Rare Catches

As an avid angler the draw to fishing is behind the excitement of not knowing what fish species you will pull up to the surface. Sure, you can plan to target a specific species but, there is never a guarantee on what you’ll end up hooking. On the other hand, we’ve been pleasantly surprised on more than one occasion while fishing. 

In recent years I have been stunned by a few rare catches. The three that come to mind occurred while fishing with customers on my charter fishing adventures.

Most recently we landed a 14 pound Cubera Snapper in the waters I routinely fish. To be clear, Cubera Snapper are typically found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Southern Florida and the Gulf of Mexico all the way down as far south as Brazil. While I’ve heard of smaller Cubera Snapper being caught and tagged in Southern Florida back country regions, I’ve never seen them caught locally. For this reason, he was considered a Prize Catch on a recent fishing charter I hosted. 

The next species that was quite surprising to see landed on my boat right here in Daytona Beach was the Bonefish. We actually managed to catch two bonefish on back-to-back weekend charters. If you are not familiar, Bonefish are most commonly caught in shallow, warm waters in tropical regions of the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Southern Florida as far north as Biscayne Bay.  You can imagine how shocked I was to catch this prized fish in our home waters on a consistent basis. 

Lastly, while deep dropping some larger baits, we managed to hook two 200 plus pound  Swordfish and bring them to the boat fairly quickly while hand cranking a Shimano Tiagra TI80WA. Please keep in mind we were fishing in 1,300 feet of water. These were quite possibly two of my personal favorite catches on a recent fishing charter. Swordfish are most commonly caught in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific oceans and sometimes in the North Atlantic waters. These fish have also more recently been caught in the Indian and Mediterranean Oceans. 

As a charter fishing captain, I will always remain enthusiastic by the wonder of what we’ll catch next. While some call it Luck, I call it Fishing!

If you have the desire to target a new species or explore the waters of the Atlantic, don’t hesitate to connect with Reel Harmony Fishing Charters as I’ll guarantee a great time on the water while documenting our thrilling adventures, creating memories that will last a lifetime. 

Captain Martin Goldys

Reel Harmony Fishing Charters

386-679-0317

www.ReelHarmonyFishing.com