Scarcity of large dolphin puzzles anglers in South Florida

But it's not - unless you love bagging big numbers of chickens barely larger than the minimum size of 20 inches to the fork.

"We're having a wonderful season for schoolies here in the Keys, but the big fish are not here this year," said captain Skip Bradeen of the Islamorada charter boat Blue Chip Too.

Added captain Jimbo Thomas of the Miami-based charter boat Thomas Flyer: "It's been very inconsistent."

Consider: Not one boat in a fleet of 85 brought a dolphin to the scales at last Saturday's Miami Dolphins Fishing Tournament, where the minimum eligible size was 10 pounds. On the same day, about 50 miles north, the heaviest dolphin at the Mercury SeaVee/Pompano Beach Saltwater Slam was 18.86 pounds. No second- or third-place fish were weighed.

Although a sprinkling of fish in the 40-plus-pound class have been reported caught in South Florida offshore waters since April, they have been few and far between. However, the Big Pine & Lower Keys Dolphin Tournament that ended Sunday was a bright spot, with a winning fish of 44.8 pounds caught by Randy Sterling of Key West. The runner-up fish was 41.05 pounds, and several in the 30s were weighed.

Although the June 4 Palm Beach County KDW Classic's fleet of more than 200 boats produced at least eight mahis weighing between 29 and 33 pounds, veteran Palm Beach charter boat captain Greg Bogdan said the bounty probably owed more to strong easterly winds that pushed fish inshore than anything else.

"The catch rate so far is way down," Bogdan said last week. "Pretty dismal. We've had a good two weeks but for the weather."

So, what's going on?

In previous spring/summer seasons when dolphin fishing was mediocre off South Florida, it made for a bonanza off the Carolinas.

Not so far this season, according to marine scientist Don Hammond, who runs an international dolphin-tagging program from his office in South Carolina.

"It's horrible," Hammond said in an interview last week. "The size of the schools and the number of schools out there is greatly diminished from previous years."

When anglers ask him where the dolphin are this season, his standard response is, "I don't know."

Hammond said the number of tags fishermen are putting in dolphin is way down; however, the number of tag recoveries is up. In 2008, a poor tagging year, there was a 5 percent recovery rate, which is pretty high considering the fish's vast range. Midway through a sparse dolphin-tagging season this year, the recovery rate is about 4 percent, raising an interesting question: When the number of dolphin decrease in the Gulf Stream, do fishermen catch a higher percentage of those present?

NOBODY ASKED ME, BUT… — FishMonster Magazine

A captain’s thoughts on booking and enjoying fishing charters.

“One of these days I oughta write a book!”

I’m sure that’s a thought that many of you have had about your job, the people you’ve met and the things they do. Well, I’m not going to write a book (at least not yet), but I thought that this would be just the forum to express some random thoughts about what you might want to consider when you try to book a fishing charter in  the Keys.

First suggestion: have some idea what you want. If it’s just a few hours on the water throwing down a few cold ones and you don’t really care what you catch or how, just about any boat will do. “Split” or shared charters where you go out with other folks you don’t know will probably be the cheapest way to go. So, if an economic boat ride is all you want – price shop and then pick whatever boat seems to make the most sense money-wise. Not all boats do splits – we don’t – so ask around to find the ones that do.

Remember, however, on a split charter no guarantees are made that your fellow travelers are not readily prone to seasickness, are not loud, crude drunks, can form complete sentences without using the “F” and “C” words multiple times and/or won’t bore you to death with long stories you don’t really want to hear. “Split” charters can also be great trips to meet nice people, make new friends, catch great fish and have fantastic memories. However, they can be trying ordeals — imagine being sick as a dog and having to endure that for several hours because some people, whom you suddenly decided you don’t even like,  aren’t sick and they’re entitled to their full promised time on the water. Or, maybe think about trying not to get sick while everyone else is “spewing” around you for several hours – or, dealing with an obnoxious drunk.

As long as you realize what you’re undertaking and are willing to take the good with the bad, “splits” can get you out there for less money.

Frommer's Florida 2011

Frommer's South Florida, With the Best of Miami and the Keys

Frommer's Florida 2007

Frommer's Florida from $70 a Day

Frommer's USA