Sailfish?

Go Fly A Kite By Capt. Zac Grossman The day started quite late for a charter because the captain told us to show up at 8:30 in the morning. He wanted to stay out and hopefully catch a late afternoon bite. We arrived at the marina and a few minutes later the boat was backing into the slip. They had been out catching our bait. At once I was impressed with the boat. It was rigged for fishing with lots of room, everything in its place, and spotless after hours of bait gathering. Captain Ray invited us aboard and his mate Alex stowed our gear. My eye was caught by something I had never seen before. The live well had a clear Plexiglas window through which we could see all the bait fish happily swimming around. The reason for this I found out was so that each bait can be singled out and netted alone, thus avoiding several baits in the scoop net banging against each other. This was just the first of many little details that make Ray one of the top captains in the area and this one of the best trips I have been on. On the way out of the marina he mentioned that they left a school of threadfin herring biting so he wanted to stop on them and add some more to the bait tanks. He also said we would be passing through an area where there might be some cobia and invited any of us to join him in the tuna tower to look for them. John and Tom went aloft. The captain was looking for large rays because cobia would often shadow their movement as they swept along the bottom kicking up tidbits to eat. Unfortunately none were spotted by the time we arrived at Fowley Rocks light where we stopped to add to our bait supply. When I booked the charter I told the captain that we liked to participate and get involved. It's important to point this out when booking a trip if that is what you like to do. There are many charter operations that do not like customers touching anything so beware and set the ground rules before making a commitment. When we arrived at the light Alex passed out a couple of bait rods. Ray and Alex made sure that everyone was working their sabiki rigs properly. Most people think that the way to use this multi-hook rig is to let it hit the bottom and then jig it up, but these experts on bait catching taught us the right way to do it for. We were told to open the bail and every few feet down stop the drop and see if the fish are there. Then drop some more. If you make it to the bottom, lift high and bounce the tip as you drop the rig back down while maintaining a bend in the rod and the line on your finger so you feel them piling on. After adding about 50 baits to the tank, we headed south in search of an edge that the captain new was there. We had a first timer on board. Tom had never caught a salt water fish of any kind, so we wanted him to be first up. After running about 20 minutes from the light we came off plane and the captain positioned the boat directly into the wind. Ray told us that this was not the wind direction he was hoping for. The usual north and northeast winds that get the sailfish excited all winter just weren't blowing. He pulled out the trolling valve which dropped the rpms at the propeller and the boat maintained position as he and Alex put out the first kite. It had four 1/8 ounce pinch weights on its right side near the bottom and this made it fly off to the right a little. One line was snapped into the first clip and the hook was placed into a keeper. The reel was put in free spool with the clicker on and the kite was allowed to continue its climb until the second clip was ready for a line. The process was repeated with a second outfit and then the kite was sent out further. It's very strange but I found that the sound of the screaming clickers got everyone excited even though all we were doing was setting out the baits. Once the kite was positioned, Alex grabbed a herring from the tank and grabbed one of the many rigging needles neatly laid out at the ready in a recessed section of the rocket launcher. Each open-eyed needle had a tiny rubber band wedged into the eye. He grabbed one of the hooks attached to a line coming back from the far kite clip and placed the loop of the rubber band over it. Then he ran the rigging needle through the bait just forward of the dorsal. This pulled the hook tight against the opposite side of the fish. Alex spun the needle and then deftly used the open eye to slip the other end of the loop over the point of the hook. He pulled the needle away and was left holding a bridled bait in his hand. He pitched it overboard and told us to reel in line on the "right long kite line". The crew calls them right and left rather than port and starboard because they can't afford any lost time if the party has to figure out what they mean. Right and left are from the point of view of facing the back of the boat. We were told that in the rocket launcher the two outside rods are the right and left short kite lines and the two rods inside of those are the right and left long kite lines. With the long bait being moved into position under its clip by one of us, Alex rigged the short one and had it over the side in seconds. When both baits were swimming actively under their respective clips, Ray and Alex sent the second kite out. It had weights along the left side and so it flew off to the left, making for a very wide spread of baits. After a few minutes we had four herring working hard at attracting something out of the depths. Next, the captain and mate rigged up two deep lines with different amounts of lead on them. One was sent right to the bottom with a live goggle eye and then retrieved a couple of feet, leaving it swimming about 220 feet below us. The second goggle eye was positioned about half way down. Both of these baits were on "stinger rigs". One treble hook placed through the nostrils and then a second treble on a short wire from the first was placed into the bait not far from the tail. Now Ray took the wheel and with the trolling valve still set he proceeded to move the boat back and forth across the rip line that he wanted to fish. The current sliding past the boat allowed Alex to add two flat lines on spinners to the mix, each rigged with a live bait stinger rig as well. We tended the rods in the rocket launcher, letting line out or retrieving it as necessary to keep the baits positioned near the surface but not out of the water. Occasionally we had to shake sargassum weed off the baits by hand-lining them high off the water and dropping them back to the surface. Usually two or three attempts at this did the trick. Ray told us that the bright fluorescent float/marker on each line would aid us in watching the baits as each was 15 feet below its marker. He said that often the bait would just be pulled under without any surface splash at all. We had to watch for this, count 5 seconds and then quickly wind down until