Friends of the Reef Raider

I like posting pictures of my friends and their catches on my Blog; check out these pictures of my Friend Marcel Moreno and his boys tearing it up inside Government Cut.

In his own words...

"All were on drifts in government cut. Live shrimp during shrimp run. During the cold nights, the fish were feeding in the cut because the water was three to 4 degrees warmer. Snook and snapper were a bit deeper than the tarpon and were caught on 1/4 to 1/2 inch troll right jigs with shrimp hooked thru the horn. It's been some of the best fishing I've experienced. Most nights, we hook up on over 12 tarpon. I went 6/7 on tarpon with the biggest being about 50 lbs. Also fought a 130 lber for about 45 min before 50 lb leader gave out on one of my smaller rods. We also caught many snapper over 18 inches with several over 20 inches. The cubera was also caught in the cut. I also added a cooling canal tarpon picture, Fish was well over 100 lbs."

The Reef Raider is back again

Hi there Reef Raider fans.

Well wrestling season is over and thus my fishing season begins. I had the good fortune this past weekend to go fishing with my good friend Juan Estevez, captain of the Why Knot (29 ft Sea Vee) and sole proprietor of Why Knot Charters.

The day started off great; we set out from Matheson Hammock and headed directly toward Bug Light to catch some live bait. The boats were thick out there as everyone that hit the water out of Miami that day seemed to have the same intentions. We found a bait ball and Juan expertly tossed his 12ft cast net and it came up big. With a loaded bait well we started a run south towards Pacific Reef with Snapper in mind.

The wind was blowing a little and the seas were choppy so Juan to an inside route closer to shore to avoid the bigger swells. 45 minutes or so later we were at the spot Juan had chosen to try first. We anchored just south of the Whistle Buoy, rigged a few rods and dropped the Chum bag in the water. We were targeting Yellowtail, but Juan also put out a line on the bottom in case any stray Mutton Snapper or Grouper happened by. We managed a few Tails on slow action, and then the bottom rod ripped away and Juan attacked the stick to bring in a Nice Mutton.

After several hours we had managed 9 Yellowtail and a Mutton Snapper so Juan decided to pick up and find some deeper water so we could drift a few productive ledges that he knows in the area.

We set up for the first drift and right away we were battling another Mutton Snapper. We picked up the lines and ran back to do the same drift once again. As it turns out we hooked fish on every pass through that area managing 5 more Mutton, 1 more big Yellowtail that ate a large Pilchard, and a Dolphin. I failed to land a rather large Sail Fish that ran off half the spool on a Baitrunner 6500B, and we failed to land a Slammer Dolphin at boat side for lack of a Gaff.

I must say that we had a great time not to mention a great day of fishing especially considering the chatter we were hearing on the radio. Reports from other boats on the day were mostly of people maxing out on Barracuda and Bonito but not much else. By comparison our catch was a windfall with a snapper aggregate of 16 and a Dolphin for good measure.

I did not take too many picture because I was trying out a new video camera and in fact made a nice video that is posted on YouTube, here is the link so you can check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuH5vsiKGT0 .

I do have a few pictures of already cleaned fish so enjoy those and check back now and then for my new additions to the blog.

Filet of Dolphin (Mahi)

Mutton Snapper

Bigger Mutton Snapper

You gotta check out this website

Hey Reefraider fans,

Unfortunately the Reefraider is on hiatus as my Depth Finder is having problems with the software so I sent it in for warranty repair.

Anyway, a good friend of mine Omar Chavez turned me on to this site http://teens4oceans.org/webcam/ggrp/camer1.html (copy the address and paste it onto your address bar and press enter). You will be able to view two underwater cameras with live streaming video, one from Bahia Honda, and the other from Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. It is really mesmerizing, I have been able to catalog at least 20 different species of fish, not the least of which are the 10 or so individual Goliath grouper that hang out in front of the camera leisurely swimming against the current at the Bahia Honda site. There are also many Permit, Snook, tons of Tarpon, schools of Yellow Tail and Mangrove snapper, as well as several different varieties of Shark. At the Fort Jefferson site, Snook and Tarpon are also common, but in the mornings you can also see thousands of schooling pilchards and other fish.

I hope you enjoy this site as much as I have, and if you have the means please order a Tee-Shirt or send a donation to the Teens4Oceans team to help fund their research.

I have added a link just above he most recent post for easier navigation, just click where it says TEEN 4 OCEANS and you will be directed to the website.

Till next time...

A Marathon in Marathon

So I had this big trip to Marathon planned this past week and it did not shape up to be anything like what I had hoped. Like the saying goes, if it were easy they'd call it catching not fishing.

