May 2, 2013
After a whirlwind trip to Isla Mujeres last week, we were back fishing Key West waters by the weekend. There is a nice run of big Dolphin in progress. These fish are located inshore along the edge of the reef out to about 300′. We’ve been getting some bites “out of the blue” but in general, frigate birds have been signaling the location of these fish. On several days we’ve had nothing under 10-12 pounds with many fish running in the 20-25 lb class. There have been some very large individuals caught during this run- a 59 pounder in Marathon and several 50-55 pounders here in Key West. Mixed in with the Dolphin have been Blackfin Tuna and Wahoo. The Sailfish season seems to be winding down with progressively less action coming while we’ve been live bait kite fishing.
Capt. Brad Simonds repeats as Master’s Tournament winner
Capt. Brad aboard the LILLY M was the winning captain of the 50th annual International Master’s Angling Sailfish Tournament held in Isla Mujeres Mexico April 22-25 2013.
Having won the Tournament in 2012, Capt. Brad became the first back to back winner in the 50 year history of the event. The Tournament and it’s unique rules was initially concieved by legendary boat builder John Rybovitch. Tournament rules stipulate dead bait trolling with circle hooks and 20lb test line. Sailfish must be caught from a dead boat (no backing down) and are timed with a stop watch with more points accumulating to anglers with the fastest catches.