Daphne, AL USA

here is a link to congressmen for our area. Feel free to e-mail them and let them know how we really feel about what is going on. I for one think we need to push this issue.Limits on Red Snapper in our waters should not be regulated by what goes on in Florida and Texas. The local fishermen are the reason our fishery is what it is today and we should take a stand right here and now.  
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=al

Thursday, March 20, 2008 @ 9:48:56 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

Back from Venice for a couple of days due to weather.  This is my first time home since we departed the Island back in January.

I wanted to post a copy of a report that is important to everyone in our area.  NMFS is out of control with our red snapper season and they are setting thier sites on other species.  

Here is a litte info. for those people still interested in catching snapper this year. It is now possible that snapper season may close on August 5th, 2008 instead of Sept. 30th, 2008 which was made the final ruling on January 28th, 2008. I talked with Dr. Crabtree yesterday morning, so this is real.  The reason for this is because Texas and Florida's state snapper season does not follow the federal season. Therefore, NMFS (Dr. Crabtree) said that the quota for red snapper in the Gulf will be reached by early August instead of the end of Sept. since Florida and Texas refuse to follow federal regulations. Here is an email sent to Dr. Crabtree from Bob Zales. [This will give you a better idea of what is going on]

call for congressional investigation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

here is an email sent to Dr. Roy Crabtree today.

Roy,
I have sent this email to you so that you are notified first hand of my request for a congressional investigation into the management of red snapper and your refusal to provide the analysis for your reported statement that you intend to reduce the recreational red snapper season from September 30 to August 5 this year. I want you to know that this request is not personal between you and me and that I do not take this action without serious thought and concern. The information listed below is clear that I have not accused you or anyone else with any illegal activity or actions nor have I taken any personal attack on you or anyone else.
This email has been copied to everyone on my email list and to both Senators Nelson and Martinez and to Congressmen Boyd and Miller. It has been copied to several media outlets. The actions taken by you and your agency to severely reduce the red snapper recreational fishery, although based on your interpretation of the reauthorization of the MSA and it's arbitrary date of 2010 to end overfishing, have cause severe emotional and economic hardship to individuals and communities across the Gulf of Mexico. The further reduction of the recreational season to August 5 plus the continued proposed reductions in most of the key reef fish species will create more serious devastation to the communities and many of the people who live and work in those communities. Your refusal to provide a copy of the analysis to Ms Walker, Recreational Council Representative from Alabama, prior to her Chairing the Council public hearing in Panama City last night and your insistence that she attempt to convince the citizens of Florida in attendance to request the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Commissioners to rescind their action taken last February has caused my request. I can no longer sit by and watch my fellow charterboat owners, my community, supporting businesses, and friends suffer as a result of your agency's actions. National Standard 8,(8) Conservation and management measures shall, consistent with the conservation requirements of this Act (including the prevention of overfishing and rebuilding of overfished stocks), take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities by utilizing economic and social data that meet the requirements of paragraph (2), in order to (A) provide for the sustained participation of such communities, and (B) to the extent practicable, minimize adverse economic impacts on such communities. is clear that the sustained participation of communities shall be provided and the adverse economic impacts shall be minimized, where practicable. I believe "practicable" means allowing communities and their citizens to survive and your actions fail to do that.
I hope you understand my position and accept my actions for their intent, which is to ensure an open and honest management system, one that provides for the continued rebuilding of our resources while allowing the people and communities to survive.
Please see the below.

By now I hope that all of you have received and read my email regarding the reported private luncheon meeting where Dr Crabtree told the representatives of the 5 Gulf State's Marine Resource Agencies that he was going to have to reduce the current red snapper recreational season from June 1 thru Sept 30 to June 1 thru Aug 5. This is not a rumor; it was reported to me by a state director on Wed Mar 12, 2008 in the afternoon. This is further verified by an email, which was generated by Jon Dodrill, Environmental Administrator, with the FWC which states,

Today I heard from my supervisor, Bill Teehan, confirmation of NMFS management decision made in response to Texas and Florida’s red snapper season inconsistencies with new red snapper federal regulations.In response within the next two weeks NMFS will be announcing that they have been forced to further reduce the federal red snapper season down to June 1-August 4 in order to end red snapper overfishing while accounting for Texas and Florida’s inconsistencies.

I want to bevery clear that what I am about to publish is not to accuse anyone of any potential illegal activity, is not intended to defame anyone, and is only my opinion based on the information I have gathered first hand and by personal communication with others. I am simply placing information for your consideration and to inform you of actions that have been taken up to now and may be taken in the future. In addition, I wish to inform everyone that by making the statements I am about to make, I do so with full knowledge that my effort to seek the recommendation for the current Gulf Council seat could be jeopardized and that the current positions where I serve as an advisor to the NMFS, Council, and other entities are at risk of me being removed from those positions. I have thought long and hard about what I am about to say and feel that all of you deserve to know the truth and form your own opinion and take your own actions should you desire to do so. It is far more important to me for you to be told of actions that have happened and how, in my opinion, we have been coerced and manipulated by various people within the NMFS. The time has come to bring this to a head and have congress look into the actions and mismanagement within the NMFS.

The red snapper issue has grown into a catastrophe that threatens the livelihoods of people and communities and is driven by the congressional reauthorization of the MSA in Jan '07. I believe our congressional leaders were blindsided by the environmental organizations into passing a law that has resulted in dire unintended consequences for communities and the people. By selecting arbitrary overfishing deadline dates, congress has forced the NMFS to create extremely restrictive regulations which are resulting in serious economic and social harm to our coastal communities at a time when the economy is already suffering. I also believe that some people within the NMFS have used the congressional action to purposely ignore their ability to be more flexible in their rulemaking.

I received a call from Bobbi Walker, a Gulf council member from Alabama. Although Dr. Crabtree would not admit to the private talk with state directors when she asked for the analysis that resulted in this determination he refused to send it to her. She was on her way to chair a public hearing in Florida for the council and wanted the information to relay to the public. She continued to request the analysis and he said it was incomplete.

