THE FISHING TRIP: DECEMBER 10TH, 2011
Aboard the “REWARD WON” with Captain Wayne

The Spot : Offshore Miami and Biscayne, Florida

weather : cloudy, winds of 18 to 21 knots

Seas: 3 to 5

Water: Clear in the morning and cloudy with sand mix noticeable later in the afternoon

Fish catches : Amberjack, ALmaco Jacks, Mutton Snapper, Gag Groupers, small Blackfin Tunas, with bonitos and blue runners in the mix

Biggest size : Type : Amberjacks around 18 to 25 lbs, Mutton around 11 lbs, Gag Grouper around 18lbs, Almaco Jacks around 10 to 15 pounds

Technique : Jigging

Jigs :100-300 gram, Diamond jigs 100 gram… red/white, silver, pink, and green worked the most.

We had a group of people interested in jigging and planned a trip to just go out and jig with artificials with Captain Wayne of the Reward Fleet. It took almost a whole moth of waiting for the weather to give us a chance to go out and fish. It was worth the wait. The trip was a success! So we decided that we have to do this again. I had tons of fun and the fish were a plus. There were not extreme amounts caught but we managed some quality fish. I tried doing some popping got some followers but no takers. I hope next time with Santa's gift to me (an offshore popping rod) I will have some takers offshore here in Miami or where ever I take it. Popping for inshore fish is no problem, but offshore here in Miami you hardly see anyone doing it. So I will keep on (gotten some bonitos popping but those don’t count in my book). I will keep the rest of the report short and will let the pics do most of the talking. Hope you enjoy.

Departing


The fishing, all these fish were caught on artificials (plus about 12 that were released)

Very nice report. Let me know if you have openings next time around. I would love to do a trip like that.

Thanks man. I will definitely let you know about the next one. And if we get 10 people we can do our own Boatless trip too.

it was a lot of fun, I missed the big jacks and only landed a small almaco and a small blackfin, then lost something massive on the aki jig that spit the hook after I had it for a while.
Definitely a go back trip with cool people, a professional crew and a nice location in bayside marina, I don't think it would be hard putting 10 people together for another charter

I'd be up for a trip like this. Bet we could find 10 pretty easy.

Sweet me like very mucho

Nice report Herbert. If I can you know I am in.

You guys had fun - very cool

Send me the origs Herbert. Ya know

Captain Wayne (He is good friends with Capt. Bouncer Smith) a 1st class cap. A fun Capt to go on his boat & he worked the areas fast with many spots to get us on fish. For my first jigging trip I learned plenty. I know what I want to look into & a short rod for me is a must. A good size reel to work it over & over again. I gave the fish some food, & was pretty much out for a few hours but that was due to me being sleepy mostly. I never felt that sleepy before. The current was moving fast and I believe at times we were drifting at 3knots, so you had to work the area fast. Overall great group and a late b-fast-lunch dinner at the end were need Gooooaaaallll!!!

One of the fish was fouled hooked & it took some time to bring it in. Capt was saying it has to be a monster, till we saw the nice size BF come up. lol

Thanks Ron, will put all the pics on a CD and give to you. Ricky, that was a hell of a hit you missed.

Chris and Rob, looks like we have 6 people so far for a charter, LOL...I know Russ, Rory, Rob, Bolo, Adam, and Sepaik would say yes too.

You guys tell me the days you can go (Saturday and Sunday are best for many of us) and I will setup a charter with the Captain. It is very cheap in comparison with other charters.

Her is a video of some of the action for you all to enjoy:




Who is up for the next one? For jigging a max of 12 people would be it. 2 in standby in case others can not make it last minute.

Interested:
1-Herb
2-Ricky
3-Chris
4- Ron
5-Nelson
6-Rory
7-Sepaik
8-Adam
9-Pat
10- Russ


Standby:

11-John?
12-Rob- WhoDey?
13-Bolo?

14-Stand by:
linh - Last week of December
Miamipescador


January Trip:
1- Herbert
2- Rob-rob762
3- Nelson

Either day works for me given notice.

Same here after the 1st of the year.

