Double Threat Charters

Update to Dolphin Bag Limit

2021-06-22

June 21, 2021

After much discussion by the Council, the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Office has reached a preliminary consensus about upcoming changes to management measures affecting our Dolphin fishery. These actions, if approved, will go into effect on January 1, 2022. These steps are being taken in response to the universal concern expressed by both charter and recreational fishermen in the Florida Keys and South Florida. The overall consensus seems to support a decline in the dolphin fishery affecting both size and quantity of the fish being caught.

While boats in South Florida supported the change, fishermen in the Carolinas opposed a decrease in the 60 fish per vessel limit by citing potential negative economic impacts. They also claim that dolphin meat is “too damn good.”

Our team has carefully discussed this internally and after hundreds of hours of deliberation we have decided that a 60-fish limit may in fact be excessive. Our new proposal will strike a healthy medium so everyone is happy. We will be reducing the bag limit to 59 dolphin.

Considering the mercury content found in dolphin, our scientists were shocked to find out that fishermen have been eating these things at all. Before consuming dolphin, please educate yourselves about this important marine mammal.

You can find more information about the dangers of eating dolphin here: https://www.conservationmagazine.org/2014/11/the-dangers-of-eating-dolphin-meat/

Does NOAA seem out of touch? Contact the Southeast Regional Office.

Black Gold

2021-05-21

It’s a hot summer day off Miami. The sundial shows half past 12 and the fish box is empty. Our customers are drenched in sweat and complaining about the broken a/c and the lack of fish. I keep reassuring them it’ll all be worth it. I’ve been through this before and I always find the fish. We spent the entire morning trolling east with a spread of feathers, ballyhoo combos, and daisy chains. There was a bit of chatter on the radio with a few dolphin being caught but reports were few and far between.

Moral was low but i kept thinking to myself, “this isn’t amateur hour. I’m a winner, we’re going to find fish and show these customers who’s boss.” I was in the middle of a conversation with myself when I hear Kristjan yell at the top of his lungs, “Big floater!” He slammed the binoculars down, pushed a customer out of the way and frantically retrieved the spread. I put the boat on plane and thought to myself, “we’re gonna be ****ing heroes.”

Kris wasn’t kidding. As we got closer I realized this wasn’t your average floater. There were 4 frigate birds falling out of the sky in a circular rhythm. One after another they were hitting the deck as massive sprays of flying fish breached the surface. The floater was a royal palm, over 10 feet in length. I knew it was about to get real. I pulled the boat off plane and yelled at Kris to pitch a bait as we got closer. A shadow the size of the boat rose from the depths and his bait disappeared the instant it hit the water. The blackjacks were SWARMING.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Miami’s blackjack fishery, it’s difficult to explain. Unless you’ve gone FAD fishing in Costa Rica or bait and switched a big blue on the North Drop, you probably haven’t experienced excitement quite like a large frenzy of blackjacks. Blackjacks, otherwise known as “Pelagic Perch” or “Black Gold “ are ferocious little bastards that travel in large schools off Miami, particularly during the summertime. Like any trophy fish, blackjack fishing success requires planning, patience, and execution.

Blackjacks are difficult to target with most traditional techniques so we usually resort to bait and switch bucktail fishing if we’re looking to fill the box. The key to getting blackjacks fired up is to buy about a dozen bucktail jigs (3/4 or 1 ounce), use bolt cutters to break the hooks off, and tie one on every rod on the boat. When you roll up on a school of solid fish, have your anglers cast in every direction (preferably in a criss-cross pattern). Next, have your anglers retrieve the bucktails at full speed until the jig hits the rod tip. After the rod tip breaks, have them reel the handle backwards until it comes off (this comes naturally for most customers). At this point you should have at least 6 combos with no handles and broken rod tips. Put these rods away. After bait and switching the blackjacks properly, the whole school should be in a frenzy. You can tell a blackjack is fired up because the bar on its side will turn extra black.

