation. :rolleyes: After releasing the AJ, we ran another 5 miles south where we found a 2 knot current edge, blue water, weeds and a color change in 200' of water and set the kites back up. We were drifting north at about 2 miles per hour, but with a sea anchor out, we were holding our depth when we saw some birds working close to the water about a quarter mile off our bow. Pulling the sea anchor and raising the kite baits in the air we quickly ran to this area dropped the kite baits and threw out a flat line bait on a 20# spinner. The spinner was the first rod to go off and Tom picked it up, jumping his first sail. Soon all hell broke loose as 2 additional sails grabbed the kite baits. I picked up one rod and Tom II picked up the second, we had a triple on!!! Among all this confusion, another sail started to jump and we thought it was a quad, but none of the other two lines broke free of the release clips and it was a freejumper in the middle of the chaos. Concentrating on Tom's first sail, Capt Bouncer chased it with the boat as it grayhounded North while Tom II's fish went deep and mine went South. 10-12 minutes later, Abie grabbed the leader and Bouncer stuck a tag in the fishes shoulder. The hook was removed and fish released after a quick photo or three. During this time, I managed to stop my fish and turn him, so by the time Tom's fish was released, mine was close to the boat. Another 2 minutes I had the fish where Abie could grab the leader and tag this fish. Cutting the leader close to the hook, it was two down and one to go. Bouncer maneuvered the boat over Tom II's fish and he pumped it up where Abie could grab the leader, but before we could tag the fish, the leader wore thru and the fish released in good health. Not bad, starting the trip off with a triple after a very slow start. Another hour or so went by in these good conditions when we all saw a sail come up and eat one of the kite baits. Gary was up and picked up the rod. This turned out to be a very large sail and it went deep, not expending it's strength on energy sapping jumps. It took Gary a good 25 minutes to get this fish back to the surface where Abie grabbed the leader, I tagged the fish and the leader was cut. Setting the rods back out, we settled into watching the baits again when Bouncer saw the last fish of the day eat a bait on the rod I happened to be standing next to. I picked up this rod, cranked to come tight and this fish virtually exploded into the air. It jumped and flipped for a full 5 minutes, giving us a great show and great photo opportunity ( I hope the two Tom's got some good shots) before taking off away from the boat and diving deep. It came up about 10 minutes later, close to the boat where Abie grabbed the leader and tagged the fish. We fished for another hour before pulling the plug and arriving back at the dock right at 4:00. 5 for 5 on sails plus an AJ, a dolphin and a kingfish is not a bad day anywhere. We thanked Bouncer and Abie for a great day and promised to return. After a quick run back to the motel where we showered and changed, we returned to Miami Beach for a social hour and dinner at the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club.
Thursday morning we made a stop at Capt Harry's Tackle Store in Miami to pick up some items that are not readily available in Tampa, before closing the door on another great trip with Bouncer and returning home. We also picked up several copies of Capt Harry's catalog when we found that the picture of Tom and is Warsaw Grouper was in the catalog :cool:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Dockside.jpg
Dockside in th AM
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Hammerhead.jpg
The first fish of the day into our bait spread was a guy wearing a brown suit -- Hammertime! He obviously had pickup up our kite baits and was headed straight for them. When he'd get 3-4' away, Bouncer would simply raise the bait out of the water -- frustrating Mr. Hammerhead to no end This shark could turn on a dime and a couple of times almost got the bait. Finally his rage reduced to the point where it was no longer fun for him and off he went.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/AJOnII.jpg
Tom on his AJ
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/BouncerTom.jpg
Tom & Bouncer with the AJ
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Griffin-R2-018-7A.jpg
Sails jumping
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Jumping.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/JumpingII.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/BOUNCER2009035-1.jpg
And Tagged!!
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Griffin-R2-050-23A.jpg
Dinner was at the Miami Beach Rod & Reel Club with Executive Director Suzan Baker as our host
The first year had a mission which was to get Gary a sailfish on an 8# flat line. After hooking up with about 4 or 5 fish, we finally leadered one and held on for the release. We caught several sails that day, but Tom failed to hook one. We also caught numerous dolphin and small kings. The second year was met with calm seas, no wind and no current, not ideal sailfish conditions. :roll: All was not lost when Tom hooked a 57# Warsaw on a speed jig, but still he had not caught his sail.
We took off on Tuesday morning, heading south and checked into the motel before heading to Biscayne Rods and a short reunion with Eddie Carmine. Tom II accompanied us on this trip and had a rod he wanted modified, which was an easy job for Eddie. We then headed for Miami Beach Marina to see Capt Bouncer for final arrangements, but Bouncer was not to be found around his boat and we did not have his cell number We left him a message on his home answering machine that we would be at his boat at 7:00 AM and left to get some dinner. Down to the Gables we went to Havana Harry's and had some delicious Cuban cuisine, then picked up some Cuban sandwiches for lunch and back to the room for a short nite and early wake up.
