Welcome to my December blog where you will find my latest information and updates about my business. On paper, my schedule is off to a slow start now, but I find my bookings this year have trended more to the last minute unplanned type. That is not a big deal. I always have the boat ready and a few game plans that prove reliable producers of good catches. I highly recommend getting your booking done sooner than later for many good reasons. I see on the news reports that the areas you are coming from are already getting hammered by winter weather and we certainly see a direct correlation to large waves of weather related visitors. Locally we have an accordion effect with some surges of travelers that overwhelm our resources and turns what is normally easy or available into situations where there is no supply of bait and delays getting in/off the dock per congestion. I have ways to plan around that. It takes extra time and strategy. When everybody shows up at the same time, those that have booked early will have the best morning time slots and I will have bait for those trips reserved. I will be able to run double half day and afternoon trips, but the better trip will be planned for. Success does not come without planning. I will finish with an important story about that.
December is an excellent month for fishing. The frequency of cold fronts arriving brings you, bait and a variety of new fish into our area with each passing front. The shallower reefs closer in turn on and offer us another option that is good for windy days. My most popular trip is a 4 hour “reef” trip, which could look like many things. Based on the wind direction, conditions, who is in your group and what you would like to catch that could put us on the deep reef 5 miles out, the shallow reefs 2 miles out, the bridge or the shallow bayside on the opposite side of the island. We are targeting snapper, grouper, jacks and mackerel on most of these trips and will come across many other species trip to trip.
Out on the wrecks the action has been picking up. Sailfish, kingfish, amberjack and mutton snappers have been around more. The past few times I have put some time and effort out there it has been getting better, but there has been a few obstacles. The sharks have been putting a big dent in getting quality fish into the boat. Been quite a few cut offs and just heads making for some frustration situations. That is fairly common for this time of year, but has been a little worse than normal. We have a handful of “private” uncharted wrecks and there really isn’t much left of them structurally speaking. I’m finding these are all well known now through the use of modern technology and the fishing pressure on them is nearly constant. The sharks know very the sound of what we are doing and having a constant feeding opportunity for them eating our fish had created a difficult scenario. Now you know. Story about that later.
Windy days, which we always have in December, bridge fishing has been a good choice. Everything moves through our bridges at one point or another, but we are mostly catching mangrove snapper, jacks, grouper and whatever is migrating through. The bridges are tricky because the current is always changing and dictates what we can or can’t do. I like the bridge because it can be the only place to fish when we get long stretches of wind that eliminates all other options. Same theme, sharks have been a problem this month. Once we get a good thing going and make a ruckus, the sharks show up and the aggression and speed of these sharks usually push us off our best spots.
Fishing the bayside really kicks into high gear in December. The shallows make windy days more tolerable and produce good catches of mangrove snapper, grouper, mackerel, jacks and sharks. This is an easier fishery for beginners due to the lack of depth and reef structure. Our winter mackerel migration is just arriving and mackerel fishing can be fast and furious. These are good for fresh dinners and are not the best for freezing and sending home like our snapper and groupers.
A great windy day bay trip
The last fishery is offshore fishing. This is better for experienced anglers and can take us anywhere from 7 miles out to 30 miles for tuna, a few mahi, kingfish, sailfish and a few other random migrators. This requires a nice weather window of winds less than 15mph. This is a high teamwork activity and is very rewarding when the conditions are right. You are my crew and will be setting lines and operating the deck as I drive the boat. We work together to make a positive result and our team effort is what makes positive results. I have a story about this.
A pair of nice grouper from the deep. Last month for grouper season
In the water activities for December are still a reasonable option, but less reliable as we go into the winter months. Periods of calm weather will allow for clear water on the reef. Periods of wind and changing wind directions stir up the sediment like shaking a snow globe. Please, book what you want to do and we will work out a plan as your scheduled trip draws nearer. 48 hours before your trip you are required to make a mandatory check in call so we can discuss the latest conditions and how to prepare for your trip. I have a story about this! As the water temperatures drop, wetsuits can be rented from Captain Hooks Marina for your snorkeling trip. As of December 4th reef water temperatures are around 75 degrees and that fluctuates daily with tides and wind direction. Makes sense, right?
I want to finish up with some additionally helpful information that is only useful if you use it. What you have already read can be found as general information on my website. It is always there and it is there to help you have a great trip with me. I have a system to run my trips within a set of parameters that work in the hundreds of variables that the weather, the ocean, the fish and my customers give to me to make something good come from in the form of a successful trip. Recently, I had a trip where one guest in a group decided that I was going to have an unusually tough day. It happens. It is unfortunately a part of doing business and dealing with thousands of unique people a year that I meet for the first time on a boat. This is a fact: It is your choice to use this information I provide on here to prepare for your trip. I run my trips a particular way that requires your effort and participation. It is pretty simple. The attitude you bring on board is contagious. If you choose to ignore my requirements, perform and participate poorly and have a bad attitude……nobody will have the trip that was intended and my work is for nothing. I do not want to be a part of that. I would never choose to put myself in that position.
One last thing, speaking of contagious. If you are sick you are not allowed on my boat. Sorry about your luck. It will happen to somebody in some group that is scheduled to fish with me this month. My bubble is small because I live on an island and work on a boat. You and others are importing a massive amount of the finest germs from around the country and the world and we share too many surfaces on the boat that I can not defend myself from. 3 things happen when I get sick. I lose thousands of dollars in trips during busy season when I get sick. This has been a tough year for my business and I can’t afford to lose even 1. The trips I miss ruin the plans of other guests that have booked an important day of their vacation with me, so they get hurt too. I will return to running trips when I an not death bed sick. I will likely be passing illness on to my guests. It is all not good, so please just do not do it. If I identify you as sick, you will not be coming on board. Do not make me have to do that. That is all for my December 2025 report. I might have one more for Christmas week. I hope you have safe travels here and look forward to seeing you soon!!
another good windy day bay trip