We like to use an extra heavy goggle eye quill on a 50 wide for blackjacks (any lighter and you risk losing the combo entirely). DO NOT take the rod out of the rod holder. The designated blackjack rod should be spooled with at least 50 lb monofilament and be placed in a reinforced rod holder with a backing plate.

The thrill of hooking 10 blackjacks at once is really indescribable. We like to use a 2lb lead and only fish one rod while blackjack fishing for safety reasons. If you have done everything right up to this point, the technique is fairly simple. Drop the weight in the water, wait about 10 seconds, then hold on! If the rod isn’t ripped out of the boat, you should have a stringer of tasty morsels ready to be de-hooked in the boat. We like to use a 50 gallon garbage can for the dehooking process. Once the garbage can is full, use 2 people to dump it in the fish box. Most old timers would agree that blackjacks taste better after curing in the sun for a few hours. If you hit the motherload toward the end of a trip, ice is optional.

If you are charter fishing, be sure to tell your customers that blackjacks are an invasive species and highly venomous. If you play your cards correctly, you should be left with a box full of blackjacks and a maximum 5% tip. The best part about blackjacks is they can be Illegally sold right off the dock after the charter! We like to do a BOGO sale for blackjacks. A 50 gallon trash can full of blackjacks should be at least 800 fish. If you sell the blackjacks at $5 a piece and emphasize that they are “buy one get one free,” you should sell out in no time. 400 pairs of blackjacks at $5 per combo is $2,000 in revenue! Who cares about the 5% tip and the bad reviews?! You have more money than god!

Tips for Dealing with Summer Crowds

2019-05-01

1. When headed east on a summer day, it helps to leave a trail of bread crumbs or tortilla chips on the surface. Seagulls can’t resist a fresh Tostito and the flock of birds you leave in your wake are sure to keep the fleet of morons busy.

2. Have a friend drive their car into the water at the nearest boat ramp. It may seem a bit rash but stunts like this slow down the revolving door of idiots entering the water on a calm summer day. Don’t worry, your insurance company should cover most of the damage. Be sure to wear a life vest and never fasten your seatbelt if you plan on dunking your car at the ramp.

3. If you have a lot of followers on Instagram or even consider yourself a “micro-influencer,” it helps to post incorrect fishing reports during the week. To adequately confuse weekend warriors, make sure you lie about depth, target species, and any other relevant details.

4. If you see a pack of boats, ALWAYS get as close as possible. If you can’t identify key features like the brand of sunglasses the captain is wearing, get closer.

5. ALWAYS spread misinformation on the radio, especially on Saturday’s. Tell people the dolphin are swarming 30 miles out, especially if you own stock in a major fuel company.

6. Fishing is about killing God’s creatures. If you do fill the box, enjoy the blood bath and make sure you post scary things on social media. Incorporate dead fish into your satanic rituals if you really want to freak people out. Don’t forget to tag your vegan friends.

7. School is out for the summer! Be sure to corrupt the youth whenever possible. Summer is a great time to teach kids about improper boating etiquette and cursing. Teach kids how to operate a VHF and encourage them to yell profanity at the top of their lungs. Educating our youth is imperative if you want the next generation of fisherman to be as awful as us.

8. Burn as much fuel as possible. What good are 1200 horsies on the back of your brand-new center console if you don’t run at full speed everywhere you go? If you’re fishing out of Miami, try punching it to Key West or Palm beach to avoid the crowds.

9. Always be on the look out for square grouper! Fish aren’t the only target species on the water. If there’s a big crowd, your chances of being the first one to a suitcase full of narcotics decreases exponentially. Be sure to leave the dock early and check every piece of floating debris for treats.

10. Summer fishing off Miami is the closest thing you’ll get to a real-life purge. Enjoy the lawlessness, alcohol abuse, fish murdering, and always remember to stay safe.