October 2020
October has been a month of highs and lows in terms of the sea state and winds! For a few days, the hurricane a few hundred miles north pulled the wind out of the area and we enjoyed flat calm seas and a weird NW wind on the South Drop, but this last few days the wind came back with a vengeance! The wahoo bite started in mid-September and I set the bar with a 53 pounder (on the North Drop) slow trolling a skirted ballyhoo on the surface. Captain Chris fired right back a few days later with a nice 65 pounder (on the South Drop) and currently is in the lead with the seasons biggest. Several 40 pound fish were also landed, then we seemed to only catch a few “we-hoos” from 10-12 pounds. The bite has since slowed, but with the recent increase of winds, we haven’t been trolling much on either the North or the South. I expect the wahoo bite to really turn on over the next few weeks and last through February. Mahi are still around and its not uncommon to fill the fish box with numerous schoolies in the 5-8 pound range, although a 40 pounder was landed by Captain Spencer on the T7 FAD a few weeks ago. The late season Marlin bite is still strong with the moon. Our friends on Mojito landed three on Saturday the 24th and 4 on Sunday the 25th, the rest of the moon may be blown out as the sea state on the North isn’t conducive for fishing. Black fin tuna are really starting to get hot with several being caught on live bait rigs while bottom fishing. For those who prefer to stay in-shore and enjoy calmer seas, there are plenty of areas we can go and catch grouper, snapper, and a variety of other reef fish. Lastly, our holiday season bookings are starting to fill up. If your vacation plans include fishing with us at Ocean Surfari, I encourage you to book your off-shore or in-shore trip soon!
Captain Rob