As the regional administrator, Crabtree has tremendous power. He can, when the data supports, close, change bag limits, and/or adjust fishing seasons when the completed analysis supports doing so. He cannot, however, arbitrarily choose to adjust any management measure based on incomplete data. (Note here that the statement he made to the people at the private luncheon was a specific date to shut down the fishery, Aug 5. Also note, the email I referenced generated by a conversation from Bill Teehan that states that the NMFS will make an official announcement within 2 weeks that the season will be June 1 to Aug 4). Additionally, Crabtree asked Bobbi if she would explain to the Florida citizens who attended the public hearing that they needed to contact the FWC to rescind their recent action to not be compatible with federal regulations on red snapper. She told him that she would report to the public the reason for these short seasons, which was the recent reauthorization of the Magnuson/Stevens Act and the requirement to stop all overfishing by 2010.

This creates serious questions. Since Crabtree has refused to provide any analysis justifying his stated action with specific dates and an official NMFS announcement will be forth coming within 2 weeks verifying the specific dates, does this mean that the analysis could be done with manipulated data to justify the stated adjustment to our season? Many people have long suspected that some NMFS actions have been based over the years on altered data that supports their management agenda. Clearly, the issue surrounding the shortening of our season suggests this could be the case. Everyone should contact their legislative delegations and demand an immediate investigation into this matter. Here are some questions that need immediate answers.



When was the analysis supporting this shortened season initiated, who did the analysis, and where is it?
Who made the ultimate decision to reduce the 2008 recreational red snapper season and when was the decision made?
What data was used to perform the analysis and where did it originate?
What communication has occurred either in person, by cell phone, by email, or any other means between Crabtree, Andy Strelcheck, any and all stock assessment personnel at the Southeast Fishery Science Center?

There have been numerous emails between and among all of these people and since there seems to be much secrecy in regard to the analysis supporting the shortened season, one can reasonably assume that more secrets are within recent management actions. While the secretive actions may not be illegal, they are certainly contrary to proper public policy by a federal government agency and certainly require investigative action by congress to insure that proper procedures have been taken. With so many people and local communities being so adversely affected by the current and proposed regulations, we certainly deserve to know that every piece of data, every communication between and among agency personnel, and every legal requirement has been properly executed. Not only do the citizens deserve this because of our democratic form of government, NEPA requires this.

We are the government, our legislative representatives are elected by us and they work for us, the personnel at the NMFS work for us, and we deserve an open and honest accounting of their activities. The current states of affairs are clearly questionable and we deserve to know the answers.

By copy of this email to my state Senators (Nelson and Martinez) and my congressional Representatives (Miller and Boyd), I am making a formal request for a full and complete investigation into the actions of Dr. Crabtree and his staff and other personnel within the NMFS, including but not limited to, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries and his entire staff, the personnel in the office of science and technology, the personnel who have provided work from the Southeast Fishery Science Center in Miami, and any and all others either directly or indirectly involved in the stock assessment of red snapper and any recent adjustments to the last red snapper stock assessment.

I encourage everyone to make this same request. The mistrust of our regulators must stop now and a full and complete investigation is the only way to regain our confidence in our management system.

Thanks,

Bob


Saturday, March 15, 2008 @ 10:38:35 AM

Monday, March 17, 2008 @ 9:49:26 AM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

Monday, March 17, 2008 @ 9:26:59 AM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

I just wanted to post some pictures from some trips over the past couple of weeks.  It has been a little choppy some days, but Jeff has managed to get some crews out to catch some Redfish.  We still have a few days in March.  Please call if you need information.

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Saturday, March 1, 2008 @ 2:36:14 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

I just wanted to post some pictures from some trips over the past couple of weeks.  It has been a little choppy spme days, but Jeff has managed to get some crews out to catch some Redfish.  We are booked all the way through Feb., but still have plenty of days in March.  Please call if you need information.

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, February 18, 2008 @ 12:28:30 PM

Venice, LA USA

Heres a shot of Kahuna Captain Jeff Thiery and his rugged first mate Adam Parnell.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008 @ 4:19:32 PM

Venice, LA USA

Good day
Just getting around to give some details on the Tuna Kahuna Fishing Rodeo but first a fishing report from Saturday.
Was down in Venice installing my new radar from Furuno and Bayou Marine electronics{Thanks!} that is bad to the bone on thurs,friday and was looking to head home and hang with the family when i got a call from one of my buds down there and he said he needs me to fish.
I said dude im heading home im sick with pink eye my new steering is not right and im waiting on my shipment of rods and reels i'll call someone for you and he simply said no i really need you to fish.
I,ve been in this position before so i said i'll go lend me some rods.No problem man.
So that night around midnight i simply could not take the snoring any longer{my wife said Ya See!}so i went and hopped in my truck and had a crapy night of sleep then boom,boom,boom my buddy Trey is hitting the window at 5:30 saying lets go bra!I was like oh my god i got a chipper first mate so thats a relief.
We hit the dock and i tell the guys look this is a off the hip charter i got all my gear stollen and what you get is what ya see, wanna go?They said yes.
We got on the boat and for the first time before the trip i surveyed my gear that looked like it had been fished hard and drug home every night behind the truck to the camp.
We had one TLD 30,one Penn 50,one Tiagra on a bent butt and a spinning rod with a old trusty Angry Popper.For tackle we had one pack of sabikis,one box of hooks and three unrigged pulling baits with no wire and two squid chains.I looked at one of the guys and said are you sure you wanna go and he replied we got confidence in ya cap.On that nice comment i said load up.
On the way out i ran into a guy that needed directions to the lump cause his gps was out he asked me and graciously gave me some wire.Thanks man cause that stop made our day!
Trey wired us up as we headed down the river and i felt better.Our first stop was wahoo infested as i thanked god every time the reels went off.
After staying there for about 45 min. i went to the next spot and three lines went off on the first pass and we mannaged one.Then again and again on each rig as i now was telling god out loudly you are the man!No longer than i said that Trey said Al look in the distance yellows are busting so bang we got on them with two sqiuddys dragging and again managed a single out of a double. Hit one more rig for hoo's and that was it as we found two shrimp boats and got nothing so headed in about 3:00.
The moral of this story is ya just need a little confidence and four crazy dudes from Kentucky and you got a trip of a lifetime.
Tuna Kahuna Fishing Rodeo Update
Mr. Blake Turner of Alabama is holding the purse of ten grand and was just shy of a new truck with his 234.Mr Blake is a correction officer at a state prison and according to Capt. Jeff of the Dorado he handled the fish as if he was a correcion officer of a State Prison.Congradulations to you bro and thanks for fishing the rodeo.
Most folks that heard of this fish hitting the dock might think twice about joining the tournament now because it is such a big fish to beat.
My advice to you is dont join the rodeo because there are no "Girly Men" allowed.I want anglers that have the "confidence" to beat that fish to join in on a tournament that i will do every year until i die because some many people are enjoying the fun competition.The wahoo catagory i get the same questions about man how can you beat a 139 and my answer is that almost every year i see monster wahoo out there and is some cases in the 160 range so i know without the shadow of a doubt you cant beat it if you try.
I was putting this rodeo on before i decided to donate a portion of the money's to "Project Rebuild Plaquemines" and if i lose money i dont care it was just something that has been talked about for a long time so i just did it.
I did not ask for sponsors because i wanted to sponsor it myself even though RodnReel and Louisiana Sportsman stepped up to the plate.I must say that i dont fish rodeo's at all but after expeirencing the cost,time and effort i will support rodeos and fish them starting this summer.
I guess i got burnt out on tourneys as my whole life used to be living from one spearfishing rodeo to another.
The rodeo is a open book and my main goal is to cut a big check for the kids as when this rodeo is over "Project Rebuild Plaquemines" will not be.We have serious funds already on the table and i will see to it that at least four playgrounds are done by the end of this year no matter what.We need funds for a total of six.Thats where you the sportsman comes in.Buy a shirt take a chance at the raffel or go fishing for the cause.
Emily Campbell of "Project Rebuild Plaquemines" called the other night letting me know about a line on playground equipment she has found and possible help from Mrs.Jenna McDonald of "Save Our Children Foundation" and to me thats even more exciting than a 234 tuna believe it or not.
We are also trying to tie into Brad Pitts "Make it right Foundation" for housing development in the Parish as well.We have sketches of housing that would be safe and structually eye pleasing for the area.Im simply tired of seeing people with familys living in FEMA trailors even more so when they are my friends.
I want to give a big thank you for all that are participating and a BIG shout out to Venice Marina and Capt. Chris Moran of Cajun Made Charters of Fourchon Marina for all you guys are doing,yall go see Capt. Chris he runs a first class operation.I also want to give a apology to the Alabama boats that are not yet up on the site as i will handel that shortly.

