The blizzard that locked down the Northeast in February was to thank for this excellent adventure. We had been scheduled to return to NY on a 6:10 am flight the following morning, but were offered the chance to move the return to Wednesday night by our friends at JetBlue. With the Polar Vortex in possession of the Northeast and Vero Beach a balmy
things were just getting interesting. Capt. Pat cranked up Daymaker and we headed out 6 miles due east of the Stuart inlet in 85ft of water.
The temperature was an ideal 74.5 degrees and we had scattered grass and blue water as a surface condition with occasional flying fish. When he reached his spot of choice, Capt. Pat cut the engine and got down to 73 it was an easy choice to stay. We were having dinner that night with an old high school buddy, Josh Shipley, who remarked that the passing of the recent storm front and northerly winds combined for excellent sailfish conditions. 10 minutes later he had cancelled his appointments for the following day and we had a charter booked. Five am came too quickly after the late night before and only the lure of the sailfish got everyone up and out. Captain Patrick Price was waiting for us at the dock with his beast of a center console, Daymaker. Seas were still rough, so we suited up in foul weather gear and headed out into the sunrise.
Our first stop was to drop lines for fresh blue runners, a sailfish favorite. This wasn’t fishing, just catching. Lines with 5 hooks went over in about 80 feet of water, touched bottom and were hauled up with 3 – 5 beautiful blue runners. Mike noted that it takes us hours to catch that many fish at home, and with that haul we would have called it a day. But work setting out the rigs and kite. Our gear for the day of fishing was 20lb Sufix hi-vis mono spooled on Shimano TLD 20 2-speed reels. We started the morning kite fishing with a spread of blue runners, goggle eyes and threadfin herring. In practically no time we got a hit and Mike reeled in a nice 9 lb mahi. Mahi are just some our favorites to catch. They are plentiful, give a good fight and delicious, so into the ice chest he went.
Not 30 minutes later everyone sprang into action. There was definitely a sailfish trailing our bait. 5 minutes later he was hooked and the battle began. Mike braced himself and let the reel start to spool. The fish was mad and tried to spit the hook, dancing and shaking his head. We were all enthralled watching the action when BAM another sailfish hit and Josh jumped on that line. The fish was hooked and we were off to the races. Capt. Pat was directing Mike and Josh in an intricate set of dance moves to keep the fish separated so the lines wouldn’t cross. At first the fish seemed to be tag teaming, causing lots of ducking, diving and two-stepping around the boat. Watching the guys was like watching ballet with “twinkle toes Shipley” and “dancing machine” Mike whip around in unison.
Suddenly the fish broke into a classic 7 – 10 split and Capt. Pat had his work cut out for him. Zigging left gave Josh the chance to make progress on his fish, but caused Mike’s fish to dive and run the spool. Zagging right allowed Mike to gain some ground, but spooked Shipley’s fish. All that Capt. Pat could do was keep the boat centered and tweak their technique.
After over an hour Mike boated his fish first. It was still remarkably feisty and we let it go. Shipley boated started to kick up again and toss us around. There was water coming in over the bow and port stern. The guys weren’t finished though. Capt. Pat decided to switch it up to trolling and give it a go. He set a spread of circle hook rigged ballyhoo behind a set of dredges used as teasers. The dredges consisted of 24-40 baits natural and artificial to simulate a school of baitfish.
Just as we were wondering if we should appreciate our early good luck and call it a day, another sailfish hit. It was beautiful and mad. It danced and danced trying to throw the hook,but Shipley made short work of bringing it to the boat and we sent off to fight another day.
With the mahi on ice for dinner and 3 sailfish caught and released, we decided to call it a his fish soon after, which you see in the picture, and we quickly revived it and watched it cruise away.
Capt. Pat wasted no time in getting the kite and rigs out again and we were off. But as often happens, everything seemed to go dead for a while. We took advantage of the peace to wolf down some sandwiches and get the low down from Capt. Pat. Sailfish grow rapidly, reaching 4 -5 feet in just one year. They are the State Saltwater Fish of Florida, and the state record was a whopping 126 pounder caught off of Big Pine Key.
At this point the wind really day and return back to Stuart tired and sore, but very happy. Fishing for sailfish is best out of Stuart, Florida from mid-November thru mid-March. It typically peaks in December and January, but this is dependent on the strength of the winter. Best methods are trolling circle hook ballyhoo with hookless teasers and kite fishing. If you find yourself in the area and want a great day chasing sailfish reach out to Capt. Pat Price, Daymaker Charters at Pat@daymakercharters.com – tell him Mike and Lisa say hi and hope to come back soon!
