Decided to head out after work with the crew. Water was fairly choppy with a southeast wind but there weren't any storms in the air. We had a pretty slow night with only a Bonito and a decent sized Kingfish caught by Bryan. I had trouble with my GPS unit not responding and checked every wire possible only to finally realize that the Coast Guard Cutter that was about a half mile away from us was interrupting our signal. Green water was still the rule even though the east winds persisted much of the week. It was a fun night and got to do some reconnaissance before the Varadis came down.

Doug and I went out again this morning but we were determined to stay away from the Bones this time so we started out in 300' out of the Lake Worth Inlet. About 10 minutes go by without much action then Doug hooks up with a a nice football Tuna. Then a few minutes later he is doing battle with a 30lb Amberjack. While he is getting worked by the big bruiser, I see a Dolphin swim by the back of the boat so I free lined a Ballyhoo out and he steals the bait. I reel in and throw it out again and this time, FISH ON! No video this time but a great start to the day within the first hour that we are out. The seas were even calmer than the night before so we ran out to 700' looking for weeds or trash where maybe some Tuna or Dolphin would be feeding. We found some boxes, shoes, and bags with no fish holding there so we headed back in for another drift and hooked up with some more boneheads. The current was very spotty today but water temperatures we 89 degrees in 700' and 86-87 from 80' to 150'. When out deep there was almost no current but when in shallow we would hit a strong current every so often. It was strange. With temperatures in the 90's and no wind, we called it a day since we were pretty much roasted by 2pm. The fishing has seemed to drop off after noon for the last few weeks. Also interesting that we did not get one snapper with everyone reporting a hot Mutton bite.

Sometimes the captain and co-captain have to go out by themselves without the rest of the crew so we can catch some fish. Doug (Gimp hand and all) and I went out Friday after work around 3pm only to be surrounded by big storms so we hit up Peanut Island to eat some fried chicken and mashed potatoes while the storm passed. Nothing like some PublixSeveral Snook fishermen waiting for the storms to clear joined us under the pavillion. Heard one guy say he caught a 40" Snook in the inlet. After the storms, we started a drift in about 100' and sure enough the boneheads were waiting for us so we moved in shallow to get some snapper or Kings and had 4 nice snake kings. At one time we had three fish on, and yes there was only two of us to reel them in. Called it an early night around 9pm since we were getting an early start on Saturday. Once the storms passed the supposed SE wind was non-existent and the seas calmed to make great conditions for bottom fishing. Water temperatures continue to get warmer nearing 86 degrees in 80' and 88 degrees in 200 feet but the water has been murky out to 500 feet. After the storm, we could see the fire that was started by lightening in Palm Beach Gardens. Apparently the PBG fire department just let it burn out since no homes were in jeopardy.

Woke up early to troll for Wahoo but we had a minor setback that resulted in a trip to the ER for Doug. While Bryan and Doug were at the PBG Med Center, Chris, Dr. ReelsGood, and yours truly were out fishing waiting for them to return. We headed south to Breakers and caught a couple of Yellowtails right off the bat. We then headed north for another drift and landed a 8lb Mutton Snapper. Then Chris and I hooked two nice Dolphin that we found hiding under some weeds as my spotter (Chris) pointed out. We had several bite offs as they were most likely sharks considering we saw a 6' Blacktip Shark make an appearance. Great day other than the hook incident and phenomenal table fare. Winds at 6am were strong out of the east but they calmed down as the sun came up. Our first couple of drifts were pushing us south and then northwest the rest of the day but much slower than normal. A video of the Dolphin Dancing can be seen on YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHi_svp0rrY

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.