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Hawaii, St. ThomasReport Date: September 5, 2012Do to the lack of charters this month I was fortunate to do some traveling. I visited Haiti, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands this past August not including Hawaii. Every year I try to take some time off during the summer to target blue marlin. Blue marlin are one of my favorite fish to pursue. The reason I like chasing these fish are for their size, strength, acrobats, and agility.
My first destination was to visit my brother and his family in Hawaii. My brother own’s the charter boat L and H out of Key Biscayne and is the best fisherman I know of. He and his family eat, sleep, and breathe fishing. For the past few summers he and his 12 year old son James have been working on the Northern Lights skippered by Capt. Kevin Nakamura. Hawaii is a very interesting place because of its calm water and close proximity to the fishing grounds. This place is notorious for big fish. There has been a grander blue marlin caught there for every month of the year. Thanks to Kevin and my brother I was able to ride out with them for a few days. In the short time I was on the Northern Lights they managed to capture six blue marlin, 4 yellowfin tuna over 125 lbs, 12 mahi mahi, and 4 shortbill spearfish. This to me was excellent fishing. The two highlights of the trip was my niece catching a world record 36lb spearfish and her dad Jimmy David who was aboard the Marlin Magic, winning the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament. They caught six blue marlin up to 638 lbs and a spearfish to win the prestigious tournament. Hats off to team Marlin Magic!
The last trip of the summer for me, was to fish St. Thomas. I have been hearing stories of this place for years and was finally able to witness it myself. St. Thomas is one of the ultimate destinations to catch blue marlin. Some of the best boats and crews in the world fish the summer full moons which produce multiple fish days and agressive teaser bites with fish averaging around 300 lbs. Ninety percent of the boats in St. Thomas are pitch baiting also referred to as bait and switch. Bait and switch consists of four teasers( lures with no hooks) and one pitch bait. The object of this method is to “tease” the marlin close to the boat and then pitching the fish a natural bait. The reason they do this ,is because the fish tease up well and they increase their hook up percentage when the fish eat the bait opposed to a lure. I was lucky enough to see this happen three times in one day aboard the boat Da Bait. There’s nothing like seeing a pissed off marlin in the spread waiting to attack!
Now, the summer is on it’s way out, and it is time to concentrate on fishing South Florida. The swordfishing the last few days have been off the charts. Some boats are getting 6-7 shots a trip. I had a friend catch 14 swords up to 350lbs the other night. If you have never caught a swordfish and want to do it now is the time! Reef fishing has still been consistent with lots of bonita, kingfish, wahoo, and tunas. There have also been dolphin 5-10 miles offshore.
As far as the inshore fishing is concerened, the fall mullet run is on its way and will let loose here in the next few weeks. The snook fishing is still pretty good in the inlets, along with some nice jack crevelles and your seldom tarpon. I still have a few availabilities for September so pick up your phone and let's make it happen!
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