I'm sure Pat ie Crashmister is down.

I'm in-

That's cool, ask Pat if he is interested. Cool Nelson!

Rob, just remember that December 31st is the last day to keep groupers. The Captain said that they started moving in since last month and the last two jigging trips they had some Black grouper, gags, and snowies t0 25 pounds.

I will contact the captain or the guy that runs the reservation for charter trips on Tuesday, that's the next time they are available. I will ask them what days are open. The trip starts at 6:30am (depending on the Captain he might want us there at 5:30am) until around 1:30pm to 2:00pm.

The Capt likes leaving before sun up- just be at the dock on time. PS- not the docks at South Beach- Adam...lol.

Yep, I know. Recovering from a surgical procedure till then.... That and the annual holiday trip North.

Damn cool video Herbert

Might have to re-schedule a Keys trip depending on the date you come up with but that is fine with me.

What would the cost be Herbert?

So now I gotta build another Jaws huh?

Hope you feel better man

The good thing about January is that the Blackfins are a little bigger than what we caught yesterday (from 2 pounds to 5 pounds). These trips are very affordable so I will be making as many as I can. One or two more this year and 2 in January.

You still want to keep a big AJ for the smoker?

Ron, with 12 people the cost is about $100 per person plus gratuities. Usually gratuities are 15% of the value of the trip. I give 20% (20 bucks). But off course the Captain will tell us the actual cost once we have the exact amount of people (but still no more than 12).


The Captain will start our trip from 450' to 250' then will go shallow to about 130' on the last move towards the docks. We caught most of our fish between 450' and 180' (if I am not mistaken). We went to rock piles, wrecks, and natural hard bottom.


Nelson, no more keeping big AJ's or Almacos from the Atlantic side, LOL.

Looks fun guys, I'd make a drive down for that. I've got about 40 new jigs burning a hole in my pocket.

Yeah man, it was a blast. I know what you mean about the jigs, LOL

OK thx Herbert

Will see what I can do. Do not even have a setup yet except for real light jigging.

Still got 2 or 3 plus the Jaws laying around.

I can break my Dogfight and Stella 6000 in finally.

If I get my rod in time I want to go the last week of dec.

Great report, and way to slay' em guys!
I would definitely be down for a trip like this, and the price is right.
Count me in for the next one

Thanks people. I will wait for the answer on the ones above and then will let you know how many spots are available. In the meantime I will have you on standby. If there is a trip on the last week of December then it would be a weekday. I will wait until I speak with the Captain to know what days he can take us on a jigging charter.

Chris you can break that Dog with a Donkey, I'd say you will bring it on the boat in less than 3 minutes, LOL

Ron, light jigging as in 100 gram rod? I use a 200 gram rod (30 to 50lbs test line) since my 300 gram rod (40 to 60 lbs test line) is almost overkill.

A tab bit.....Didn't even know I had something till it started pulling drag...lol

I think a good setup for now will be in 200g- if we go to deeper waters/current- 300g etc.. Hell with it Ron 100-400gram have 4 rods ready. You never know what the current will call for. Again, I learned plenty on this trip. One thing is to read & try to get an understanding, but the key is putting in your time. I still have to get the jigging part right with the right jig style etc, but by using it and trying it I got the feel for it. This is all new to me, but I’m getting the hang of it. Ron, I'm gonna send you something

Well I got 3 here from 150 to 350 and then the Jaws which is the same as Rickys and goes 450 easy with 20-50

That is what I am shooting for. The Jaws cuz I like it longer. I will take the little one with tho if I can book and have it ready in time. Got to finish some other rods first.

The 150 will do the job for now. With the right long knife jigs you will be able to get a 150 gram jig to the bottom quickly. A 300 gram jig will get there faster of course and will kill your arm when you are jigging for long periods of time, but you will almost be completely vertical even with the current. That Jaws is a sweet rod. A light setup and a heavy setup will work out great.

OMG! I'm sorry I missed this one. I definitely want in on the next one. I bought about 30 pounds of Jigs for my last trip and they never touched salt water. Count me in!!!