Happy Independence Day! I wasn't planning on going out today but Bryan and his family convinced me, really had to twist my arm of course. Story didn't change much as Bonito ruled the water however I was able to get everyone hooked on 3 or 4 fish which is better than most days. Mr. Bob caught a Barracuda, Jack, and a couple of Bonito. I knew my luck was running out when a fish, most likely something very large, pulled a rod out of the boat and is swimming somewhere in the Atlantic with $200 attached to it. Mrs. Donahue and Katherine got some very nice Bonito then we headed in to Peanut Island to see the chaos and eat our picnic lunch. Nothing in the cooler today and one rod lighter but still a great day on the water. Conditions remained calm with the west wind although the bait popping on the surface had dropped off significantly from Thursday afternoon.

After the evening trip, I was slightly worried about the day trip because the only time we did not catch a fish in a year and a half was when I brought Scarano out. My worries were quickly squashed when he reeled in a Bonito which was the beginning of many. Wherever we went we could not get away from the boneheads, we went north to Juno, out to 200 feet of water, and in shallow. Finally, I took us down to Breakers and Jackman hooked up with this nice size Trigger which was fantastic on the dinner plate. Thanks to the guy who fished right on top of us for telling us about the great taste. Chris then caught a nice Rainbow Runner, while Mike and I hooked up with nice size Muttons. Chris then hooked up with a 9lb King. Sharks were also very prevalent as we got bit off several times while fighting Bonito. Then came the fish of the year thus far. Jackman finally lived up to his name, Dr. Reelsgood, and landed this nice Sailfish. I had free lined a ballyhoo that I thought maybe would get eaten by something other than a Bonito and lucky enough, a sailfish took it and danced across the water giving us quite a show. Overall we had about 15 or so Bonito, 2 Mutton's, Rainbow Runner, King, several Trigger Fish, some annoying remora and of course the Sailfish. Conditions were calm with what little wind there was coming from the west. The abundance of bait was remarkable the last few days.

One benefit to having your hours cut at work is you get off work at noon on a Thursday before July 4th weekend and can fish all afternoon and evening. We cleared the inlet with showers and storms virtually everywhere. Once they dissipated, the seas calmed and the bonito frenzy was on. We could hear and see Bonito feeding anywhere from 30 feet to 150 feet of water. The ocean sounded like popcorn popping in the microwave. Doug was catching Bonito after Bonito on topwater plugs and we were pretty much catching them with every drop of a sardine. We ran down to Breakers and Jackman caught a nice Mutton for dinner. We are still struggling with the night fishing with no bites after sundown but we called it an early night anyhow since we were going out early on Friday.

After a successful night trip we hit the ocean around 9am for round two. We were greeted with calm seas and no wind which made it very hot to start. We headed down south of Breakers in about 70 feet and were catching grunts before we could even get bait on a hook. Also hooked up with several snappers and grouper but nothing worth keeping. We then decided to head north a bit because the commercial fisherman and weekend warriors were out in force making the area almost unfishable. After the move we hooked up with a bunch of bonitas and snappers. Then a 16lb smoker king hit and 20 minutes later Chris had it in the boat. After drifting to Juno Pier we headed back closer to the inlet for one more drift and hooked up with a decent sized schoolie Dolphin. We left it out there because we thought we had some more dolphin in the area but the Bonita made it impossible to get to them. All in all it was a fantastic fishing weekend for all of us. Rough numbers are Chris caught 10 fish, Jackman caught 8, Doug caught 8, I caught 4. Conditions today got very rough around 3pm as winds picked up due to thunderstorms in the area. Water clearity was pretty clear in 300' even though reports were saying it was murky until 600'.

We headed out after work about 5pm with numberous showers and thunderstorms around but they were dissipating and the evening turned out to be beautiful. We drifted north catching a few snappers, kings, grouper, and bonita of course. No pictures of the catch as we saved the pictures for the day trip on Saturday (next report). The winds were out of the SW switching to out of the Southeast. Skies were cloudy with some patchy breaks after the heavy daytime rains.

