Cape Cod is over & Key West Begins again

When thin sheets of ice began to appear on the boats in the morning, we knew it was time for the Key West birds to fly South for the winter. We had a great season in Cape Cod this past year with all of the pleasures New England has to offer. The begining of the season started off casting jigs and live bait at schools of small Bluefin tuna weighing between 75lbs and 300lbs. Each and every customer had their work cut out for them. Some battles lasting up to two hours. We used a combination of tackle between Daiwa's Saltiga spinning reels for casting freestyle jigs and slugos on 80lb. braid and Daiwa's Sealine conventional reels for live pogies on the kites. It is an incredible sight to see these little Giants come up to the surface and inhale a live bait right in front of your eyes. In between the Bluefin tuna chaos we kept busy on a daily basis with an incredible Striped Bass fishery with Stripers averaging weights of over 30lbs. Codfish, a little later in the season, was as easy as catching pin fish on the grassy flats of the Florida Keys. When we were in the right areas sometimes before the jig hit the bottom we were hooking Codfish on every drop whether you meant to or not. A couple times we were reeling up Codfish off the bottom and were getting eaten by Giant Bluefin tuna and spooled within seconds. The whales this season were quite the sight when they would breach, sometimes 20 yards from the boat, we have some great video of that. On one particular day, we were fishing in 20 ft. seas and watched these whales jumping out of the tops of the waves. As the wave would sweep past, these adult humpback whales would clear the water by over 20 ft. before they crashed back into the trough. It was a sight we will never forget as long as we live. The end of the season finished with an incredible Giant Bluefin bite East of Cape Cod. We had opportunities and hooked one or more Giants almost every day, and landed Giants tipping the scales at not quite 900lbs. Although we didn't see any Great Whites this year personally, the beaches of Chatham were closed all season because of so many Great White sightings around the large seal population on Monomoy Island. We did have on one occasion about a 600lb. Mako shark that came up to the boat looking for a smaller tuna that we had hanging overboard. My mate was ready with the harpoon in case we had to defend our catch but the shark may have got spooked as we were fighting another Bluefin tuna at the time, revving the engines to maneuver the boat. After all this excitement it was time to pony up and get back on I-95 Southbound.


Back in Key West, we barely had time to clean the bugs off the windshield and get the tuna tackle out of the boat before our first charters. Alot of the charter captains here in Key West have been complaining about how slow it has been so we decided to head West to the Dry Tortugas. What a great day of fishing it was with Mutton Snapper averaging over 18lbs. and double header Black Groupers over 35lbs. By the end of the day we had a fantastic catch of over 350lbs. of the best seafood Key West has to offer. Each and every day since has been no different except for a bad stretch of 35 to 40mph winds out of the East and Southeast which didn't matter to me because I was in the hospital for an appendectomy. Some would disagree, but I think I tend to have perfect timing for these things. I try to look on the bright side of things. Anyways, it is great to be back here in paradise where the food is great and the fishing is better. Capt. Billy Delph

For more info go to www.delphfishingcharters.com or email at delphfishing@aol.com or call us 305-294-4456

Shark Fishing

If you have read our "Shark Fishing" page, you will probably realize by now, shark fishing in Key West is a little different than most other areas. You might say, a little more "hands on". This particular trip certainly proved no exception to that rule.

While flats fishing with Chuck Broadski, a Miami attorney (now living in Montana), we had noticed a good number of fairly large bull sharks in the area. Rather than hook any permit and risk losing them to the sharks, Chuck suggested that we do some shark fishing. I was not very enthusiastic with the idea, as I prefer to do my shark fishing from the larger boat. However, I did not want to feed the sharks any permit and as the day was still young, I thought we might give it a try.

We quickly caught a small barracuda and hung in from a rope, off of the bow of my 16' flats skiff. As the scent corridor began to form we rigged the 8# spinning outfit for sharks. A 10' shock leader with a 3' trace of #7 wire to a 6/0 hook should do the trick. After cutting a 6" by 2" piece of "cuda" for bait, we didn't have to wait very long for the inevitable to happen. Shortly, we were hooked into a 250# bull shark and the spool diameter on the little spinning reel, began to diminish rapidly. As was standard practice with large fish on light line, I started the motor and began to follow the shark. After a while we began to recover most of the line and soon we were no more that twenty or so feet behind the large brown shadow.

When you trespass within the undefined limits of the shark's territory, especially the bull shark, they will give you a very distinct warning. The pectoral fins will extend downward at a 45 degree angle and the shark will begin to swerve in an exaggerated, left and right swimming mode. We call this action, "attack posture". This usually means that if you don't back off very quickly, you will be eaten.

Sure enough, the large brown shape began its exaggerated darting, left then right. I shouted to Chuck to get ready for the attack. I try to maneuver the boat so that the shark will not be able to catch us, thereby avoiding that crunch that any boat owner hates to hear, the parting of gel coat from the fiberglass, in this case, caused by the teeth of the shark. The shadow started it's large sweep to the right and suddenly accelerated, completing the full circle. Now we were being pursued by the shark.

So far, nothing unusual was happening and I was prepared for the next step, simply accelerate and move away from the shark, then fall in behind it once more and continue the fight.

The water was only about 3' deep and the motor had been trimmed up so that the propeller would not hit bottom or pick up grass. As I advanced the throttle, the propeller picked up air and began to cavitate. I knew that the shark was close behind and I had little time to waste. I began to lower the motor while still under power and expected the prop to grab and the boat to bolt forward. The transom of the boat was very near the water line due to the angle of the motor and its downward thrust. The cavatition of the prop did not stop nor did the boat bolt forward as I had intended. Chuck was in the bow and was looking back at the large brown form as it closed on the little skiff. I looked back to my right, in a field of bubbles formed by the cavatition of the prop, and suddenly the head of the shark broke the surface. It's forward momentum carrying the shark up on the rear deck where I was seated and mere inches from by backside. The jaws were snapping and the body was still swimming, trying to get to me. I was still advancing the throttle and white water was blowing from the prop. The shark began to slide back down the rear deck. I could hear jaws popping and teeth scraping as it's head entered the water. It quickly turned and the line began to smoke from the reel once more. We continued to fight the shark for another 20 or so minuets, avoiding several more attacks until it was brought along side where it promptly bit a large chunk of gel coat from the side of my boat, well above the water line. Chuck was thrilled with the experience and couldn't wait to get back to the dock to tell all that would listen, his views from the bow of the boat, certainly different from those views at the back of the boat.

We continued with the days fishing, often reflecting back on the others actions and reactions to the events of the morning. After returning to the dock, we found that the bracket for the trolling motor had been broken and the trim tab cylinder had been bitten and punctured by the teeth of the shark. The large gash on the port side of the boat would have to be filled and sanded, however there were no real lasting marks of our adventure except in our memories. Memories that belong to Chuck and myself, of "Shark Fishing" in Key West. Check out more fishing adventures at DelphFishingCharters.com