Key West Black Fin Tuna action!

[Wild and Free]

Wife and i went out with Captain Marlin Scott on the boat "Premium Time" of Fishmonster charters out of Key West Fl. last week and had a blast hammering the black fin tuna. They cleaned them and we carried them into a Restaurant right there at the pier where most places will cook what you caught when you carry it in.

We caught 10 of them in about 3 hours of fishing. Bite didn't catch on until about an hour into trolling after my wife did some chumming lol, the 3-5 foot chop got to her, in 25 years of being on the water that was the first time she ever got sick but she was a trooper once she got it out of her system and the bite started she was ready for action.

The very first tuna I had on the line was taxed hard, capt and deck hand figured it to be about a 50# Wahoo that got the rear half of it while i was reeling it in, I didn't see it but the Captain and deck hand both saw the tail fin come out of the water when it taxed my tuna, If you watch the videos at the bottom of this post you will see the taxed tuna and they explain the bite marks on it. When it hit the tuna it was intense as the tuna fight hard to start with then you get another even stronger hit, my eyes got really big at that point. We threw the biggest ones back at the end of the day. Kinda wanted a Mahi bite but the tuna were very fun. We also lost another Wahoo right away.

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[Retired Educator]

That looks like fun. I find saltwater fish a lot of fun to catch. Not necessarily better than freshwater, but definitely different. Lucky for me I've never chummed but there can always be that first time. Most chummers I've been around don't seem to get over it until back on shore. Good for your bride.

 

[8andcounting]

Wow ! Congrats and that looks fun and the food looks delicious

 

[Wild and Free]

That looks like fun. I find saltwater fish a lot of fun to catch. Not necessarily better than freshwater, but definitely different. Lucky for me I've never chummed but there can always be that first time. Most chummers I've been around don't seem to get over it until back on shore. Good for your bride.

We spend lots of time on the water both here and on salt and in / on many different types of boats and it took her by surprise too but she was mid boat watching the waves come instead of standing at the rear waiting for the bite which is what got her, she was amazed at the size of waves we were breaking out there as we were hitting them. I asked the Captain how high the waves were and he said 3-5 foot "Chop" lol, said once things hit 5' plus we would definitely know it and we were in fairly good conditions which we were for the most part. The tide was going out to sea and there was a SE wind which caused the "Chop" that day, we were in the Sand Key Light house area about 10 miles southwest of Key West.

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Wow ! Congrats and that looks fun and the food looks delicious

Thanks, it was excellent, i am allergic to canned tuna but I wasn't going to let this go to waste, it was absolutely amazing, no reaction to it and very tender and no fishy taste what so ever. My wife sent some back to be cooked a bit more but i enjoyed it as you see it. This was the best tuna bite that started this day in 3 months and everyone was very excited as this tuna is the best eating fish there is according to everyone. We didn't ship any home not knowing what it was going to taste like but now wish we would have. Everyone working the boats were very excited about taking it home with them.

 

[WT2121]

I love eating tuna! Thanks for sharing your trip information. It is on my bucket list.

 

[Retired Educator]

We get so used to eating fish that is fully cooked but tuna is best when cooked like you had it. First time I ate fresh tuna my b-i-l cooked it on the grill and it was fully cooked. Thought it was very dry. Next time I ate fresh tuna it was cooked like yours. Could not believe the difference. MMMMMMMmmmmm good. Tender and moist. Now catch a bunch of Spanish Mackerel and the crew won't be in such a hurry to bring it home.

 

[guywhofishes]

nothing beats seared Ahi.... drool!!!!

 

[KDM]

nothing beats seared Ahi.... drool!!!!

I wouldn't count fresh Wahoo out of that race by any means. In fact if they were both on the same plate with the tuna cooked like what's shown and the Wahoo grilled, I'd reach for the Wahoo first. That being said, I think my preference has NOTHING to do with flavor, but texture. Tuna is a heavy, weighty, steak like fish where Wahoo is a more of the white flaky texture typical of fish. Both are AWESOME and my mouth just sprung a leak thinking about either one.

 

[Wallike]

Nice post W&F. Key West is a favorite of ours but I have a couple questions for ya...My wife and I flew down to Miami, rented a car and drove down to Key West for the week. This was before the hurricane. So what's the area look like now? Are there still massive amounts for devastated areas? We'd love to do it again but we're kind of waiting to hear how it looks from a visitor's point of view.

 

[jdinny]

That looks like a blast! I may very well PM you for a few more details and questions. the wife and I were starting to kind of kick around ideas for a fishing trip/vaction thought about kinns for salmon and trout but shes wants sunny and warm I want the fishing so there we go!

 

[shorthairsrus]

I have some q's too -- i will pm you two too. - looks fun

 

[Wild and Free]

Nice post W&F. Key West is a favorite of ours but I have a couple questions for ya...My wife and I flew down to Miami, rented a car and drove down to Key West for the week. This was before the hurricane. So what's the area look like now? Are there still massive amounts for devastated areas? We'd love to do it again but we're kind of waiting to hear how it looks from a visitor's point of view.

There is more fine tune clean up to do along highway 1 in the middle and lower keys yet and a lot of garbage in the mangroves along the roads which is nearly impossible to get completely clean as thick as they are and some keys have some debris piles yet but i would say that for the most part they are 90+% back in action through the mid keys and Key west is pretty much 95+% of normal, some cleanup in a few areas but not as noticeable as up the road a few keys. Talking to some of the locals a lot of the mess is self created, once the hurricane was bearing down lots of lowlife scumbags throw their old garbage and furniture out in the yard and on the streets hoping for it to blow or wash away and then get cleaned up with the rest rather than disposing of it the right way.

Well worth the trip as Keywest itself is pretty much back to normal.

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I would be happy to answer any questions you guys have, my wife and I have gone there 5 times in 7 years or so for 2-4 days each trip so we know a bit about the goings on down there. We drove down there 4 times and took the Keywest express boat round trip from Ft Meyers once.

I wouldn't reccommend going down to Florida after Dec 22 through spring if you are looking for a deal as they triple the prices on rooms all across the state as that is their prime tourist / snowbird season. We usually always go down there some where in the october - early december time frame which is the off season, we were sticker shocked this trip at the prices this trip versus when we usually go. I think we were there in July once and prices were really good then too.