Arriving at Miami Beach Marina, we were met at the boat by Bouncer's mate, Abie(A-Be). We loaded our gear, lunch and after Capt Bouncer arrived on the scene and we renewed friendships we boarded "Bouncers Dusky" and pulled out of Miami Beach Marina for the short ride out Government Cut and bait catching tasks. We arrived at the range markers, and with two bait rods, quickly put about 100 8"-10" threadfins and a couple dozen pinfish in the livewell. We went straight out the cut to 160' (about 2 miles) and put up the kites in the light 5-10 mph breeze. Gary started to speed jig with 4 baits hanging from the kites and Tom the designated angler till he caught his sail. Gary hooked and involuntarily released a small king at boatside at this location, but noticed no, none, zero current, and after no bites in the first hour, we pulled in the kites and ran south off Key Biscayne to an area near the Monument Buoy where we saw a free jumping sail. We set the kites back up and fished 160' for another hour. A 5-7 pound dolphin came up and ate one of the baits and designated angler Tom quickly put him in the boat, but it still wasn't his sailfish. Here we observed a 1/2 knot current, not a lot, but more than off the Cut where we first stopped and definitely not enough to interest a sail. Anyway, we pulled the baits and kites and ran further South to near Fowley Rocks lighthouse. First we stopped over a wreck in 300' to get Tom his Amberjack he wanted to catch and tried to catch but had failed on the previous trip with Bouncer the year before when he caught the Warsaw instead. Why anyone wants to catch Amberjack, I don't know :confused: , but some people enjoy self flagellation. :rolleyes: After releasing the AJ, we ran another 5 miles south where we found a 2 knot current edge, blue water, weeds and a color change in 200' of water and set the kites back up. We were drifting north at about 2 miles per hour, but with a sea anchor out, we were holding our depth when we saw some birds working close to the water about a quarter mile off our bow. Pulling the sea anchor and raising the kite baits in the air we quickly ran to this area dropped the kite baits and threw out a flat line bait on a 20# spinner. The spinner was the first rod to go off and Tom picked it up, jumping his first sail. Soon all hell broke loose as 2 additional sails grabbed the kite baits. I picked up one rod and Tom II picked up the second, we had a triple on!!! Among all this confusion, another sail started to jump and we thought it was a quad, but none of the other two lines broke free of the release clips and it was a freejumper in the middle of the chaos. Concentrating on Tom's first sail, Capt Bouncer chased it with the boat as it grayhounded North while Tom II's fish went deep and mine went South. 10-12 minutes later, Abie grabbed the leader and Bouncer stuck a tag in the fishes shoulder. The hook was removed and fish released after a quick photo or three. During this time, I managed to stop my fish and turn him, so by the time Tom's fish was released, mine was close to the boat. Another 2 minutes I had the fish where Abie could grab the leader and tag this fish. Cutting the leader close to the hook, it was two down and one to go. Bouncer maneuvered the boat over Tom II's fish and he pumped it up where Abie could grab the leader, but before we could tag the fish, the leader wore thru and the fish released in good health. Not bad, starting the trip off with a triple after a very slow start. Another hour or so went by in these good conditions when we all saw a sail come up and eat one of the kite baits. Gary was up and picked up the rod. This turned out to be a very large sail and it went deep, not expending it's strength on energy sapping jumps. It took Gary a good 25 minutes to get this fish back to the surface where Abie grabbed the leader, I tagged the fish and the leader was cut. Setting the rods back out, we settled into watching the baits again when Bouncer saw the last fish of the day eat a bait on the rod I happened to be standing next to. I picked up this rod, cranked to come tight and this fish virtually exploded into the air. It jumped and flipped for a full 5 minutes, giving us a great show and great photo opportunity ( I hope the two Tom's got some good shots) before taking off away from the boat and diving deep. It came up about 10 minutes later, close to the boat where Abie grabbed the leader and tagged the fish. We fished for another hour before pulling the plug and arriving back at the dock right at 4:00. 5 for 5 on sails plus an AJ, a dolphin and a kingfish is not a bad day anywhere. We thanked Bouncer and Abie for a great day and promised to return. After a quick run back to the motel where we showered and changed, we returned to Miami Beach for a social hour and dinner at the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club.
Thursday morning we made a stop at Capt Harry's Tackle Store in Miami to pick up some items that are not readily available in Tampa, before closing the door on another great trip with Bouncer and returning home. We also picked up several copies of Capt Harry's catalog when we found that the picture of Tom and is Warsaw Grouper was in the catalog :cool:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Dockside.jpg
Dockside in th AM
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Hammerhead.jpg
The first fish of the day into our bait spread was a guy wearing a brown suit -- Hammertime! He obviously had pickup up our kite baits and was headed straight for them. When he'd get 3-4' away, Bouncer would simply raise the bait out of the water -- frustrating Mr. Hammerhead to no end This shark could turn on a dime and a couple of times almost got the bait. Finally his rage reduced to the point where it was no longer fun for him and off he went.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/AJOnII.jpg
Tom on his AJ
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/BouncerTom.jpg
Tom & Bouncer with the AJ
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Griffin-R2-018-7A.jpg
Sails jumping
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Jumping.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/JumpingII.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/BOUNCER2009035-1.jpg
And Tagged!!
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/griffintm/Griffin-R2-050-23A.jpg
Dinner was at the Miami Beach Rod & Reel Club with Executive Director Suzan Baker as our host