The weather pattern has been consistent. Wind, most of the time. While most of the fleet stayed in Arch, Brian, Scott and Sonny faced the elements yesterday. Better chance of catching them out front than at the dock . The Sails are not only being hard to find but hard to get too in a 4-6 foot sea. They went 3/4 and a broken hook. Hopefully someone is over nighting the Isla fleet a new batch of circle hooks.
The Mighty Keen M
Prep time
Arch is back in the OBX and about halfway through scraping, sanding and painting different sections of the Pelican. Joe Kaylor sent us this photo of Pat Bracher and a catch on a fly rod in 2008. Contrary to popular belief Captain Bracher will allow them on board. But only to be used when the box is half full and or they are really thick.
Stateside
Arch is spending some family time in the Key’s. After catching a couple of Permit and a Bonefish with Pat he is catching up on some reading with his niece.
Last hooray!
We left them biting! More like Mexico in late winter. Next stop is the Key’s. Maybe Pat can help hook me up and it will lay out. Then its north to the OBX.
Always Better When it Lays Out
The weather pattern and season have been consistent. We’ve had as much or more of a meat bite than Sail. John Cohen and his friends went 2 / 15 on Wahoo’s using circle hooks with mono leaders. When it does calm down a bit we find a few. They also caught a few sails.
Lot of these around lately
Huff and Puff
The weather pattern has been consistent. Wind, most of the time. While most of the fleet stayed in Arch, Brian, Scott and Sonny faced the elements yesterday. Better chance of catching them out front than at the dock . The Sails are not only being hard to find but hard to get too in a 4-6 foot sea. They went 3/4 and a broken hook. Hopefully someone is over nighting the Isla fleet a new batch of circle hooks.
The Mighty Keen M
Not what we had hoped for so far
Rough weather and a smaller mass of Sails this year. Burning a lot of fuel and not showing much for the effort. We stopped at the Grouper hole and managed to deliver. Cooks up well at the dock.
Yucatan Bonita Blitz
Between Bontia bites and other toothy critters Arch is treating Brian Light too a sail or two. Nothing to write or even call home about……..
As the Wind Blows
Over all the Sail fishing improved after the cold front. Almost normal by Mexico standards. 20 or so fish caught to the 25 – 30 that you see. That action has trailed off as the wind has begun to crank up again. Arch has had more bites trolling than around birds. As a change up some folks get to tug on Grouper. While the wind forecast is not optimal maybe the fishing will be.
As Expected
The cold front which kept most of the Isla fleet at the dock late last week also help concentrate the fish and bring them closer to home. Everyone including Arch experienced more typical January action off the Yucatan. Sails where around bait and just cruising along with many other types of marine life. Multiple hook ups where common the past few days. It’s a fishy place.
Finally a wind shift!
It has been blowing SE steady and with a vengeance for over two weeks until yesterday. It laid out enough that Arch was able to find a few pods of sails under birds and a fair number of trolling bites. 18 for 30 something. Today he went out front of Isla and picked off 8 before the North wind blew them back to the dock around noon. The fleet is hopeful that this front will push the fish closer to home. 40 mile runs eat up a lot of daylight!