Deep Sea Fishing Off Key West

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By GERRY BARKER
North Palm Beach Life
Photos by Gerry Barker

Key West, among other things, is renowned for its deep-sea fishing. Recently, while cruising on American Cruise Lines’ 8-Day Florida Gulf Coast & Keys cruise, aboard their small ship,  American Legend, ​, I had an opportunity to find that out first hand.

While we were docked overnight in Key West, four of us from the ship -- myself, Jeff and Janice from San Diego and Caleb, one of the Legend crew -- boarded The Blind Squirrel to try our luck in the waters off Key West. The Blind Squirrel is "a 63 foot all purpose built long range fishing machine," according to their website. Right on.

After we were welcomed aboard by Capt. Mike and his two crewmen, we headed out. The weather was foggy and overcast, with a little mist, but thankfully no rain. Longtime veterans at knowing where to fish, it wasn't long before we WERE landing some nice-sized fish -- mostly cero and king mackerel. I did catch a barracuda, which we promptly, and carefully, returned to the sea..

But it was Janice that got the prize: A sailfish -- a rare catch, indeed. These beautiful and sleek fish are the fastest in the sea, and can swim at almost 70 MPH. As she got it to the side of the boat, the crew took photos and a video to mark the occasion before releasing it back to its home.

Thanks, Capt. Mike and crew. Now, when we tell our fishing story we'll have the photos to prove it!

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