Congrats Doc Henry"You Da MAn" but i sure wish you and JJ Tabor would leave my fish alone.Im sure if you look closely to those fish you can see some old spear wounds.
Xtreme

Tuesday, February 5, 2008 @ 2:43:49 PM

Daphne, AL USA

Report from Venice Friday. We went out with Capt. Jeff on the Dorado. The weather was nice but the storms from the night before had the water rough when we got there. Capt. Jeff and Andy worked all day really hard and got us on a few black fins. We also loaded the boat with some really nice jacks. The trip was well worth the money and those guys on the Dorado worked harder than any other charter I have ever been on. If you are looking for a really good trip book with these guys they are the best. The boat is great and the service on board was second to none. This was our first trip to the lump and We will be back again.Thanks Capt. Jeff and Andy for making our trip as good as it could have been.

Saturday, February 2, 2008 @ 6:14:44 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

I am using my laptop over here in Venice, and am having trouble uploading.  Here goes again.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Thursday, January 31, 2008 @ 5:20:19 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

I finally got a day off and have a chance to write a report over here in Venice.  We have been over here in LA. fishing since last Friday and man, its been a hell of a week.  Our first trip was last Friday.  We took out Dr. Bill and Dr. Clay.  They own a lodge over here and wanted to get offshore for a day and try to catch some Wahoo.  We ended up with 5 Wahoo's the biggest being 85 lbs, one yellow and a few blacks.  All in all it was a good day.  
 Saturday we took out Ty and his group.  We tried our luck out on Wahoo again, but had no bites.  We moved on to the lump and ended the day with a good mess of yellows and blackfins, are biggest being 145.
 Sunday and Monday has been our best days yet.  We took out the Tim Harrelson and his crew.  We caught our biggest fish yet on Sunday.  After a 4 hour fight we finally boated a 234 lb yellowfin tuna.  The next morning we finished filling up the boxes and arrived at the dock with 19 tuna total, 15 being yellows.  
 On Tuesday we took out Mike Strahan and his group.  It was a little rough towards the end of the day, but we still managed to boat 5 blackfins, and 5 yellows, biggest being 135.
 Wednesday and today had to cancel due to weather, but we are anxious to get back at it tomorrow.  
We still have plenty of days available in March.  If you are interested please give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836  

  

Thursday, January 31, 2008 @ 3:09:09 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

I finally got a day off and have a chance to write a report over here in Venice.  We have been over here in LA. fishing since last Friday and man, its been a hell of a week.  Our first trip was last Friday.  We took out Dr. Bill and Dr. Clay.  They own a lodge over here and wanted to get offshore for a day and try to catch some Wahoo.  We ended up with 5 Wahoo's the biggest being 85 lbs, one yellow and a few blacks.  All in all it was a good day.  
 Saturday we took out Ty and his group.  We tried our luck out on Wahoo again, but had no bites.  We moved on to the lump and ended the day with a good mess of yellows and blackfins, are biggest being 145.
 Sunday and Monday has been our best days yet.  We took out the Tim Harrelson and his crew.  We caught our biggest fish yet on Sunday.  After a 4 hour fight we finally boated a 234 lb yellowfin tuna.  The next morning we finished filling up the boxes and arrived at the dock with 19 tuna total, 15 being yellows.  
 On Tuesday we took out Mike Strahan and his group.  It was a little rough towards the end of the day, but we still managed to boat 5 blackfins, and 5 yellows, biggest being 135.
 Wednesday and today had to cancel due to weather, but we are anxious to get back at it tomorrow.  
We still have plenty of days available in March.  If you are interested please give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836  

  

Thursday, January 31, 2008 @ 2:49:17 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

I spoke with Captain Jeff on the Dorado today and he had 19 yellowfin with the biggest one hitting 234 pounds!! What a stud! I only spoke with Jeff for a few minutes but he said they were on a overnighter, and the fish hit in the late afternoon, and was gaffed after dark three and a half hours later. I am sure somebody will get some pics on here shortly.                Tyson Bollow

Monday, January 28, 2008 @ 7:30:21 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

It sounds like the lump has  kicked off for this 2008 season.  This week two yellowfin hit the dock at Venice marina over the 200lb mark.  The biggest topped the scales at 212lbs. The docks in Venice have also seen it share of big wahoo in the past few weeks.  We are leaving tomorrow and weather willing will start our season off this weekend. With a later start on the lump this year it could make for a great March. There are still a few days open for lump season and we have already started booking for our 2008 summer Dauphin Island trips.  Give us a call.

