Its my favorite month of the year and what better way to spend it than wailing on fat blackfin tuna! There’s so much good fishing in July its literally impossible to keep up with. The swordfish are chewing at night, the dolphin are biting at day, and the blackfin are on the prowl during sunset. How can you go wrong?
We’ve had great luck each time the 3 Charlie’s hit the water aboard the Marauder. Carlos Spencer, Carlos Defilippi, and Charlie Ellis are pretty much guaranteed to catch lots of fish. Not sure how it works out…but hey. If it’s not broke don’t fix it.
With good friends and a cooler full of Harpoon IPA, we left the dock at 3p.m. and headed out to Bug light. When there aren’t ten boats motoring all over the pilchards, it’s much easier to catch them. Go figure. We loaded the stern and bow wells with hundreds of big frisky baits then motored down south to a few of our best tuna haunts off Elliott Key. There was a feeble current, no edge, and barely a breath of wind. We put a kite out with a helium balloon and set down a full spread at the bluewater transition. About 20 minutes passed before our first big bite of the day – a 22lb kingfish!
After boating the beast, we pulled in the lines and reset at the bluewater transition again. All lines out, live chum in the water, BAM! Our first blackfin of the evening slammed a flat line. Todd made short work of him and put this 22lbr in the boat!
Now that we had escaped the pressure of catching a target species, it became about quantity and quality. We knew the bigger fish were still around but had to gamble whether they were deep or shallow. With the sun sinking low, we trotted out to bluewater once again and deployed the spread. This time, we went for all mid water and flat lines since the wind wasn’t strong enough for a helium assisted kite (glassed out surface). We chummed hard, but nothing. 30 minutes passed…still nothing. It was decision making time. Pull in the spread and head back out deep? Or ride the current in towards the reefs. In the spirit of “patience pays”, we decided to wait out the drift and began steadily pitching the rest of our bait. Just as our hope began to fade, the bow rod starts screaming. It was definitely Todd’s lucky day as he was right next to the rod when it started peeling line. A gentle pickup and the circle hook set. Todd was tight on a BIG fish.
The sun went down and the fight continued into the dark. After a grueling 24 minute struggle, this beast comes boatside and Carlos sinks the gaff! The thud of the fish hitting the deck was music to my ears – a fat 32lb blackfin hooked right in the corner of the mouth!
With two fat blackfins in the box and the light gone, we called it quits and headed home! An epic start to what will surely be a phenomenal month of miami fishing.
Capt. Charlie Ellis
Latest posts by Capt. Charlie Ellis (see all)
- Curious how to catch or buy live bait in Miami, Florida? Here’s what you need to know! - October 28, 2016
- A Legacy of Venice Louisiana Tuna Fishing - April 7, 2015
- Four Miami, FL Fall Fishing Tips - September 2, 2014
Comments