The largest trip you can take to fish aboard the Yankee Captains is the furthest south you can possibly travel and still say you are on United States soil. Every winter for the past 30 years the crew of the Yankee Captains has run their vessel down to the fishing paradise known as Key West, Florida. There, they offer some of the most unique offshore fishing adventures of any boat and crew, native to Florida or not. So, when Captain Greg invited me for one of their two day Dry Tortugas Islands trips, I jumped at the opportunity. "When we first started coming down here," said Captain Greg, "everyone said we were crazy to try overnight trips with the Florida weather and all the good fishing that is already inshore." But, Captain Greg realized that anglers in Florida, whether natives or visitors, are itching for offshore excursions as much as they do up in the northeast. And overnight trips are the only way to make these trips affordable. The Dry Tortugas fishing grounds, which are 40-70 miles west of Key West, Florida, offer some of the best bottom fishing in the whole state of Florida. I thumbed through travel guide after travel guide while I was in Key West last March and any Dry Tortugas fishing experience I found required an angler to charter a boat or even fly a plane to a boat for at least $1,000. The Yankee Captains was the only overnight fishing trip that I could find where you are paying $310 for 36 hours of fishing. I could not find anything for even less than $500. For die hard offshore anglers looking to go offshore as often as possible, offshore fishing vessels like the Yankee Captains give us an affordable option with the same amount of amazing fishing action, whether in Florida or up here in the northeast. The trip I took was a 2 day Dry Tortugas trip that left at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, March 2nd and returned at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 4th. The typical catch for these trips are snapper and grouper, including mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, red grouper, and black grouper. You can also jig for king mackerel, but mostly everyone on my trip was sticking with trying to land a big grouper or snapper. The fishing on my trip began at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning and did not stop until about 1 p.m. on Sunday, when we started to head back. That is not to say I fished all those hours straight, but the option was certainly there, as the crew was continuously at work to put everyone on to fish. Crew members Josh and Shawn were constantly checking up on everything about your fishing. When fishing at depths no shallower than 100', a helpful crew can make a world of difference. I would very often hand my rod over to them to ask if my bait needs to be checked. Josh and Shawn's answer, several times, resulted in me either getting a fish thirty seconds later or not wasting another minute with an unbaited hook at the bottom. Over the two days, we anchored over 30 times on both hard and soft bottom and many wrecks. Usually, a productive spot was determined very quickly after anchoring. The mutton and yellowtail snapper were the most abundant species of the trip, and would very often be caught in bundles over a good spot by several anglers. Both snapper and grouper were fished for with the same tackle setup and similar techniques. For non live bait, the hook is beneath an egg sinker and squid or sardines were the most popular baits. One angler even brought his own live bait in a transportable bait well. The live bait was pinfish caught off local Key West bridges. Now that is working hard for your bait! Most anglers, however, stuck with using squid and sardines. |
The patience and skill needed to get a nice grouper is well worth the amazing taste of the fish. While on land in Key West, I had grouper in some way with every single meal. Grouper has pinkish flesh when cooked and a sweet taste to it like no saltwater species I have tasted. This sweet taste is definitely more predominant in a fresh catch. The mutton snapper is a versatile white meat that works well both roasted whole and filleted. While on the topic of food, a review of the Yankee Captains’ experience would not be complete without praising their great galley service and outstanding chef, Renata. Renata's kind service and cooking skills have certainly built her a reputation amongst Nor'easters I spoke with before and after this trip. Her pork chop dinner on Saturday night was certainly worth a break from the fishing. And when she is not attending to the galley, she is a joy to speak with and a great angler to boot! There were several extraordinary catches on the trip. One of the most interesting was a 500-plus-pound Jewfish, a.k.a. Goliath Grouper, that was caught by native Floridian Glenn Salts Jr. Unfortunately, Glenn's catch was one of the few rare times on this trip that I took a nap and these fish are protected. So, I missed the landing and release of the fish, but feel it necessary to report such a mammoth grouper was caught. I heard from fellow anglers on the trip that the fight was remarkable. Every angler on board went home with at least five mutton snapper and several anglers had large ones up to 15 pounds. The grouper bite on this particular trip was slower than previous trips, with about 10 total grouper caught, with a thirty-plus-pound pool fish being one of them. However, there were definitely some grouper lost by anglers not exercising the discussed patience and post hook set skill. If this trip left anything to be desired, it is to take another trip this winter! For more information about the Yankee Captains visit www.yankeecapts.com. |
