Fishing with Big Boii charters?? Heck ya!!! We were visiting the Keys and booked with Captain…read moreTorre based on a recommendation from a local tackle shop ("good kid, works hard", they said) and I'm glad I listened to them!!
We booked a morning four hour reef/wreck charter for four people - me, my wife, and our 2 kids (college and high school aged). Torre was waiting for us at the dock when we arrived and we were quickly on our way. We stopped on flats looking to net some live bait (pilchard?). Torre said live bait will make all the difference. So after a little bit of stalking, we found some bait and after Torre threw a few cast nets, we were off to the fishing ground a few miles from shore.
Once we got out to the fishing grounds, it didn't take long to start catching cero mackerel. All four of us enjoy fishing, so we had a couple of flat lines out with live bait and once we started hitting the flat lines, it was game on!!! With all of the lines in the water, we were catching fast enough where there were times we were re-tying and rebaiting our rods, because Torre was busy bringing fish in or re-tying lost/tangled rods. Because we all fish, we didn't mind at all helping out, because the more time your line is in the water, the better your chances of catching fish.
And we were definitely catching fish!! Our final total at the dock were 17 cero mackerel and one yellow tail snapper. We lost a few others before we could land them, released 4-5 more and lost one to a shark, since we ended up reeling in just a mackerel head. And thanks to that mackerel head, we even lost what might've been a goliath grouper with a bottom rig we baited with it... ahhh... the one that got away...
And Torre was right... Once we ran out of live bait towards the end of our time and switched to cut bait, the action definitely died down.
We had such a great time, Torre was able to squeeze us in for an afternoon charter the next day. It took us longer to find bait (checked three different spots) but we were willing to do the work to improve our chances of catching. And we did great for a second day in a row!! This time we were further out in ~300 feet of water 8-9 miles from shore looking for tuna. Our count for day two was... 3 huge mutton snapper, one blackfin tuna, and one bonito tuna all off bottom rigs. The numbers were lower, but the action was just as good. Reeling in from 300' deep is no joke!!
When we are back in the Keys, we'll definitely call Torre to book a fishing charter again!!! I know fishing can be hit or miss, so we might've just been lucky two days in a row, but Torre was a great captain and great to fishing with!! Tight Lines!!!