Bruiser Amberjacks Still Biting!

Our 1/2 day charter for this morning canceled at the last minute, but with all the gear on-board and the boat full of gas – it was hard to resist heading out anyway.

sunrise over dinner key marina
Sunrise Over Dinner Key Marina

It was one of those pristine mornings where the ocean is slicked out (despite what the weatherman had originally called) and you can hardly tell the horizon from the sky. We stopped off at the range to pick up a few dozen cigar minnows and then headed south to jig a few wrecks and see if there were any hungry fish.

Government Cut at Sunrise
Government Cut at Sunrise

We arrived to blue water in about 170′ with a nice 3knt current pulling gently to the north. We set up on the first wreck and WHAM! My vertical jig gets crushed by a bruiser Amberjack which fought every inch of the way to the surface. We pulled the fish in the boat for a quick photo before sending him home to the deep.

Capt. Charlie Elis hooked up on a big Amberjack

Capt. Charlie Ellis  of Miami, FL with a Big Amberjack
Capt. Charlie Ellis of Miami, FL with a Big Amberjack

After a few more passes with no bites, we pressed south towards another of our favorite wrecks only to find it covered up with bait!  We were marking solid schools of fish all over the wreck…but nothing seemed interested in our jigs or live baits we dropped down. We set up the drift and fished our way back towards Fowey without a single bite! We set up again in 160′ on the edge of the blue/green transition and again…nothing!  Hard to imagine there were no fish in the ocean today…but out of our eight frisky baits mulling about at different depths not one had so much as a scratch on it. We decided to pack up and hit the reefs.

The current was strong and the chum brought a few undersize yellow tails up behind the boat. A few solid strikes on the bottom rods but all we brought to the surface was a big rainbow runner.  With a few maintenence repairs on the dockett for the remainder of the day, we decided to call it in early and head home.

 

Capt. Charlie Ellis

Capt. Charlie Ellis

Captain at Miami Fishing Charters LLC
Capt. Charlie Ellis of Miami, FL has 25 years experience fishing for big game species like Bluefin Tuna, Sailfish, Swordfish, and Sharks. Capt. Charlie is also an avid scuba diver, world traveler, writer, and entrepreneur.

About Author

client-photo-1
Capt. Charlie Ellis
Capt. Charlie Ellis of Miami, FL has 25 years experience fishing for big game species like Bluefin Tuna, Sailfish, Swordfish, and Sharks. Capt. Charlie is also an avid scuba diver, world traveler, writer, and entrepreneur.

Comments

Leave a Reply