the line is tight enough for drag to release. We also had to be prepared in case the fish dropped the bait. If you keep on winding then the bait will fly out of the water and might come down too far away for the sailfish to spot it again. If the fish didn't take, then we had to drop the bait back to him again before he lost interest. Whether the line pulled from the kite clip or not was irrelevant, the clip could always be brought in during the fight and popped by hand if necessary. Ray's trained eye was usually first at spotting something happening. "Right long, right long" he shouted. "Get ready to wind fast". He apparently saw some disturbance on the surface that told him the bait fish was being stalked. We maneuvered Tom over to the right side of the rocket launcher. This was going to be his initiation into salt water fishing. The float shot into the water and the captain yelled "wind, wind fast as you can". The line came tight as a glowing, silver missile shot out of the water. It crashed down then came up again and tail walked across the surface. I took a picture of Tom's face hoping to catch his expression as his first salt water fish put him through the ringer. I don't know if the camera can catch such a mixture of surprise, delight, excitement, and fear of loss. All those expressions were written across his face. The fish put up a valiant fight, jumping and thrashing about several times, then sounding and running at high speeds first away from and then towards the boat. While this was happening another sail started harassing a bait under the other kite. The fish took the bait and sounded with it, pulling the float under. I started to wind the left short line but came up against no resistance. The fish had gotten away with the bait. Meanwhile Tom was an adept pupil, listening and following Alex's advice until finally the leader was up. Alex slid the fish aboard, then he and Ray did something very interesting. They both kneeled down in the cockpit supporting the fish between them and measured it against some marks which I couldn't see. The captain made a point of telling his mate to be extra careful not to let the fish touch the deck where it might injure itself. It was six feet long. After they got Tom into the picture with his magnificent sailfish, they gently lowered it over the side, put a glove on Tom's hand and had him hold onto the fish's bill as the boat moved slowly forward. They told him to let go when the fish tries to pull away. More details that made this so nice a trip! With things calmed down again, Ray told me that I had done everything just right and should have come tight on another sail, but it was just one of those things. He couldn't believe we didn't have a "double". Suddenly one of the deep rods started to arch over as Alex yelled out for someone to grab it. As with most game fishing down here the rule is just keep winding until the drag starts to slip, don't set the hook. We didn't have to worry about it with this fish. Bill grabbed the rod and hung on as the line just kept peeling out. As the spool approached the half way mark, the captain ordered us to bring in the lines so we could give chase. We figured this to be a nice sized wahoo. We never did find out though because about a minute later the wire leader kinked and he got away. A rod tip on the other side started bouncing up and down so John grabbed the foregrip to steady the rod in the holder and wound down until the drag was screaming, then he lifted the bucking rod out of the holder and hung on for dear life. After a long, blistering run the fish allowed itself to be pumped toward the boat. This is the standard fight from a kingfish, burning itself out in the beginning and leaving little for the end game, still very exciting nonetheless. After a few minutes John had a large kingfish alongside, probably about 30 pounds in weight. A couple of minutes later the other deep rod bent over and the routine was repeated as another nice king went into the fish box. But then someone yelled out there was splashing under the left kite. A moment or two later the float went down and a very nice Dolphin rocketed out of the water and went splashing and jumping its way from the left side of the spread over to the right side. Then it sounded and peeled off lots of line. The battle seesawed for quite a while till the fish was about 30 feet from us. We left it there expecting to see more members of the school show up around it. This is the usual tactic with Dolphin; keep one in the water and pick away at the rest of the school. The flat line spinner baits were reeled in and cast in the vicinity of the bull. Today was not the norm. Only that one fish came aboard. Of course we all took a few seconds to admire what I consider the perfect game fish. It outfights most others by dint of its jumping ability and stamina, never giving up even after it is in the fishbox. Then there is the beauty of this creature which I personally think exceeds anything I've seen in an aquarium. And finally, there is the taste. Mahi mahi is one of the most popular items on most menus. Time flew by as morning turned into afternoon and the action just kept on coming. We boated four more kingfish and three more dolphin and then the afternoon bite turned on and the sailfish came on again. We missed the next two as they just didn't take right. Then one did. He chased the herring all over the surface under the kite, then grabbed it and dove. I cranked the handle as fast as I could, the line tightened and I was treated to the kind of thrills that only light tackle bill fishing can provide. This fish had obviously read the book on what sailfish are supposed to do when hooked. It jumped for me and it "danced" for me and generally made a wonderful spectacle of itself. Of course this one was also sent on its way to do the same for someone else. The last fish of the day, as the sun was nearing the horizon grabbed a flat lined herring. The rod bent nearly double as Bill pulled the spinner from the rod holder, then just as fast the rod went straight as if the line had broken. Bill's face showed huge disappointment, but as he soon learned this was just the slack caused by the fish reversing course to launch itself out of the water only a few feet behind the boat. The fight went on and on (again a textbook battle) and finally the day was over. It was time to head back to Coconut Grove where Ray docks his boat practically under the lights of a very popular seafood restaurant. It had been a wonderful day with lots of action and hands-on participation. I was amazed when Ray said he was sorry about the sails we had lost and the fact that the wind didn't cooperate! If you want to have as much fun as we had, don't go to the park and fly a kite of your own, let me send you offshore to fly one over some sailfish. (Click Here to book a charter)