After a late start we set up drift in 80 feet at about 9am. There was little to no wind and not a cloud in the sky most of the morning which led for very hot conditions. Jed started off his birthday trip with a nice yellowtail then we landed 5 more for the day. Jackman and Doug also got in on the action. After the snapper were biting all morning, the Bonito moved in and kept us busy. We couldnt even get our baits to the bottome without the boneheads hitting our baits. It made for an exiciting day but we would have liked to get something edible. Jackman capped off a great day with his first Kingfish of 2009. Clean water is very hard to find these days with all of the rain and west winds. Reports are saying you have to go out to about 350' to find the blue water.

After two weeks of all day rain, the old man and I cleared the inlet around 8am with flat seas and a light northwest wind. We set up to drift in 80 feet as we were drifting northeast. The Yellowtail, Mutton, and Grouper were biting well in 90 feet. The kings were scarce probably due to the heavy pressure from the KDW Classic on Saturday however we did land these two kings around noon off Singer Island using dead freelined ballyhoo. Bonito are becoming thicker by the hour it seems. All in all we had 6 fish in the cooler by noon and the old man caught some fish to take home to the Ohioans. The west wind and heavy rains have created murky conditions once again.

We got to the inlet at 615am and saw the rough seas and headed back in to put on some ponchos and get ready for the rough adventure out to the drop. We drifted dead sardines hooking up with kingfish every few minutes. Caught a 10.5 pounder good enough for 10th place in the Simmons and White KDW Tournament. We did fight something for two hours before finally giving up. The Kingfish were everywhere from 70 feet to 120 feet hitting our sardines and tearing through the flourocarbon every drop. The water was murky due to the rough conditions with a strong southeast wind pushing seas 4-6'. Below is our catch. Winning dolphin was 24lbs and winning King was 34lbs. All in all it was a successful tournament considering we were the smallest boat out of 40 boats! Thanks to the crew for helping out and pitching in during the rough conditions. I wouldnt have been able to go out there without everyones help.

With almost no wind and clear skies we set out around 830am. Our first drift was south of the inlet in 100 feet Within 15 minutes Paige landed her first Kingfish. It is very clear that the Kingfish bite has picked up significantly in the last couple of weeks despite the full moon this weekend. The fish must not be as smart either because Doug finally landed a 15lb King. It doesnt compare to the smoker king he lost last week but it will do. After three Kingfish and a few bottom dwellers we trolled bonito strips from 100' to 600' straight out the inlet with no luck. Water has still been very clear with the lack of rain.

With the KDW tournament only a couple weeks away and the team unable to land a King or a Dolphin in recent weeks, we set out early once again only this time to find rough seas and a blustery SE wind. Water clearity was still crystal clear however it was cloudier than the previous day so it made it difficult to see the bottom. With a bonito in the cooler ready to make bonito strips we set out deeper to find some Kings however Dr. ReelsGood decided he was going to catch his leg with a treble hook so we had to head in at 10am so he could get the hook removed. While he was out of commission Bryan finally landed a 12lb King and a 17lb bonito just north of the inlet in about 90' of water. An hour later, Jackman and Jon were back in action and Matt landed the first Dolphin of 2009. It was a schoolie but still tasted good on the dinner table. We landed a few more Bonito one of which got tangled up with the Depth Finder transducer yet the fish somehow managed to stay on the line while Bryan jumped in the water to untangle it. With all of bruises from the seas, wind, and Jackman's hook, we headed in to grill up the weekends' catch while we were all still in one piece.

Matt, Doug and I hit the water around 8am and found a calm ocean with no wind and clear skies. The water was so clear you could see the bottom in about 70 feet of water. As far as fishing goes, fish were solid on the fish finder most of the day anywhere from 70 feet to 110 feet. Matt fought a fish for 45 minutes in 110 feet of water but lost it. Co-Captain Doug fought a huge smoker king for an hour and half and lost it on its last run. He promises it wont happen again. I had to step up and put a King, Mutton Snapper and 2 Yellowtail Snapper in the cooler since it was clear WVU wasnt going to get it done. Winds picked up as the day went on but the water remained calm. We went out to 150' of water and found 81 degree water with crystal clear water anywhere from 50' to 150'. The boneheads are back as well as Doug and Matt were able to boat a few.