Last week I was invited to go bass fishing.  Something I haven’t done in 20 years.  The best part is that the location was just an hour drive away.  Our morning half day charter began with a meeting in a Home Depot parking lot where we met Capt. Roger Gonzales.  He is one of the guides with BassOnline.com.  A short drive away to some private property that only he has access to and we were launching the skiff.  This location was a bit sparse on the scenery and natural beauty that most fishing trips provide, but I quickly got over that when the Peacock Bass started biting.  These are amazing little fish.  We did some sight casting with top water plugs to fish along the shoreline.  And some slow trolling with live shiners along the drop off.  The topwater bites are remind me of a Jack Crevalle, fast and aggressive.  Our biggest catch was about 4 lbs, with plenty of smaller fish.  Even a few Largemouth Bass too.  All in all, a great trip full of action.  Roger runs a fantastic charter operation and really knows hows these fish think and how to get them to bite.  I highly recommend a fishing trip with him if you want to see some South Florida Peacocks.

Here we are on the North Drop, in the waters off the British Virgin Islands.  This 90″ clip is the final moments of a catch and release.  It’s performed by a team who have caught plenty of fish, and do it as well as anyone on the drop.

If you are unable to view this video by clicking on the photo below, try this link to Vimeo.

It’s so good to be back on the rock.  I made the short hop from MIA to CUN this afternoon, and made sure I was at the dock at sundown to greet the fleet. I managed to catch the Qualifier pulling in late after a day of decent fishing and 14 releases. Pretty good action the last few days by most of the fleet has me anxious to get out on the bank in the morning. I’ll try and keep the Isla Mujeres fishing reports fresh…

Day 1 – Maiden voyage for the newest Paul Mann boat “Alina” today. The wind was blowing and the sails were biting. Ran about 20 miles to the fleet and set out. Lots of birds in the area, but not the conditions to catch the fish on top. Ended up trolling around until 4:30 with 13 releases for the day. Plenty of other fish seen in the spread and biting. Great day for a shake down cruise.

Day 2 – Today I rode along with Capt. Fin aboard the Qualifier. Breezy conditions this morning. We start fishing about 20 miles out. Did I mention it was rough? Decent action in the morning, gradually slowing down all day. Ended up with 10 released sails.

Day 3 – Back on the Alina today.  Fishing was slow for us today…just one of those days when you wish you could take a mulligan.

Day 4 – Back on the Qualifier today. Still windy and complete cloud cover all day. We ran up to the North this morning to try and find some action. There was some birds and bait on top early, then it scattered and was hard to find. Most of our bites today were on the troll. Ended up catching 18. It wasn’t much better for the rest of the fleet.

It helps the numbers add up quickly when you can catch them four at a time.

Day 5 – Riding aboard the Billy Holten boat Haphazard for today’s action with Capt. Will.  Mate Joey’s dad and some friends are the anglers.  Still blowing and heavy clouds with rain.  Salt spray galore.  We did see some action on top and lots of birds.  Managed to tag most of the fish we released.

Day 6 – Aboard the Keen M with Capt. Arch.  One of the smaller boats in the fleet, but with a single angler it makes for the perfect platform for me to ride along and get some shots.  The winds seems to have let up some at dawn and it continues to drop off all day long.  Heavy sky early with our first hour of fishing spent in the rain.  Once that passed it still looked threatening but somehow cleared out and made for a pretty day.  Not many multiple hookups today, as expected with only one angler, but the action was steady all day.

Almost all our fish were caught under the birds and not trolling between bunches.  What a show.  I could spend hours watching these animals feeding on Sardines.  An amazing display of flight.  We ran well to the North and had plenty of room to work.  The bite today was pretty good for the whole fleet.  We ended up releasing in the low 20’s.

Today was one of those days when very few of the fish we hooked would jump for the camera.  Ended up shooting lots of birds today.  Captured some nice shots of these animals interacting.

