Captain's Report for the end of Feb 2011

The end of this month has been a busy week for Capt Rich and I.  We have had a couple of charters, and all have been very different.  Last Wednesday night we took a group out for a night time shark trip.  The fishing started off a little slow but once we drifted into 70ft feet of water we got our first hit, and after a 30 minute fight we brought a 250lb Sandbar Shark to the side of the boat.  After some photos we removed the hook from the shark and released it.  We then rerigged and set out the lines and soon after we brought another Sandbar shark of similar size to the boat and it was released as well.  Both sharks were caught using a bonito carcass.

This past Saturday we had 2 charters.  In the morning charter we started off trolling looking for some dolphin fish and tunas, but sadly did not find any.  We then headed up to the Lake Worth Pier and drifted in about 100ft and caught Porgys, big triggerfish, bluerunners, snappers, and a large Sheepshead.

That same evening we had a great swordfish charter with an amazing group of guys.  We left Boynton Inlet at 4:30pm and headed down to the swordfish grounds off Ft. Lauderdale, and were set up and ready to reel in a swordfish by 6:45pm.  We drifted north in the Gulfstream to about the Hillsboro Lighthouse, when as we were bringing the lines in to reset three swordfish came up to the boat chasing the bait.  At first we thought we hooked into a shark, but 45 minutes later we had a nice 100lb swordfish at the side of the boat.  We headed back south to reset and drifted north past Hillsboro and got another hit off Boca. Sadly the Swordfish was not completely hooked and the hook pulled after a long run.  Capt Rich and I would like to thank everyone that night for a wonderful trip.  The first Swordfish hit a rigged squid and the second one hit a small rigged bonito.

Captain's Report 2/4/11 and Saturday Fishing Class 2/5/11

Captain's Report 2/4/11

Capt. Rich, one of the mates from our dock, and I went out Friday morning to see what fish were out front of the Boynton Inlet.  We started the morning trolling offshore trying to find some dolphin, with no success, so we started to head in to troll around the reef and bottom fish.  On the way in we found a school of Skip Jacks who were no interested, so we moved on.  We had an interesting time bottom fishing in around 100ft.  Meg and I had a few bites but sadly no fish at first.  Capt. Rich was at the back of the boat, and magically caught 3 flounder on his guppie rig using bonita and sardines.  As a last ditch effort I throw out a white bucktail jig to troll in and as soon as Capt. Rich put the boat in gear a kingfish hit the jig and Meg reeled it in.

Saturday Fishing Class 2/5/11

This weekend was one of the greatest and most productive days for us and the students thus far.  We had about 20 students with us Saturday, and we started the day off with a park clean up.  Capt. Rich, the students, and I could not believe how much trash and discarded fishing line there was around the park and in the mangroves.  The students filled up a ton of trash bags and picked up all the dead palm fronds.  Many of the people hanging out at the park were thanking the students for cleaning the park.

Following the clean up Robert and some of the students went back to the classroom and started up the grill to cook hotdogs and the kingfish caught by Meg the day before.  We definitely have a few aspiring chefs in our fishing group!!!!

Finally after lunch some of the students took their rods down to the water and fished for an hour.  They caught snappers, grunts, barracudas, and even a sea-robbin.  There were 3 students Saturday who caught their first fish!!!!

Saturday Fishing Class 1/29/11

This past Saturday Capt. Rich and I went out and bought some seed and plants for the students to start a vegetable and herb garden around the shop.  The students planted as types of herbs as well as tomatoes, strawberries, sunflowers, and much much more.  Along with planting all the plants and seeds, the students caught a bunch of barracudas and a parrotfish which they named "Pete" for the fish tank.

Florida Fishing Academy Student Photography

Over the last few months we have had a few students who have expressed interest in photography.  Here are a few photographs the students took using an infrared filter.  Some of the students are getting really good at putting the camera on the correct settings and setting the camera for the perfect shot.  More photographs to come....

Saturday Fishing Class 1/22/11 and Thursday Fishing

This past Saturday was a very cold fishing class and the fishing was a little slow.  Even though the fishing was slow the students hung in there and kept fishing.  Their determination finally paid off as the eventually started catching barracudas and even a flounder.  We even had a few friendly manatees come right up to us to see what was going on.

I also wanted to let everyone know how proud I am of two of the students on Thursday.  We were fishing out on the outside pier next to an elderly gentleman who had been out there fishing trying to catch dinner for a few hours.  He was answering questions and talking to the students, when one of them  caught a larger mangrove snapper.  Instead of putting the fish in the bucket and keeping it, he walked the fish over to the gentleman and gave the fish to him for his dinner.  We could all see he had been out there a while and getting cold.  He was extremely appreciative and shortly after receiving the fish he packed up his equipment and went home to cook the fish.

Holiday Boat Parade Awards Lunch

Today Captain Rich and I were invited to a wonderful lunch by the City of Boynton Beach.  At the lunch Captain Rich was acknowledged for his 3rd place standing in last month's Boynton Beach/Delray Beach Holiday Boat Parade.  No too shabby for the Academy's first attempt in the parade!!

Captain's Report 12/29/10 and 1/5/11

Last week Captain JJ and I had 2 fishing charters.  During the morning charter we cleared Boynton Inlet a little after 8:00am and trolled straight out of the inlet and caught a dolphin-fish before zig-zagging north where we caught a bonita.  On the afternoon trip we trolled around between the inlet and the water tower in 75ft-135ft.  We were much more successful catching 8 kingfish and 1 nice wahoo.  Both trips we were trolling 3 lures on the surface with bonita strips and one deep lure with a bonita strip.

Yesterday Captain Rich and I went out in the morning to see what we could find.  We trolled out about 2.5 miles and catch 2 nice dolphin-fish before heading in south of the inlet and trolled around in 75ft-130ft.  Trolling around in shallow resulted in a nice sized kingfish and two more short hits.