A tournament started by Julie Olson and Capt. Don Gurgilio back in 1990, the Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament was dubbed the ‘presidential’ because president George Bush used to stay at the Cheeca Lodge when he came down here to Bone Fish every year. There were 7 boats in that first tournament, and this weekend there were 28 boats. Big congratulations to the winners and everyone who was able to fish in such a fun event.
This coming week has two one-day tournaments; the Al Flutie Over The Hill Tournament for anglers over fifty, which I’m very excited to be fishing my father in, and the IFC, which is also the last tournament in the Gold Cup Series. Just a piece of information for you, any one of our local charter boats are more than qualified to fish these tournaments. If you want to get out there and see what all the excitement is about, get to the docks and book your favorite boat. I guarantee you’ll have a great time.
It seems like the bite of King Fish has slowed down a little this week. You were still able to catch a few or even your limit; you just had to work at it a little more. There are also lots of Cero Mackerels on the inside edge of the reef, especially when the water gets stirred up in the heavy winds. Ceros are a great fish to catch on light tackle and they make great dinner fare. They are actually one of the best eating Mackerels out there.
With the dirty water inside the reef there have been good reports of Yellow Tail Snappers being caught as well as Muttons. I’ve also heard of many catches of the new version of Grouper, the catch and release version. Although still fun to catch it’s just too bad you don’t get to keep one to eat. Think about that the next time you order Grouper at your favorite restaurant during the closed season. Where is that Grouper coming from?
On the Gulf side of things, fishing was very slow this week until Friday. As the water warmed up, a good Trout bite developed slot and over size fish too. As there were all the Spanish Macks out there you could want, the key to those fish this week was fishing in 10 feet of water or deeper.
Here’s to keeping the rod bent . . .