I am going to try my best to keep up with posting reports and pictures.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Thursday, January 17, 2008 @ 7:51:35 AM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

New news in on the winter tournament out of Venice this winter. They are calling it the Tuna Kahuna tournament and it will run Jan. 1 thru March 31.  Entry fees are $300 per boat for the entire season.  Angler tickets will be $20 per day. The largest tuna for the season will bring home $10,000.  The largest tuna and wahoo for each month will bring home an additional $1,000 each.  A state record tuna will drive home in a new Ford 150.  A new state record wahoo will put $30,000 in your pocket. There is also going to be a mako catagory.  The winner in it will recieve a fishing trip with Manny "The Shark Man".  All the proceeds for the tournament will go to help rebuild playgrounds and parks. There will be an awards banquet held on April the 5 in Venice.

I am looking forward to participating in what I hope to be an annual event.  

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
241-861-5836  

Sunday, December 16, 2007 @ 2:59:13 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

After a last minute booking we managed to take advantage of the beautiful weather before this front.  We pulled away from the dock on 12:30 Thursday for a 24hr trip with a new group.  We broke up the ride offshore with a bait stop and amberjack action.  Once  we arrived at the floaters the tuna action was non stop with a steady stream of yellowfin and all the nice blackfin you wanted.  With all the tuna we needed, we moved back inshore  for a shot at a swordfish.  Only 30 minutes after setting up a nice mako swam into the lights. After boating the mako it was back to swordfishing.  At 5am with day light just around the corner we hooked up on our swordfish.  Paul fought the fish about 30 minutes before we pulled it into the boat.  

The trip ended with amberjack, blackfin, 11 yellowfin, a mako, and a swordfish.  We also ended up with a front row seat to the metior shower.

There is still time left for a trip out of the Island if the weather will cooperate.  It looks like we are going to depart for Venice around the second week of January.  

Give us a call or drop us an e-mail.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836  

Sunday, December 16, 2007 @ 1:23:03 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

It sounds like there is going to be a great tournament out of Venice this winter.  The tournament is going to run from Jan. till the end of March.  Tuna is the top catagory with $10,000 for first and a new truck for breaking the state record.  There will also be a wahoo catagory and mako. Not sure on the cost for entry fees as of yet.  This will add a bit of excitment to the trips this winter.

We have dates available for all three months.  Along with our normal day trips to the lump we are also going to run some overnighters this season. Give us a call or drop us an e-mail.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Tuesday, December 4, 2007 @ 11:41:23 AM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

What a great weekend to spend offshore.  We really appreciated the calm seas after the rough weather at the end of snapper season.

The first fish of the trip Sat. morning was a 65lb wahoo. After that we caught and lost several other nice wahoo before moving on bottom fishing.  We put our limit of amberjacks in the boat in less than 45 minutes and set our sites on grouper.  After only two rocks we had a nice mess of scamp, white snapper, and beeliners.  We spent the remainder of the trip in search of tuna.  Afer sunrise on Sunday the  boxes were finished off with 6 nice yellowfin tuna up to 86lb and all the blackfin you wanted to catch.  

Weather willing we are going to try and make it out again this week. Give us a call if you want to get in on the action.  I have had a few calls from smaller groups, so I am going to try and put a trip together per person if anyone is interested.  If we have enough interest we may do a couple of trips like that in Venice.

I am also trying to decide what to do with our spring now that snapper season is not opening till June.  I have given thought to staying in Venice and running over night sword, and tuna fishing trips along with 3 day Green Canyon trips.  If any one has any interest in either one drop me an e-mail or give me a call.

Thank You
Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, November 12, 2007 @ 12:12:59 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

It has been a while since my last report and I have a pile of pictures to post.  

We are set to depart tonight for an overnight trip. It looks like the weather is gong to be great all weekend long.  I am looking forward to getting back offshore.  We have not gone out since the last day of snapper season.

I sure hated to see snapper season end. On the last couple of trips that the weather allowed we managed to catch some of the nicest snapper of the season.  I guess they will be that much bigger come JUNE.

Tuna and wahoo fishing has been good on our last couple of overnight trips.  I will have pictures and post at the first of the week from this weekend.

We still have dates available for overnight tuna trips before we depart for Venice.  Nov. and Dec. turned out to be the hottest for yellofin last season.

The phone is starting to ring for Lump season in Venice for this winter.  Half of Feb. is already booking.  Give us a call to reserve your date.  We are looking forward to another great winter seaon in Louisiana.

This is my first post since my loss this summer and I wanted to thank everyone for thier thought and prayers.  I am still trying to get back in swing of things.  

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Friday, November 9, 2007 @ 11:20:06 AM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

Hey guys!  Sorry we have been so slow at getting our pictures posted.  Jeff is out fishing again this weekend, so I am going to catch us up.  We still have plenty of dates available for snapper season.  We are also booking 24hr tuna trips for November and December out of Dauphin Island, and 12hr tuna trips out of Venice, LA. Jan.- March.  Give us a call if you are interested.  

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Saturday, September 15, 2007 @ 7:51:12 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

A couple people  had to back out for this weekends Labor Day Tournament.  We have three spots open, give us a call for details.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, August 27, 2007 @ 11:12:35 AM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

Once again we want to congratulate Chad Robins and his crew who won the Jackpot with Yellowfin Tuna, and the Calcutta with Wahoo.  Over all they got 2nd and 3rd place with yellowfin Tuna.  We will be back fishin tomorrow. Call us for any booking information. Hope yall enjoy the pictures.

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Tuesday, August 7, 2007 @ 11:02:51 AM

Dauphin Island , A USA

Hey guy's!  i just wanted to update our pictures.  We still have plenty of days available.  Give us a call any time and I will be glad to set you up.

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, August 6, 2007 @ 4:13:56 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

Jeff finished up his research work early this week which leaves us with an opening this weekend.  If anyone is interested in fishing please give us a call.

katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Friday, August 3, 2007 @ 12:17:45 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

Hey guys!  Jeff is out fishing this weekend for the Rodeo, so I am uploading some more photos to catch up.  I hope everyone has a great time this weekend at the Dauphin Island Rodeo.   Call if your interested in booking any trips.