Here are the facts, Full Moon in August (the Mangrove Snapper are spawning), in one of the best places in the world to fish for snapper, with one of the most successful and knowledgeable captains in South Florida (Mike Murias) and his 29 SeeVee, accompanied by two experienced snapper fisherman (Myself and Alex Cazañas) and one rookie (Mike Castro), fresh bait, 4 dozen live Pin Fish, and some of the best tackle that money can buy.

I had a two bedroom suite at the Hammocks in Marathon for two days of what I thought was going to be killer fishing. So we set out early Thursday morning, conditions weren't great by any means, with a stiff 15 to 20 knot wind, sea's 3 to 5 with a 6 here and there, and thunderstorms harassing us most of the day. Mike's SeeVee handles like a champ even in rough weather, and I've been with him in some really bad stuff so this was not a really big deal other than it made get situated difficult.

We headed out for the first target and when we got there Mike glumly stated. GREEN WATER, and no current to boot. Now come on, really a full moon and no current, not a good sign starting out. So we didn't even waste any time there, we ran to another spot and needless to say it was more of the same. We ran around for a few hours and didn't do much fishing, much less catching save for a Bonita. We ran back in to pull the pin fish trap for the night target of Mangroves, when Alex came up with the best suggestion of the weekend, "Lets get a Burger before we head out. So we found this place near the Sombrero bridge Marina called Burdines and I must say the food was delicious.

SO with full stomachs, some improvement in the weather to 10 knots and some renewed optimism we set out again. This time Mike suggested that we run North to see if we could find some better water and some current. We pulled up and there was some good news, BLUE WATER, however, there was still little to no current.

Lines went in the water and it was not long before we had a few tails in the boat. THe night fell and the Mangroves turned on, the short of it is we caught some 12 Mangs and 8 or 9 Tails, no the slaughter we (I) had anticipated, but at least we did not get skunked. It was nearly 11:00 PM and we had worked hard to get what we had and we were all pretty much exhausted. We headed home and by the time we took the boat out, unloaded the equipment, showered, and hit the bed it was nearly 4:00 AM. That's right, we put in about 17 hours on the water of hard core fishing.

So on Friday we slept in, the plan was to fish the afternoon anyway, the weather was much improved and optimism once again was ours. We headed out about 4:00 PM and ran south once again, we pulled up at the same spot as the day before and still the water was green, and the current was non-existent. No big deal, we were planning on heading further south anyway. We ran the 30 mile to our target and Mike and I immediately started Jigging. Immediately we both had bent rods, and things looked awesome. What ever fish I had on was big enough that it made it back to the wreck we were over, and I was cut off. Mike had a similar experience expect whatever cut him off had teeth. We ran back to the wreck and tried it again and again we had fish hooked, this time Alex and I were both on with fish, but the result was the same, some bigger and with teeth was taking our bounty. We must have drifted over the wreck some 6 or 8 times and had big fish on every time only to be bested but some larger predator. on one of our last drifts I managed to get a Bonito boat side just 10 feet from the boat when a large Shark (Lemon said Mike, in the 250lb class) came in like a bolt of lightning and ran off with my fish. Not a big deal, he can have the Bonito, but I would have liked to get back my Butterfly Jig so I handed Mike (Castro) the rod so he could experience a real fight and hopefully get my jig back. after about 20 min the shark was visible, but with one last thrash and a frayed line it took my Butterfly Jig and the Bonito and headed back to his Lair.

So we left the wreck with nothing, we decided to try for some snapper but what we found was the where the water was Blue and the current was Ripping and impossible to get the chum or the bait down to our target, when we found less current we were in Green water, and the fish bite was so off that we could not even get grunts to bite on the bottom with Squid for bait, really, that is unheard of.

Anyway, we finally gave up and ran home empty handed, but as always, we had one last ditch effort to save the trip. I advised Mike of a secret location that I have where the Lobster love to hang out, and though it was now 3:00 AM, we went for it anyway. Mike and Mike suited up and in less than an hour they had managed to pull out 14 nice Lobster, not to mention the 30 or so we released because they were a hair under legal and we did not want to keep anything even close.

I know I have probably said this before, it seems to be a common enough theme, especially when things don't go as planned; but the worst day of fishing is better than the best day of working. In the end we had spent some great hours talking, Ribbing each other as good friends tend to do, and battling the fish and the elements. Fishing is awesome, fishing with friends is priceless, and some of the best stories ever told come from the worst trips.

Till next time Reef Raider fans...

Enjoy the Pics.

OK Mikie here's a Shark, handle it (LOL!!!)

The Shark makes his run

Still Running

"DAMN!"

"WOW! I'm hurting"

"H Town Baby"

"ENTONCE!"

