Drift Fishing: January 2017

By Sandra Schulz, Contributing Writer

Donna Evans with 17-lb and 8-lb mahi-mahi | Photo courtesy of Living On Island Time

Happy Holidays to everyone! On the drift this December, we had some very rough days out there with high seas but for those brave enough to venture out with us, it proved rewarding for them! We caught some decent sized mahi–mahi on the east wind as well as some nice sized kingfish. For the mahi-mahi, the average was around 10-14 lbs. and just about the same for the king mackerel, although there were a few larger. When conditions were favorable, we went out in deeper waters for the vermilion snapper. This particular species takes a little more work to catch than your other snappers, for you have to use a heavier weight, (generally around an 8 oz. bank). Generally, they are in about 180 to 240 feet, and you must keep the rig on the bottom. Reeling up, as you see, can become tiring very quickly but it’s worth the work! These deep-water snapper are very tasty and a good deal of meat for their size. Average catch size in our waters are about 1-1ó lbs. Here’s a picture of a mahi-mahi caught this past month on Living on Island Time. Till next month… have a “Happy New Year!”