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Friday, July 20, 2007 @ 8:25:17 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

Sorry it has taken so long to post pictures.  Jeff has been very busy running trips.  I am uploading a bunch at one time so I will not have any dates with them.  I am so sorry, I will try to keep up with posting them as we run the trips.  We still have plenty of days open this summer so give us a call.

Katherine
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, July 2, 2007 @ 3:59:30 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

We have two openings for an 11hr bottom fishing trip on Sat. June 2nd.
Our customer had two people back out at the last min. and needs help filling the boat (6 people).  The cost is $250 per person, and help with the 15% tip for our mate.  We will also clean your catch for .30 a pound.  If you are interested please give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Tuesday, May 29, 2007 @ 5:14:57 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

What a day to go out on the Gulf of Mexico.  Today was by far the nicest day I have seen since snapper season opened.

Kenney Desport and crew from Missippi were on board for thier first trip of the season.  Kenney and his group have been fishing with me for years and it is always a pleasure to have them aboard.  After dodging boats for most of the day we ended up with a limit of nice snapper, 2 trigger fish, and our first grouper on a day trip.  We are still looking for our first cobia for the season.  

It looks like a good forcast for the last of our 4 fish limit.  We will be back on the water in the morning on a day trip and will leave out tomorrow night on a overnighter.  

Once the new limit is in effect we are going to try to run longer trips to make up for the lack of snapper in the box.  We are going to work harder to make sure everyone is happy.  

I still have a couple of days open for the Snapper World Championship.  Five dollars could bring $25,000.00.

Give us a call

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Saturday, April 28, 2007 @ 7:59:03 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

On Tuesday we departed for our first overnight trip of the season.  By Wednesday afternoon Kirk Fell and his group managed to pack over 1000lbs of fish into the boxes.  After bottom fishing our way out on Tuesday our anglers decided to leave tuna fishing for the next trip and rest up for the next day.  On Wednesday they put several nice scamp, yellowedge, and gag grouper in the boat. After only a couple hours on the troll we caught four nice wahoo including a 72lbr before time to go in.  The group also managed to put our first snappers on the board for the World Championship. The pictures can not do justice for the pile of fish, not to mention the grade of snapper in the pile.

Our over night for yesterday cancelled due to the weather that passed thru yesterday.  We have an afternoon cobia trip leaving out today.  

We currently hold three spots on the board for the RED SNAPPER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.  I still have dates available for the tournament.  Give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Friday, April 27, 2007 @ 9:37:45 AM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

It is good to be back home on the Island.  We spent the past week offshore finishing up our spring research before the start of snapper season.  I managed to return late Friday afternoon in time to load up for 2007 Red Snapper season.  

On Sat. we started the season off with high wind and seas.  Thank goodness the fish did not seem to notice.  We ended the day with a limit of nice snapper up to 17lbs and just shy of our limit of ajs.  

Sun, brought more of the same with a bit calmer seas.  Our biggest snapper was 18lbs with several more not far behind.  The guys from Temperature control managed to put a limit of ajs in the boat to go along with a nice limit of snapper.

After a late start on Mon. Rick Smith and his group wasted no time boating thier limit of ajs along with the largest snapper average this season.

The cobia are showing up off the Island.  Sat. we had 4 nice ling up to 60 swim by the boat and could not buy a bite.  Today after a couple hours of rig hoping we found a 50 to 60lb single.  After throwing the tackle center at the fish it was hard to leave.  So far 5 fish, O bites.  We can only go up from here.

Departing on a overnight trip in the morning.  I will post pics ASAP.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 @ 12:41:33 AM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

Other than high seas it turned out to be a good weekend on the lump.  It seems like the roughest days have come on a 2-4ft forcast.  At best from Friday thru Sunday was 5ft.  

Friday we ended up with 4 yellowfin and a pile of big blackfin.  Saturday turned out to be one of the coldest days I have spent on the lump.  Around 10 am it sleeted!!!  The fish didn 't seem to notice, and by 12 we had filled all of the boxes.  Sundays bite started off as good as Saturday but by 11 the fish turned off. We only put one more blackfin in the boat in the afternoon.  Our biggest yellowfin for Sunday was just shy of 100lbs with 10 nice blackfin.

Our next tip is on Wednesday and it looks like a good forcast all week.  Maybee the weather man will get it right for once.

There are still a few days open in March give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO/STRIKER
251-861-5836   

Monday, February 5, 2007 @ 5:34:07 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

We are still looking for a crew for Monday and Tuesday.  It looks like the weather is going to be good and the big fish are still on the lump.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO/STRIKER
251-861-5836

Saturday, February 3, 2007 @ 10:36:34 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

Finally able to upload the pictures to go along with my last couple of reports.  

I only have two days available during Feb.(5&6) if anyone is interested give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO/STRIKER
251-861-5836

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 @ 10:50:58 AM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

Tuna Tuna Tuna!!!!  The lump is in full swing.  Monday brought another great day with another pile of fish.  Ricky Bergreen and his group started the action off early with our first yellowfin in the boat less than 10 minutes after the anchor hit the bottom.  Yesterday is the first day we were able to watch the fish bite right behind the boat.  They bit everything we threw at them including top water plugs.  Ricky and his crew ended the day with a boat load of yellowfin with the biggest at 145lbs.

It looks like the weather is going to give us a couple of days off this week.  We hope to get back out on Friday.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO/STRIKER
251-861-5836

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 @ 2:34:21 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

Saturday brought big seas and big fish to the Lump.  Sundays weather decided to show up on Saturday making the weather a bit more than we expected.  Brad Weaver and his crew from Temperature Control made the best of the day filling all of the boxes. Our biggest yellowfin of the day hit the dock at 165lbs with a Mako at 240lbs.  The guys also put a nice mess of big beeliners and a few scamp in the boat to fill in between tuna battles.  

We cancelled our trip for today due to the cold front but we will be back in action tommorow.  The weather looks great for the first part of this week.  

Give us a call we have openings for this week and I still have three days left in Feb.  

Capt. Jeff
DORADO/STRIKER
251-861-5836

Sunday, January 28, 2007 @ 6:27:34 PM

Dauphin Island, AL USA

After several cancelations over the last couple weeks we managed to make our first trip of the winter season  to the Midnight Lump.  As usual it did not disapoint. There was plenty of big yellowfin action to go around. We battled one giant almost two hours before the line parted just shy of the gaff. We did manage to fill all of the box with our largest yellowfin at 140lbs.  

