If I say light popping for tropical species most would think of areas like the Seychelles, The Great Barrier Reef, Panama, Mexico the list goes on and on. But what if I said it?s possible to fish with medium to light popping tackle right in the United States of America. Most would think I?m crazy. Well this is exactly what a group of us have set out to do and accomplished over the last couple of years. We did it by bringing over this new age of tackle and techniques from Japan and while bridging our world with theirs we?re able to present something to these fish that they had never even seen before. By the way if you haven?t figured it out by now the area I?m referring to is the Dry Tortugas off course!
For those that may not know - The Dry Tortugas are a small cluster of islands situated roughly 70 miles west of Key West, Fl. All around them is the southernmost coral reef in the contiguous United States. The area is considered pristine and extremely fertile. Thankfully it was also swiftly protected by our government early on before commercial fishing was able to take hold and devastate it. A couple of years ago I had the vision that we could target these fish in these shallow waters and be successful in catching them on top, we made it a reality last year and this time we had our chance to begin to fine tune our techniques.
The crew consisted of a group of guys that I consider all to be dear friends (which made our adventure that much sweeter.) The guys in no particular order were: Jomal Whiteside, Anuvat Thitibordin, Evan Gluck, Greg Shaughnessy, Adrian Michas, Tom Felice, Carlos Hill, Paul Chua, Sami Ghandour, Raymond Heredia, and me Jorge Fidalgo - oh and lest not forget our cardboard stowaway Raymond Yong as our in the flesh counterpart gave us some china town excuse that he couldn?t make it early on. The boats were the Lauren Jeanne and the Capt. Andy with two of the most exceptional captains: Captain Yuri Vakselisand Captain Shane Leonard.
A year of preparations quickly dawned upon us and the time had come for the 7 dudes from the icy tundra of New York and 4 from the crispy South Florida Sun. Most of us gathered at my place as we continued south while making a few minor pit stops along the way. When we reached the boat it was humbling to see the previous guys cleaning their catch and them asking ?hey are you the guys that will only fish lures on the trip? and with a smile from cheek to cheek we all clamored yes. We continued our annual tradition of having the pre-trip dinner at the Hogfish Bar & Grill before making our way to gather provisions and dividing the teams by boat. The plan was simple we would pop hardcore sunset to sundown the first and second days, jig the third and jig/pop a little on Sunday morning before returning home.
We left the dock roughly at 9pm and got to the area outside of Fort Jefferson and tied off both boats together on anchor, as usual several of us couldn?t sleep and hung out until the grogginess of the last few days of traveling caught up to us. Not before long it was sunrise and time to start fishing. We scurried out with sleepy eyes and coffee mugs in our hands as we started preparing for what was to come. At first the action was a little slow and sluggish as the fish were still waking up it seemed. Within a short couple of hours the tide changed and it was game on and boy was it on. Fish were coming from every direction attacking shoals of ballyhoo, left and right the cero mackerels came while the muttons and red groupers lazily stayed behind picking away at the scraps the savage mackerel were leaving in their wake. All the while we would fire our offerings rarely getting a refusal. It was on fire for a good while with everyone catching ample and beautiful fish. This scene of absolute mayhem would repeat itself a few times throughout the day, as we would find the schools of ballyhoo being attacked by birds from above and fish from below. Late in the day we had a short lull and right before the sun set we had one last flurry.
Around this time we had one of our most spectacular catches of the trip, as Adrian was working his Siren Bolt he felt the all too familiar thump which he quickly set the hook and realized this was not your average quarry but instead something of massive proportions. Everyone started calling out their guesses but as usual most were wrong, as the fight ensued and finally the fish was brought boatside everyone saw and it was a monster Amberjack and the fish was only hooked in 17 feet of water. We quickly landed, photographed, and released the Seriola dumerili. Later that night rough estimates put the weight of the fish around the 80lb mark.
We gathered and had a most wonderful pasta and shrimp dinner prepared by our chefs Adrian and Anuvat. But the night wasn?t over and Paul came over and said I want to catch a Goliath! Quickly the captains said - sure no problem the fish are here! We baited up an OBX500 with a Stella 20000 and set out a fresh chunk of bait. Before long the reel sang and the fight ensued, over and under and back around from one boat to the other the fish took Paul. But he persevered and broke the spirit of the mighty beast and brought it boatside. As Florida law states that these magnificent creatures cannot be removed from the water Paul with little hesitation jumped in to commemorate his catch. We took some quick pictures, removed the hook from his mouth, and set him free to cause havoc on another unsuspecting angler or as in our case suspecting.