"I got this Mikie"

"Suerte Principal"

Still Running

Turned around and Realin Down

"It's almost over Mikie"

Three of the best people I know

The boys are hurtin

Check out the room and the equipment

The bugs that saved the day

Lobster on ice is always a pretty site

Last Tuesday

I know teachers complain a lot about our crappy pay, but this summers off thing is a perk that to me is priceless; it allows me a couple months to kick back and do the things I really love to do, like Fish.

Anyway, I was supposed to play poker Tuesday night with some friends, but a late afternoon call from some good friends to do some snapper fishing meant "The Hell With Poker, I'm Going Fishing." I was told to bring a long a friend if I wanted; so who do I know that loves fishing and can say yes at the drop of a hat without worrying about work, wife, or any other barrier? My Assistant coach Mike Castro of course; so I called Mikie and a little over an hour later we were on our way to Tavernier to Jorge and Bob's house.

We set out and picked up a pin fish trap that had been set out a little earlier, and as always with these traps I turned all my friends on to, it was loaded.

We headed out and found 85 feet of water, the Sounder was marking big schools of fish so we anchored up, put out the Chum Bag, and on his first drift "BANG" Bob was on the first tail of the night. The rest of the night was a steady mix of Yellowtails and Mangrove Snappers.

Of course as is the custom with Bob and Jorge, they spent a good part of the evening busting balls, and me with a slow start it just added fuel to the fire. Mikie spent most of the night cracking up, and even got in on the ribbing. Eventually my rod did heat up and I got my share of the limit, I even managed a nice size Mang at the end of the evening with a live pinny I drifted back to close out our limit and call for the pulling of the anchor.

Jorge spent most of the night teaching Mikie a thing or two about Snapper fishing, and handed Mikie his rod numerous times with a fish already on it. Mikie could not have asked for a better tutor really, as both Jorge and Bob are well seasoned and highly experienced snapper slayers.

I also included a few pictures of a fishing trip that Jorge and Bob took earlier in the week, notice the suicidal Black Grouper the either threw itself on Jorge's hook, or possibly swallowed a small tail the size that Jorge usually catches and ended up on the boat. It was a nice catch any way you slice it, a 17 pound grouper on a 12 pound snapper rig says it all. I guess it was a depressingly bad day for fish because Jorge also managed a suicidal and rare catch of a Hog Snapper on fishing line, everyone knows if you want Hog Snapper you best get down and dirty with a Spear Gun.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

The Anglers

Mangs on the top line, Tails and a nice school Master on Bottom

The Take Home

A Suicidal Black Grouper (LOL!!!)

On Ice

Daddy caught this??? NO WAY!

Nice mix bag, check out the suicidal Hog Snapper, 4th left to right on the top row

Fillets! Whole Friers! And a Grouper that's going to need a big oven for Baking

Check out the hurtin my cousins put on the Grouper out west

Freddy and Hector you already know from the Reef Raider logs, now meet my younger cousins Kyle and Tyler and my friend Hector's daughter Kristy.

Apparently fishing skills run in the blood because these three youngsters managed to boat more than a dozen grouper in just couple of hours on a wreck about 25 miles west of Ft. Myers.

I don't have all the details because I was not part of the trip but here is what I do know from a telephone report. They left the Dock sometime after 7 AM; the plan was to drop a pin fish trap for a few and get some live bait but it was not necessary after my cuz Freddy spotted some Sardines, and being pretty adept at throwing the cast net they managed to load up on livies and head out sooner than expected.

They made the Run to the wreck offshore with nice weather, anchored up, and put out some lines. Kyle had his heart set on catching a Goliath grouper, and like Babe Ruth calling his shot this is what he boated.

Tyler, Freddy, and Kyle the Goliath slayer

(This Goliath Grouper was safely released after the Photo Opp)

Thereafter these youngsters managed to catch another 8 Keeper groupers, a Lane Snapper, and Mangrove Snapper to bring home for the fish fry. All in all a Great job by this next generation of anglers with some valuable tutelage from Freddy and Hector.

I was promised more pics and if they come I will post those as well, but this is what I have for now.

6 Reds, 2 Gags, 1 Lane, and 1 Mang

Kyle, Tyler, Kristy, Freddy and Hector

Correction / Retraction ;-)

Not long after my most recent post I got this note back from Jorge. Don't read anything into his tone, he is just busting balls, LOL!

"How dare you insult Bobby by calling that fish a Reef Donkey or an Amberjack. Anybody can catch an Amberjack that size; however, a Jack Crevalle, which is what Bobby caught, rarely are seen that big. We have never seen one that size in 30+ years of fishing. See id pics below. Bobby says to edit your blog or he will come after you with Internet crime charges."

j

My apologies to Bob for my misnomer calling his catch of a Giant Jack Crevalle a "Reef Donkey" otherwise know as the AmberJack. Truly a huge Cravalle, I too had never seen one that size, understandable that his Jorge would come to his defense.

Amberjack

Jack Crevalle