We will be back in action in the morning.

There are still days open before the end of the lump season so give us a call.  Cell coverage in Venice is hit or miss so please leave a message. As soon as I find a better signal for my computer I will post picture.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Friday, January 26, 2007 @ 10:01:45 PM

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Saturday, December 23, 2006 @ 5:22:05 PM

Dauphin Island , AL USA

Christmas came early this year for myself and several groups that had the good fortune of fishing with us in the past week.  We were blessed with plenty of fish and beautiful weather.

We started last week with a research trip for the University of West Florida.  They were hoping to find a few pelagic species for tissue samples.  We started out tuna fishing and in a matter of hours we had all of the yellowfin and blackfin they needed. Wahoo and dolphin were next on the list and with good luck on our side we put all of the pelagic species in the box that they needed. The highlight of the trip was Dr. Dave Nielands 90lb wahoo, our biggest of the season.  We also ended up with a 34lb dolphin caught by Dr. Will Patterson.  

The following day we departed on another 24hour trip. This was Larry Ard and his groups first overnight trip with us.  Larry, with Saltwater Therapy supplies us with all of our fighting belts.  They were able to put their product to the test on this trip.  We started off the trip in search of wahoo only to find the largest school of Big dolphin I have ever seen.  The guys managed to put 6 nice dolpin in the boat before sunset.  Once again the tuna bite was on.  By 1am the guys had all of the tuna fish they wanted.  We started out at daylight on another big school of dolphin.  By 9am we were out of ballyhoo and all of the boxes were full.  The biggest dolphin hit the scales at 38lbs with several more over 30. At the end of the trip we ended up with 10 yellowfin, a pile of blackfin, and 16 nice dolphin.

The next day we where at it again on a 12 hour trip.  After hearing about the day before, Chip Clinton and his crew decided to skip bottom fishing and try our luck with the dolphin. On our first stop we managed to locate another large school of dolphin. We tried every trick in the book but we were only able to boat a couple of fish.  We moved on and found another big school only to have the same problem. After boating 5 nice dolphin we hit a couple of bottom spots on the way in.

After a night at the dock we were back at it again for another 24hr trip.  After rescheduling several times Rick Smith and his group finally hit the weather right. Once again we started out dolphin fishing to find the bite was back on.  They put several on the deck before making our way to the floaters.  After a slow start the guys managed to crank in 10 yellowfin up to 87lbs in less than 3hrs.  The next day started with more dolphin action with Jason Sims cathing two on his fly rod.  The grand total for the trip was 10 yellowfin, plenty of blackfin, and 15 dolphin.

The dolphin have been alot of fun in the past week.  This is the first time I have seen big dolphin schooled up like chicken dolphin. I even brought my video camera to get them on tape.

Weather forced us to cancel our last trip this week. We will be off till after Christmas.

We are still booking trips for winter lump season only a few weeks away. We are looking forward to another great season.

I want to wish everyone a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

  

Thursday, December 21, 2006 @ 8:11:27 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

We managed to slide in the last of our research for this quarter before the weather moved in.  We finished up late yesterday and returned to the Island last night.  It was a beautiful night for a boat ride with a full moon and slick calm seas.

After eight days the guys from the University of West Florida managed to tag over 2300 reef fish.  

It looks like the weather is going to force us to cancel our tuna trip for this weekend.  We have a couple on the books for next week.  I hope the wind will lay down so that we can get back offshore before Christmas.

Winter lump season is less than a month away.  I am going to start running trips the first week of Jan. and fish through the end of March. We will be back at Venice Marina this year.

There is only a couple of days left to get your name on the petition.  Try to pass it along to your friends, family and co-workers.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Thursday, December 7, 2006 @ 1:50:38 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

I have a group looking for a couple of people to fill out a tuna trip for next weekend(Dec. 8-10). Give me a call for more details.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Sunday, December 3, 2006 @ 12:40:17 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

The yellowfin are still biting.  We had another great 24hr trip on Friday and Sat.  

Marve Breeding and Cliff Moss with Process Equipment were on board for thier first overnight/tuna trip. On Friday six anglers boarded the boat that had never caught a tuna fish. They managed to boat the first yellowfin only 15 minutes after we started fishing.  The action was steady with a stream of 70 to 80lb tuna hitting the deck all night.  Joe managed the longest fight of the night after hooking a fish on one of our smallest reels.  Two and a half hours later Joe finished the fish off and another fish in the high 70s went in the box. When we arrived back at the dock on Sat. we had six pros on the boat all of which reeled in multiple yellowfins. The guys from Birmingham managed to put 14 yellowfins in the boat filling the boxes with time to spare.

We are departing in the morning for a week of research with the University of West Florida.

I am going to continue to run tuna trips out of the Island as long as the bite holds up before departing for Louisiana.  If you are interested in a tuna trip give us a call. We also have a few people on the books that are interested in a shared expense tuna trip if any one is interested we still need a few more people. I still have days available for lump season this winter also.

Make sure and sign the petition before time runs out.  We still are a long way from our goal.  Make sure all of your friends and family have signed it also.

Capt Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836
charterboatdorado.com

Sunday, November 26, 2006 @ 5:02:18 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

Talk about making hay while the sun shines.  We were able to take advantage of the break in the weather the last couple of days and fit two overnight trips into three days.

After missing our trip in Oct to weather Andrew Clark and his group finally hit the weather right on Thursday.  We departed the dock at 1:30pm and by 2am on Friday they managed to fill all of the boxes with yellowfin.  The biggest tuna came in at 87lbs with the rest of the batch not far behind.  They managed to put 1000lbs on the dock.

We were able to take advantage of the great weather and an even better bite of fish and headed back out Friday afternoon with a shared expense trip.  We arived at 10:30pm and within 10 minutes we had our first yellowfin on.  There was a steady stream of yellowfin hitting the deck all night.  On the way in we managed to find 3 nice wahoo to finish off the boxes.  At the end of the trip the total was 1154lbs of fish with a 115lb yellofin and a 57lb wahoo.  We were able to make it in just as the wind picked up.

We are going to try to get back out as soon as the weather breaks.  If you are interested in a tuna charter or shared expense trip give us a call.  I am going to fish as long as the yellowfin bite keeps up.

