Prime Time Fishing Report - 4/8/07

PRIME TIME One sailfish and a half dozen dolphin on Sunday, 4/8/07
was the catch of the day. Seems that Sailfish are not as numerous in the
"off season" as in past seasons and other areas with better habitat, such as
Miami, are still holding fish. We felt lucky to raise one and, fortunately,
Van caught the fish after it had eluded a fellow angler. Van also caught
the largest of the dolphin which was probably around 15 pounds. A lot of
ground was covered from the beach in the morning for a quick cobia hunt to
over 20 miles out hoping for a blue marlin bite.

(Contributed by F. Grell)

SSC Plans two cruises this year– Spring Cruise, the Abacos; Fall Cruise, Florida West Coast

Last year, the Club enjoyed a couple of great cruises up the Florida coast.

The Club is planning on two cruises this year. The first will depart May 17 for the Abacos, Bahamas. We plan on spending the first 2 nights at Spanish Cay Resort and Marina with an informal fishing tourney on a few of the boats.

Then we will depart for Green Turtle Cay for 3 or 4 nights, staying at the Bluff House Yacht Club Marina. We will be doing day trips on one or more boats to other interesting islands, villages, beaches, etc, while at Green Turtle Cay.

Returning dates will likely be May 22 or 23 or both depending on
when members want to return.

We have reserved a block of 10 slips and 8 rooms at each location for boaters who wish to stay ashore and to encourage members to bring along other members or friends who wish to leave their boats at home or don't have one. These blocks of slips and rooms are being held until April 1. Slips may be available after that date, but rooms will be difficult to obtain. For shoreside guests wishing to sign up later, there is also the Green Turtle Cay Club, a short walk on the opposite side of the sound.

If members or guests on your boat wish to sign up for a slip or rooms, it is best for them to contact Robin at the club at 772-286-9373. She will put you in contact with the cruise organizer club member to ensure you are reserving a slip or room from the arrangements the club has made and that you are included on further communications concerning this cruise. The web sites for these 2 locations are below:

http://www.spanishcay.com/
http://www.bluffhouse.com/

Again, please contact Robin before making any reservations for slips or rooms. So far, it looks like we’ll have 8-10 boats.

The second cruise will be to the west coast of Florida via Lake
Okeechobee.

Departure is presently scheduled for October 18 and return on or
About October 24.

We will attempt to book the newly rebuilt South Seas Marina and Resort for slips and rooms on the north end of Captiva Island and then a couple of nights at a marina in the village of Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island.

Return will likely be Oct 24 or whenever members want to come back. Please contact the Club by phone or Email at: info@stuartsailfishclub.com if you are interested in this second cruise in October. Please include the name and size of your boat, Email address, and if you are likely to have guests or would be interested in a member couple joining you to share fuel expenses, etc

Madison's First Sailfish

After a slow day of trolling Saturday (1 release) we decided Sunday was the day to try to get a first sail for Madison (my 6 year old daughter) given the amount of bait we had seen. Live bait fishing for us means switching to spinning reels, Shimano Bait Runner 4500's, and with circle hooks it's a good combination for any angler. The circle hooks have resulted in far fewer fish 'jumping off' so we feel they're very forgiving should the angler not be able to keep the line tight. For Madison we backed the drags off to about 3 lbs.

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Well the fish cooperated. We located several in shallow water, and what started as dirty green started bluing up later in the morning. She got her first, second and third, with one other jumping off. All IGFA legal- all she had to do was pick up the rod and click off the bait runner drag, keep the rod tip low and let the fish come tight. With circle hooks I could run the boat up to the point of putting slack on the line. Perfect combo for anglers learning.

Contributed by T. Wichers

St. Lucie Inlet Dredging to Begin Friday, Feb. 9

Please see information and warnings at www.StLucieInlet.com. Looks like it's finally starting, so PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

For initial dredge set up, see http://www.martin.fl.us/portal/page?_pageid=73,2277445&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL. Click on the file to open it for the drawing. Then continue to check for Daily Updates.

Circle Hook Reminder

Please review the following rule effective Jan. 1, 2007 regarding billfish releases for Club standings:

"ELIGIBLE FISH: All billfish caught from boats REGISTERED with the Stuart Sailfish Club as a member boat or member charter boat and/or by a SSC member at the time the fish is released. Effective 1/1/07, if natural bait (dead or live) is used, only fish caught with a non-offset circle hook are eligible. J hooks are allowed only on all artificial lures."

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If billfish (including swordfish) are caught on J hooks and/or not released, they cannot count toward Club recognition awards. (Except J hooks can be used with artificial lures.)