Water to table: weekend getaway to Key West

Sea2Ski

 Friend of my wife called and said she had a place in Key West and asked if we wanted to go. We only had to pay for flights, so why not. I wanted to catch fish I never caught before, so it did not take much persuasion.

 Friday night was Lobsterfest, so I got two tails out of this pile:

 

The next morning, went to a beautiful marina, left dock, went to the pinfish bait traps and loaded up on live bait.  That was 15 mins from dock to loaded with fresh caught bait. Unheard of in Jersey.

 

Took a 10 min run to a patch reef and we started chumming. Within 2 minutes of putting the chum in – bam – small red snapper. Re-baited and I got my first yellowtail. Then more snappers and yellowtails, some small grouper, and other neat fish.  It was drop and reel catching, but the fish were on the small side so we went out a bit further and deeper.  Went maybe .5 mile, stopped, and we got the same stuff, but a bit bigger. We were having fun, so we stayed a bit.

 Then the guide said, okay – lets go get them…  ran 10 mins, and was in 320 ft of water over a wreck – a sunk barge. While he was doing last minute rigging, I cast in using the same rig I was using earlier to a swirl I saw in the water – skipjack.  What a blast on light tackle. Put him in the cooler for bait.

Then he handed me a heavy action rod, with a Van Stall spinning reel after which he double checked the drag was fully clamped down. Terminal tackle was a 8 oz lead bucktail with a curly-tail grub on it. Total length was about 12 inches. He said “Take another drink of water, stretch your back and when you are ready drop it down fast for the first 100 feet, then slow it down to 50% freefall speed to it hits bottom – if it makes it – and jig it.  Good luck”.

 I did want he said. If I had to guess, it made it ¾ the way then stopped. I knew something was wrong, but right at the same time. I set the hook and it was a mac truck. Drag was screaming, and I was holding on with everything I had. As soon as line stopped going out, I cranked like hell.  Got several yards back, and then it ran again. I looked at him. He sat back, and smiled and shrugged.  “This is what you signed up for, right?  Ever hook an amberjack? If not before, you just did.”  I somehow cleared the fish of the wreck, and the battle was on. The fight raged on for about 10-15 mins, then a really good run and something happened.  Weight was there, but not much of a fight. Captain said, “I think you are paying the tax collector now…”   He was correct; a shark bit off the tail. I was reeling up, barely got color and see the fish, then it was a frenzy. It got ripped apart by no less than 4 sharks. I kept reeling, but came back with nothing. Nothing at all. Estimated weight from the captain – 50-60 lbs.  I am not sure it was that big, but it could have been. Nature can surely humble you.

 We tried again, this time the fish took me in the wreck, and it snapped the 80 lb leader.

 Captain said that the sharks came in, so we should move. I said, “Lets catch a shark”. He smiled and said “Game on.”  We cut the skipjack I caught earlier, and first drop resulted in a  4 foot lemon shark for my wife's friend.  Next:  5-6 foot blacktip for me, and there were no less than 5 others when I got a visual on him. That was enough of that….

 

 We decided to move. As we ran, I cast to some swirls but got nothing. Well not true – one took my bait, and ran for 2 seconds and got cut off after a small jump. Barracuda.  Awesome. 

Then we came to a weed patch and caught dolphin for dinner and about 20 others that we released. I loved seeing  her and her friend sight cast and catch individual fish. Like everyone, they were in awe of their jumping and colors. 

That was a blast. My wife and her friend caught a bunch as I helped bait/unhook. This one came to dinner:

We ate at the marina restaurant where they prepared that mahi 3 ways: Breaded and fried as an appetizer

then grilled and blackened. 

The view was not so bad either:

The following night, we cooked the remainder of the fish on the hotel weber. Got to make do with what you have available, right?

 

 It was a great trip. I envy you who live down there and fish; however, I will say that you can keep that heat and intense sun.

Jeremiah

Paradise. Jealous. 

theyolksonyou

Absolutely awesome. Glad you had a good time. Always enjoy your water to table posts. 

nolaegghead

Awesome story!  I'm envious.

Dobie

Livin the dream 

Foghorn

Very envious. I especially love catching Mahi. 

Foghorn

And eating it. 

Davec433

The Tarpin under the peir always creep me out.

SGH

Brother that looks like a incredible time right there. I would love to have been right in the middle of that. Just awesome brother. 

Sea2Ski

Davec433 said:

The Tarpin under the peir always creep me out.

Really @Davec433?  I could sit there for hours and watch them. They are harmless. Even though their gums look like they have mean teeth, they are like sandpaper. The second picture is when one jumped and got my hand as I was feeding them.  I had nothing more than a single small scratch about 1/2 inch long. 

Sea2Ski

@Foghorn I do have a hard time deciding which is better, the way they fight and their colors or the way they taste. 

TexanOfTheNorth

I have to admit, your story reads better than mine about buying some trout at Costco.

WeberWho

Awesome pics and story!

chadpsualum

Thank you for sharing.  Looks like it was a great time.  Great pics!

GATraveller

That's great.  Looks like you had an absolute blast and ate well.  Good times.

leemschu

Looks great!! I'd love to go back to the keys to fish especially to catch some of those tarpon!