We still have openenings for the winter lump season out of LA.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Saturday, November 11, 2006 @ 6:49:31 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

What a great way to end the 2006 Red Snapper season.  The weather could not have been any better for the last three days of the season.  

We managed to squeeze one more overnight trip in on the last two days. It was a trip that seemed like we could do no wrong.  Every reef that we targeted snapper, produced plenty of nice fish and the tuna bite was right on time.  We had to cut the trip short before sunrise on the 31st due to the fact that all of the boxes were full to capacity. We have had the same group out five years, and  it is always nice to have family and friends on board.  They fished hard and it payed off with a total of 1395lbs fish at the dock on Tuesday morning.  They ended up with snapper up to 25lbs wahoo to 45lbs and tuna to 91lbs.  

We had another tuna trip last week with Ron Stadum and his group for thier annual trip.  They managed to put 11 nice yellowfin up to 120lbs in the box.  On the way home we boxed 6 nice bull dolphin up to 32lbs and several nice wahoo. The grand total at the scale was just under 1100lbs.

The tuna bite is better than I have seen all season.  We have several openings for overnight trips in Nov. Fishing does not end with snapper season.  We still have openings for lump season out of Venice Marina.  I talked to the owners of Venice Marina last week and Bill seems to think it is going to be an early start this year since the water is already cooling off.  They have lodging, bait, ice and a bar at the marina and they are open for business.  I am going to take the boat over the first week of January.

Everyone needs to make sure and get thier name on the petition if they care anything about recreational fishing wether it is for snapper or not.  Dropping the minimum size to 13 inches for commercial will end the fishery as we know it.  We need all the support we can get.  I will back any fisheries management plan that makes since, but in my opinion the red snapper stock is high.  We are seeing small fish in numbers that we have not seen in years. You can look at the pictures on our web site and see that there were plenty of fish all season long with a good average size.

Give us a call if you are ready to go pull on a big tuna.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 @ 1:16:44 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

I have been slacking on my reports and have a pile of pictures to post.  

On our day trips the red snapper have still been easy to come by with a good average size.  The trigger fish are finally starting to show up here and there.  In the last couple of weeks the wahoo bite hase been unreal.  This has been the best year for wahoo that I can remember out of the Island.  

Shane Wheeles along with his son Michael and friend Robert where on board for our last overnight trip.  They managed to boat a pile of wahoo, a couple of yellowfin, blackfin, and nice ajs. We actually left the wahoo biting two at the time.

We are finally going back to work tomorrow now that the weather has cleared.  

Winter lump trips are right around the corner.  We have most of Feb. already booked.  There are still plenty of days open in Jan. and March. Give us a call or drop us an e-mail.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Wednesday, October 18, 2006 @ 7:44:29 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

It was nice to finally sleep in my own bed last night.  Mike and I have been on the boat since last Monday.

We spent last week with the University of West Florida doing reef fish research.  They managed to tag over 400 fish on Friday with three anglers.  Mike managed to boat his first wahoo that we hooked traveling between spots.  The fish hit the scales at 59lbs and landed me a trip to the doctor after a quick run in with its teeth.  I am going to just stick to driving the boat and leave the deckhanding to Mike.

We returned to Dauphin Island Friday afternoon in time to load up and leave out on a 40hr trip.  We started fishing early Sat. with plenty of Ajs to start off the trip.  They managed to put several grouper species in the box(scamp,yellow edge, red, gag and snowy).  We raised our first blue Marlin with the bates in the water for only an hour.  After stripping a ballyhoo he swam off without a hook.  A couple hours later, and a few wahoo in the box our second blue marlin bit, this time a BIG ONE. After stripping almost all of the line off of the reel the hooks pulled.  Just before sun set we had our first yellowfin on and it was quickly eaten by a shark.  In  hopes that it was a mako we put the carcus on our mako rig and sent it back out.  Within ten minutes we had the mako on and to the boat.  We did not want to gaff the fish green and the fish ended up shaking the hooks right at the boat.  After my run in with the wahoo I did not want to risk someone getting hurt, no fish is worth that.  We boated several nice yellowfin at daylight in the 60 to 70lb range. A white marlin made a quick show while we where tuna fishing and quickly disapeard.  We went back to the area we had seen the marlin the day before and in no time Marshall Too was hooked up on his first billfish.  It was a Blue Marlin and this one would not get off.  After a 45min fight the 400lb fish was tagged and released.  We picked up a couple more wahoo before heading back to the house.

It will be a couple of days on the Marlin pictures.  The guys are going to e-mail them to me.

We still have openenings for both one and two day trips in Oct..

We will be running out of Venice this year. I have already secured a slip and looking forward to being back at Venice Marina.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 1:28:01 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

It was nice to finally sleep in my own bed last night.  Mike and I have been on the boat since last Monday.

We spent last week with the University of West Florida doing reef fish research.  They managed to tag over 400 fish on Friday with three anglers.  Mike managed to boat his first wahoo that we hooked traveling between spots.  The fish hit the scales at 59lbs and landed me a trip to the doctor after a quick run in with its teeth.  I am going to just stick to driving the boat and leave the deckhanding to Mike.

We returned to Dauphin Island Friday afternoon in time to load up and leave out on a 40hr trip.  We started fishing early Sat. with plenty of Ajs to start off the trip.  They managed to put several grouper species in the box(scamp,yellow edge, red, gag and snowy).  We raised our first blue Marlin with the bates in the water for only an hour.  After stripping a ballyhoo he swam off without a hook.  A couple hours later, and a few wahoo in the box our second blue marlin bit, this time a BIG ONE. After stripping almost all of the line off of the reel the hooks pulled.  Just before sun set we had our first yellowfin on and it was quickly eaten by a shark.  In  hopes that it was a mako we put the carcus on our mako rig and sent it back out.  Within ten minutes we had the mako on and to the boat.  We did not want to gaff the fish green and the fish ended up shaking the hooks right at the boat.  After my run in with the wahoo I did not want to risk someone getting hurt, no fish is worth that.  We boated several nice yellowfin at daylight in the 60 to 70lb range. A white marlin made a quick show while we where tuna fishing and quickly disapeard.  We went back to the area we had seen the marlin the day before and in no time Marshall Too was hooked up on his first billfish.  It was a Blue Marlin and this one would not get off.  After a 45min fight the 400lb fish was tagged and released.  We picked up a couple more wahoo before heading back to the house.

It will be a couple of days on the Marlin pictures.  The guys are going to e-mail them to me.

