# Surprise Catch



## HOOKEM (May 21, 2008)

Our snapper catch was just ok yesterday but we had a surprise catch. This couple came up to the boat as we were snapper fishing and now they are in our belly!! Andy my fishing buddy caught them both. We were just 6 miles offshore. How rare do you think it is to find dolphin this close?


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

ive caught plenty of them while fishing 5 or 6 miles out but they are usually pretty small. the ones you caught look pretty big for being in that close. ive heard of people catching them out of kayaks and ive even heard of them being caught off the pier


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## Ozeanjager (Feb 2, 2008)

i have caught little chickens just off the sand bar when the sargasso is thick


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## Bill Me (Oct 5, 2007)

My wife caught one about 10-15 lbs at the sea buoy a couple weeks ago on about a 2lb hard tail. I was pretty surprised.


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## tailfisher (Oct 7, 2007)

nice fish and good eating.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

It happens all the time.


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## Quicdraw (Oct 3, 2007)

we found floating log about 5 mi south of p cola beach fri afternoon and caught 12 20in chickens were prob 50 or so on it


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## HOOKEM (May 21, 2008)

Well Im glad to hear that there's a fair amount of dolphin close in..Ive been fishing in this range 4 years now and thats the first dolphin ive seen..Ill try and pay more attention to floating debris cause they tasted real good on the grill..


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## jdhkingfisher (Aug 6, 2010)

ive caught little ones on the pier


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## Live4Fish (May 12, 2009)

i caught one off pcola pier 3 weeks ago in the 10lb range it was a decent little bull, i caught 5 off pcola pier last year also


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## Nopierpressure (Jul 27, 2010)

I have seen people catch them and been standing right next to them, fishing with the same dang bait/lure..... never caught one.... YET!!! lol Nice catch, great on the grill!


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## neuby (May 8, 2009)

I have even seen chicken dolphins caught in St. Andrew pass when tide (and clear water) is in. I have caught some decent ones(10-15lbs) within 3miles of the beach trolling. 

They catch the smaller ones inside the reef all the time in the keys, so I would say that water quality/clarity has more to do with it than depth or distance offshore. No reason to think that they just turn around when a sargassum line gets to a certain distance from sure, but I imagine that the larger ones that are usually deeper around the weedlines are more cognizant of depth.


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## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

Like most, seen many of chicken dolphins in close but those are nice ones. I would say it is NOT the norm. 

Good Find.:yes:


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## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

HOOKEM said:


> Well Im glad to hear that there's a fair amount of dolphin close in..Ive been fishing in this range 4 years now and thats the first dolphin ive seen..Ill try and pay more attention to floating debris cause they tasted real good on the grill..


Everyone is correct, the key is just really keeping an eye out throughout the day. Its really a mindset thing. Also, you may come across 10 large floating items and only one will have visible fish. Just keep looking, sometimes (well a lot of times) even if you dont see anything fish could be holding deep or off to the side. If you have multiple good characteristics, it doesnt hurt to work the area over with a few cast. I always keep at least one rod tied up for nothing but this situation. In many cases this is where your "day maker" will come from. Welcome to the pelagic club.


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## stringle (Oct 3, 2007)

Great catch! Heller nailed it.:thumbup:


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