Dawn was upon us once more and you could see the drowsiness in our angler?s eyes. But steadily all came out for another day of popping. Unlike the previous day, fishing was a bit slower and more spread out as the large shoals of ballyhoo were mainly absent from the areas we were targeting. We micro jigged a bit and that helped bring in some more prized specimens while providing quality fun on the light tackle. Still we caught our fill of fish on topwater. As the afternoon set in on the Capt. Andy and as the fish were not being the most cooperative Sami had one of his ideas. He asked if we could visit the fort for some site seeing. Quickly Captain Shane took us in and we began our trek of Fort Jefferson on Garden Key. Funny enough I have been to the dry Tortugas over a dozen times and never had I thought of actually going to the fort as it is usually considered ?taboo? to loose any second of valuable fishing time. We walked around and took in the beauty of that afternoon as the sun set off into the horizon. We made it back to the boat for another dinner prepared by our chefs, this time consisting of marinated steaks with a salad that I can simply call amazing.
After seeing Paul?s success of the night before with the behemoth, two more anglers wanted to get in on the action. Quickly a bait was set out and our newly named Pufferfish (aka Carlos) by none other than goofball Sami was on the hook and battling his own denizen of the shallows. Sadly this angler got a bit weak at the knees when it was time to jump in for the photograph as we had seen some rather large sharks patrolling the outskirts of our lights. Regardless we got some shots and even cardboard Ray got in on the action. Finally, it came time for Andy?s fish on the OBX400 as he was looking for a little more of a fight and a challenge. Still the fish came up after a brutal tug of war and the pictures were taken while his feet were securely in the boat.
Finally day three came along and we set out to do that dreaded thing we call jigging. Funny enough most of us started in this crazy world of jigging and popping with jigging and even though we love it. When quality popping presents itself we do not hesitate to bring out the long rods instead of the short. We instantly had a smorgasbord of fish and understandably substantially larger than their shallow water brethren. Sami kept insisting on hitting the AJ?s hard and we did as the day progressed even having some quadruple and quintuple hookups. Bent rods were never a problem from these hard fighting mofos that we have all learned to love and hate. Again night came and we made our way back to another area closer to Key West called the Marquessas. Anchored and tied together our chefs extraordinaire got to work on the biggest and most magnificent feast I have ever seen laid out in front of us while on a boat ? heck maybe ever! Compliments to the grand Tom Felice we had at least 4 different types of game meat accompanied by 3 different species of fish served and prepared in uniquely different ways. We ate our fill and proceeded to end the night by celebrating with our three birthday boys: Paul, Anuvat, and Carlos. Who happened to be the three anglers who landed goliaths!
The last and final day was mainly uneventful as our tired bodies and aching bones wanted rest and relaxation because we knew a ton of work lay ahead of us. We caught a few fish and proceeded to head in. Short work was made of the packing and cleaning of fish with the obligatory pizza delivery to nourish our tired bodies. In closing I would like share a thought as I saw and relived the moments in the pictures that Sami Ghandour and Adrian Michas took ? which all the credit goes to them. The thought is: Slow down and enjoy the beauty in the fish you?re catching ? I have been targeting these same fish for years and had never truly realized how beautiful and colorful they are until this time. I definitely will enjoy and appreciate them more from now on. I want to thank all of the guys that came on this trip to help make it a reality, our wonderful chefs; as well as, our two captains and their boats that allow us to live in a different reality even for only a few short days. And finally a shout out to the boys from Saltywater tackle as they are the key motivators and true innovators in our side of the world for jigging and popping ? couldn?t be done without you guys! Thanks!
Tackle used:
Reels:
Spinners: Shimano Stellas, Saragosas, Sustains, Stradics, Twinpower, and Ultegra.
Conventionals: Maxel, Studio Ocean Mark Blue Heaven, and Jigging Master.
Rods:
Popping: Racepoint 100 and 150. El Maestro 77H and 710MH. Carpenter, Hot?s, CB One, MC Works, and Smith.
Jigging: OBX 300, 400 & 500, Carpenter, Varivas, Yamaga Blanks, Ripple Fisher, Valley Hill, Zenaq, Smith, Shimano, Hot's, MC Works, & Jigging Master.
Lures: Moutoukenmaru, Carpenter, Siren, Bertox, CB One, Craft Bait, Hot?s, Smith, Hammerhead, Bridge, Lamble Bait, Native Works, Acqua, ASWB, Daiwa, Garyukohboh, Shimano, Shout, Tackle House, Shimano, Strategic Angler, Yo-Zuri, & DDX.
Jigs: Hot's, Smith, CB One, Fishing Labs, Second Stage, Marine Bait, FCL Labo, Fisherman, Komo, Lamble Bait, Sevenseas, Shout, Current, & Shimano.
NY/NJ guys at Saltywater Tackle in New Jersey before their departure.
Andy up early and casting before the captains had even brought up the anchors.
