Monthly Archives: September 2012

Weather was tough earlier in the week, with windy and rainy conditions in the mornings. Were able to get out on the boat around mid-day to hit some lobster spots nearby, but didn’t have much luck. Couple other days we tried fishing on the reef. Managed a nice red grouper on the first day, but the fish had lock jaw on day 2. Got the yellowtails up to the boat at the first spot, but some porporise showed up and scared them off. Rest of the day we couldn’t locate yellowtails again and all the other fish didn’t seem to be biting much. Cindy was able to pull in a banded rudderfish which we proceeded to turn into a dinner dish.

Jalapeno has settled in just fine here in the Keys

Returned to the house on Wednesday afternoon, just in time to meet Vicki’s parents just arriving.  Thursday the weather turned around, so we were able to get out around 10am and make a full day of it. Loaded up the group of 7 and found some clear water and new spots which helped us pull in 19 lobsters for the day, a nice haul!  Cooked up a buffet of lobster bites last night for the entire group.

Michael diving on a nice ledge in search of bugs

Mess o’ lobsters

Michael, Vicki and Hera arrived on Saturday afternoon.  Cindy and I were out in the boat finding some new lobster spots on the oceanside as the weather had really calmed nicely the second half of the day.  Located a few legal bugs but more importantly some nice new spots only a mile or two from the house.

Woke up Sunday to some ultra-calm condition.  Everyone woke up, prepared, then we loaded the boat and headed out bayside to some previous honey holes.  Haven’t seen the conditions that glassy in a long while.  Some rain did show up later in the morning, but managed to avoid any thunderstorms  Team effort was able to get 8 keepers, including the biggest yet which was caught by Vicki.

First lobsters caught by the Swains

Hera, just over 2 years old, did amazingly well for being on a boat the entire day, even helping us out while her parents were in the water.

We were greeted Friday morning by a couple of iguanas on our dock. We had some fun watching them climb the trellis in the back yard, then jump into the canal and swim over to the mangroves. Afterward, we loaded up the kayaks and headed to Big Pine Key. Big Pine is known for its Key deer, and while there were down to only about 25-50 key deer left in the 1950s, there are about 600-700 here today. And we saw plenty of them roaming the streets! They are quite small, about the size of a medium to large dog and only found in the keys. After driving through a neighborhood, we found a nice place to launch the kayaks, in hopes of catching some mangrove snapper. The water was quite shallow and clear so it was easy to see all of the life as we paddled. We saw barracuda, a nurse shark, a variety of fish, sting rays, coral, and a small sea turtle resting along the bottom right next to my kayak! We did come across plenty of mangrove snapper, but bait was scarce so we only managed to catch 1 keeper. We then explored the Blue Hole, a man made freshwater pond that was dug out for road construction in the 1930s and 1940s. Interesting to see freshwater species when surrounded by so much salt water. Afterward, we headed to No Name Key to an old pub called No Name Pub which I had read a lot of good reviews about. We had a couple beers and some fish dip (which was delicious) and conch chowder. It was a cute little old place. Big Pine key and No Name key are definitely quieter than Marathon. Then, we headed back to Marathon, making a stop at Publix to replenish some of our supplies.

Our morning visitor!

Key deer!

Looking for a handout outside of No Name Pub

Go Gators!

After a healthy 3.5 mile run in the morning, we spent Tuesday back on the bayside looking for lobsters. Filled up the boat with gas earlier in the day in anticipation of calmer winds on Wednesday for a possible offshore fishing journey.  $4.95 a gallon for gas at the marina, yikes!  The winds were blowing pretty good the first half of the day which made conditions pretty tough, but we found some nice spots later in the day and were able to manage 9 keepers.  Winds laid down and the water cleared up nicely in the afternoon.

Woke up real early on Wednesday due to the anticipation of getting offshore.  Seem to always wake up real early, can remember doing the same when we took offshore trips on our boat back in Jax years ago.  Weather was not as nice as forecasted, but it said the conditions would improve over the day, so I took my time packing up the boat with offshore gear and let Cindy sleep in a bit.  Wind started to lay down around 9am and then we ventured out towards the south.  We were met with some really confused seas in the 2-3 foot range which made it a tough ride.  Decided to stop at the reef line and try some bottom bumping while we waited for the conditions to improve.

Got a chance to try anchoring and chumming in about 85 feet and had just enough rope to do it.  Marked some nice fish on the bottom and proceeded to drop down some cut bait.  Ended up pulling in quite a few 11.5 inch yellowtail, due to the minimum size of 12″ so the fish only grow so big 🙂  Other catches included a bunch of grunts, large tangs and one keeper mangrove which I caught on some live ballyhoo I cast netted off the back of the boat in the chum slick.  Bite turned off around noon and sea conditions improved so we continued further offshore.  The gulf stream is about 20 miles south of Marathon, which was our planned destination.

A slow day overall for us.  Never did find any great weed lines or major floating debris, but did stop and troll around some birds and busting tuna.  Had some action trolling a small feather around the tuna and caught a few little tunny.  Kept one of them to fillet for some food and bait.  The top loin was actually quite tasty when seared on the stovetop.  Covered a lot of ground, a few tugs on the line, swimming in the clearest blue water which was enjoyable in the mid-day heat, then finished off the day with a serene ride back home to a beautiful sunset.

dinner entree consisting of sauteed snapper with lobster topping and a side of broccoli and sweet potatoes with parmesan cheese

Had a great day on the water today. Took off around 10am to check out some lobster spots.