We still have openenings for both one and two day trips in Oct..

We will be running out of Venice this year. I have already secured a slip and looking forward to being back at Venice Marina.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 1:26:58 PM

Daupin Island, AL USA

This weekend made for some wet fishing conditions, but the fish didn't seem to mind.

Saturday Kenney Desport and his group were on board for thier third trip so far this season.  We ended up with one cobia, a few beeliners, king mackrel, and several lane snapper to go along with a limit of nice snapper.  Ross managed to bring in the biggest snapper of the day at 19.5lbs and the cobia.  

Yesterday brought plenty more rain, but that did not stop the guys from Jamestown from filling up the box.  They managed to put a limit of nice snaper in the box early with plenty of time to spare.  We finished out the day pulling on king mackrel.  Our biggest snapper of the day was 15lbs with several others right behind it.

We still have dates available before the end of snapper season for both day and overnight trips.

Give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Monday, September 11, 2006 @ 8:44:19 AM

Daupin Island, AL USA

Snapper fishing cannot get any better than what it is right now.  There is a good average size and plenty to go around.

Randy Carson and his crew from north Alabama made quick work of a limit of snapper yesterday.  We finished out the day king mackrel fishing.  They managed to put a couple of nice kings in the boat before the day was over.  Our big snapper for the day was a 20lb fish followed by a 18lb.  We will be back at it again tomorrow.

At the fisrt of the season I was under the impresion that this was going to be one of the toughest snapper seasons to date, but it is shaping up to be one of the best.  We are not seeing as many fish pushing the 30lb mark that we saw last year but the average size has been up and there has only been a hand full of days that the fishing was slow.

We still have dates available between now and the end of snapper season. Give us a call.

Thank You
Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Friday, September 8, 2006 @ 8:48:42 AM

Daupin Island, AL USA

It was nice to take a break from bottom fishing this weekend.  

We fished the MBGC Labor Day tournament over the weekend.  The weather was great and the water was beautiful everywhere we turned.  We had plenty of action all weekend starting with our first three fish coming only an hour after lines in.  We were unable to find the big one this time.

Last week Reuben Cruise and his group with DELTA MARINE where on board for their third trip in a month.  They had another great day of snapper fishing and also managed to boat a big shark.

Carl Ishee's group managed to bring in some of the biggest snapper we brought to the dock last week with tree going over 20lbs.

We had Ray Holloway onboard for our only 12 hour trip last week.  His group put the only amberjack on the dock for us last week.  We had to go the distace to find the jacks, about 56 miles.  They brought a mixed bag of amberjack, almaco jacks, gag grouper, red grouper, scamp, blackfin tuna, and a limit of nice snapper to the dock.

On Tuesday Mike Cornillius and his group put a healthy limit of snapper in the boat.  We had a hard time finding anything else to go along with the snapper on Tuesday.

At the end of last week we had Benny Chennis for his first trip with us.  We started the day off letting everyone pull on a big shark.  After the shark fishing we put a limit of nice snapper in the boat with time to spare.  We ended the day topping the box with king mackrel we caught on live bait.

We also fit in a bit of research work with the University of West Florida during the week.  

We will be back bottom fishing tommorow.

We still have a few dates open between now and the end of the season.

We are already booking trips for 2007 for winter lump trips and 2007 snapper season.  Feb dates and weekend snapper dates are booking up.  Give us a call.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Wednesday, September 6, 2006 @ 8:26:42 AM

Madison, AL USA

We were finally able to get a successful 24 hour offshore trip with Captain Jeff aboard his new Dorado.  We assembled early Saturday morning and loaded up the boat with baits, and gear and left the dock a little after 9 AM.  The weather was fantastic and the seas were flat and calm.

We made a quick stop at one of Capt. Jeff’s Snapper holes and brought some nice Red Snapper to the boat.  Then we headed offshore a little further and stopped at one of the rigs and pulled in several nice Amberjack.  After that we headed for our final destination, the Ram Powell.  We arrived right at sunset and spent the rest of the night live baiting, and diamond jigging for Tuna.  The bite was steady all night, and nice Blackfin were boated throughout the night.  The Yellowfin finally got interested around daybreak.  

We got back underway when the sun got a little higher and headed back north with a trolling spread behind the boat.  A small White Marlin bit on one of the trolling lures but he spit the hook before I even had a chance to grab my camera, but it didn’t take long for a couple of nice Wahoo were landed along with one Dolphin.

We then headed back to the dock for the weigh in, and it didn’t surprise me at all to find that we had brought in over 1000 pounds.  After all the picture taking, and address trading, we headed back north to Huntsville extremely happy with our experience once again with Captain Jeff and his crew.

I’d like to personally thank Captain Jeff Thierry and his crew Todd Jones, Mike Miele, and Lamar Smith for their professionalism, knowledge, courtesy, and above all good humor!!  I look forward to this coming February for our annual trip to the midnight lump, as I already have my short timer’s calendar started.

Until then God’s speed Capt. Jeff, and tight lines!  I’m looking forward to seeing you all again real soon.

Friday, August 25, 2006 @ 7:09:20 AM

Daupin Island, AL USA

It would be nice if the fish bite could be like this every August.

Friday we had Stephen Whitfield with Metals USA for their 4th trip this year.  We ended up with a limit of nice snapper and returned to the dock early.  

This weekend Doug Galloway and the guys from Huntsville were in for thier annual overnight trip.  We ended up with a mixed bag of snapper, amber jacks, almaco jacks, Wahoo, dolphin, yellowfin tuna, and blackfin tuna.  They also had a white marlin on just long enough for five jumps.  The total pounds at the end of the trip was 1014lbs.  

On Monday we filmed an episode of the Perfect Bite with Jim Cox.  The episode will air on WJTC UPN on Sept. 2nd at 9:30am. Check us out in action.

Yesterday Kenney Berger with Specialty Repair and Remodeling had his group in for a 10hr trip. We finally put a snapper over 30lbs in the boat, hitting the scales at 30.5lbs.  We also managed to find another wahoo on the way home to top off the day.

We ended up with a late cancelation for this Sat. the 26th.  If anyone is interested this is the last Sat we have open between know and the end of Snapper Season.

I also have a group looking for a couple of people for the Mobile Big Game Club Labor Day Tournament.

Capt. Jeff
DORADO
251-861-5836

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 @ 11:57:43 AM