 

 

 

Day 8 – One more trip aboard the Qualifier to wrap up this photoshoot.  It’s all coming together as the wind backs off and the sun comes out.  A perfect day to join Ellen Peel of The Billfish Foundation for her first time fishing the Isla Bank.  Fishing and shooting conditions were great, but the clear highlight of the day was seeing and hearing the emotion of Ellen as she reacted to the incredible sights that this fishery offers. We ran up North and found the birds and bait.  Solid non stop action all morning with Sailfish.

 

A surprising number of Wahoo bites today.  On several occasions a pack of them would clean out the spread.  Sadly, one did managed to get lip hooked.

Ellen even found time to do some work.  Here she presents a  vertical wall trophy to local mate Sinapo Sinay for TBF’s Sailfish Top Tagging Mate 2011.

And what could be cooler than having a dock party dinner with Sir Richard Branson. Here he took a moment to pose with Anthony’s daughters and friends.

 
The weather remained spectacular today. But not the ideal conditions for the marlin bite. Light North winds and strong full moon current historically make for slow fishing on the edge. So we have to wait it out. The forecast is for things to get back to it’s normal fishy self in a few days time. Meanwhile, we try to stay entertained. This morning we anchored down and went for a swim on the reef. The reef is alive! Lots of critters and someone living in every hole in the coral. Even got to swim down and touch a Giant Clam once the Whitetip sharks moved on.

 
While Tim was paddling back to the boat with our lunch in tow, a small Bull Shark thought he would help himself. Some fast thinking saved the day and our lunch. That shark was onto something, turns out Coral Trout are delicious.
 
 
 
Stephan takes advantage of every moment to get in some fishing. Here is a big stick bait, loaded up for a big cast.
 
 
 
His diligence pays off with a perfect bait sized Scaley Mackeral.
 
 
 
Our fearless leader Tim in his office. We pounded the waters in front of Ribbon #7 today, no sightings, no bites.
 

Here’s to being in the right spot at the right time. Thank you Capt. Mike.

I finally had another opportunity to ride along with my friends on the Mojito, and I even brought some luck this time. The mini movie below shows a glimpse of the North Drop action that Pico, Tito, and Aileen showed me. Thanks for the ride!

The July Moon is rising and I’m headed down island. I’ve been hired to shoot the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s 48th annual July Open Billfish Tournament. This should be a blast. The July Open is always a great event with plenty of Blue Marlin bites for all the boats. The July moon in St. Thomas can produce some spectacular fishing and if it’s anything like last year, some very big fish. If you can’t make it down there in person, I’ll be posting updates here for all to see.

They are taking it to the streets again. It’s time for another social media face off to help Salt Water Sportsman choose their next cover image. They have mocked up one of my photos and are asking for your opinion. My photo candidate is a monster Dolphin caught aboard the Carolina charter boat “Pelican” in Isla Mujeres Mexico. It was part of a typical double header Dolphin bite, with the other fish being a smaller cow. I tried to get a unique angle of this fish and ended up laying down on the deck and warping the fish up and away. I was using a 20mm lens with an aperture of f18. Please follow the link below to place your vote. The other guy doesn’t stand a chance!
SWS Cover Battle

UPDATE – I just heard from SWS and found out that they ended up choosing the Wahoo photo submitted by editor John Brownlee instead of my killer Dolphin shot. Maybe next time…

The April/May issue of Marlin Mag has hit the street. This issue features an Atlantic Sailfish flipping around in the wash behind the charter boat Pelican in the waters off Isla Mujeres. This cover photo is cropped pretty heavy to isolate just the fish and it’s flared dorsal fin. What you don’t see is mate Josh on the wire and Capt. Arch at the wheel on that breezy February day. The fish were on top that morning and Arch put his anglers in some great action until the bait disappeared and we switched back to trolling.

The folks at SaltWater Sportsman magazine are asking for your help – And so am I! They have narrowed down their next cover choice to images from two photographers and are asking for your votes to pick the winner via FaceBook. Please follow the link below and cast your vote for my Bull Dolphin photo on the right. This Dolphin photo shows Brian Stapleton from Ireland holding his catch made during the Spice Island Billfish Tournament.

Link to SWS FaceBook Cover test – Go Dolphin!

UPDATE:
Thanks for you votes. The editorial staff at SWS ended up choosing my Dolphin shot after all. Look for it on a news stand soon.