Our daily commute here in the Keys which is a bit more relaxing than I-95

Some storms rolled thru for a bit, but cleared off and turned into a great day. Verified some old spots and found another couple new ones too.

Prepared for lobster battle

Pole spear practice on filthy lion fish

Ended up limiting out with 12 lobsters (6 per person allowed up to a max of 24 per boat) after culling thru about 20+ keepers to keep the biggest ones. Back at the dock by 5pm for a margarita, boat clean-up and relaxation in the pool.

A nice selection of lobsters today

Turned 3 lobsters and some assorted veggies into a tasty pasta dish

Cindy’s video showing how to clean a spiny lobster:

Weather forecast wasn’t looking good for the first day when I woke up, so decided to work on some tasks around the house such as preparing some of the food we bought at Publix ( cooking black beans, rice, making a banana pudding pie, etc.)   I really enjoy cooking, so maybe some sort of cooking career in my future..  Headed out on some errands for bait, a sea sled (device which allows you to dive down deeper when getting towed behind the boat for lobstering and some other items at West Marine for the boat.

Returned around 11 and seemed like the weather wasn’t turning out like the forecast, so Cindy and I started loading up the boat for some lobstering and fishing.  Made our way towards an area we had explored previously to check some marked spots.  Pictures below pretty much tell the story.

Started a new page here on the blog to capture our logbook of lobstering, sorry no GPS coordinates for you fellow lobstering folks

Cindy about to hop into the water to find some new spots

Feels good to be back in the water looking for bugs!  September is such a relaxing month in the Keys, notice no other boats around..

Riding back to the house after an enjoyable first day on the water. Never did rain today, so much for the 70% rain chance.

An evening cruise along the shoreline back to our house with an amazing sunset

Couple keepers today hanging out on the dock prior to cleaning

Step 2: Lobster lose their heads

Had to make lobster bites for the first day back in the Keys

Even Jalapeno can’t pass up some bites! Hope she doesn’t boycott her normal cat food from now on

10am departure today, headed for Marathon, FL. Looking good with a sweet sea hunt bay boat in tow (thanks to the Swains!). Bringing our other toys such as kayaks and beach cruisers.

We had such an amazing time during our month long stay in cocoa beach and while we are excited about heading down to the Keys, it was hard to say goodbye. A big thanks to my mom and dad for letting us crash at the beach house and for being such fun hosts!! It was really nice to spend some time in the house where I grew up and to share it with Chris. Cocoa Beach has always held a special place in my heart and I’m glad my Midwestern husband loves and appreciates it for the same reasons I do!

Got up early on Thursday and Friday mornings to launch the yak for some sunrise fishing starting around 7am.

Kinda slow on Thursday and headed back in around 11am to get cleaned up for golf.  Some small trout on topwater in the early morning but couldn’t get much else to bite the rest of the morning.

Today was a different story and ended up staying out until about 2pm.  Started with the topwater lure and caught the usual small trout and couple ladyfish.  Rain held off for the most part, but the wind picked up out of the east so headed over the to the west bank of the islands.  Brought along the cast net and a bucket today so was able to collect a few finger mullet which came in handy.  Cruised along the mangrove shore fishing the flats.  Ended the day 2 for 3 on slot reds, losing one to a mangrove cut-off, and 1 really nice trout!  Continue to see an immense amount of sheepshead, but haven’t brought the right bait for them, maybe next time…

Sight fishing is an amazing difference from normal “sit and wait” fishing, this is more like hunting.  It has taken some practice but I seem to be learning the proper techniques to be successful, including standing on the kayak and maintaining balance while getting towed around by a fish.  Really exciting to see a redfish hanging out near the shore or heading towards you along the shore, casting a bait in its vicinity, watching it eat, setting the hook and FISH ON!  Keeping em out of the mangroves is quite a skill as well, especially on the kayak with no power or anchor.

Of course I didn’t bring my phone nor the GoPro for pics, so guess it’s all just a fish story 🙂

Headed to the Keys tomorrow morning, so the next 6 weeks of blogging will be from our next destination!  Looking forward to the lobstering, fishing, diving, exploring and assortment of friends and family visitors!

Out on the golf course today with Cindy and her father.  Looking forward to a good round!

9/14 Update:  Rain held off during our golf game and the wind kept it pretty cool.  Hardly anyone on the course, gotta love Septembers in Florida.  Cindy had a great round, shaved about 6 strokes off her normal score and was really driving the ball well!  Her new grips on the clubs seemed to have made a nice difference.  I shot my usual ~100 score but was driving the ball well and only lost a couple golf balls.

old VW bug towing a new one...paradoxical?

Drove up to jacksonville this morning from crescent beach. Cindy had a doctor appointment, can check on the rental house and visit some friends. Don’t miss the horrendous traffic on 95! Headin over to michael and vicki’s later today. Loading up the boat and gear for the upcoming Keys trip. House is all booked and can’t wait to get down there on saturday to enjoy 6 weeks of fishing, diving, kayaking, lobstering and exploring. Plus our bodies are quite fatigued from surfing the last 8 out of 10 days, so a change in activity is welcomed.