“We Release for the future”

The future of fishing in our area is the smart management of our resource.  While it is legal to harvest Sailfish for mounting we choose to release all billfish. 

Once a Sailfish is removed from the water the survival rate is dramatically reduced.  We will try to get good photos of your fish in the water & under certain circumstances the captain may remove a fish from the water to measure or photograph your catch.  For your safety and the fish’s, the captain has the discretion to land the fish or simply release in the water after proper pictures are taken.  

The taxidermist that we recommend to our anglers, no longer use the real fish. They can build a better mount for their customers using improved, modern, highly innovative methods of reproductions from the molds of real fish.  This service is also available for all of the sharks that we catch off the coast of South Florida. 

Therefore, we recommend that our anglers who are lucky enough to  catch a shark or billfish, and would like to have a trophy of their fish, choose to release their fish and have an exact replica built from a mold created from a real fish.

Jon releasing another Sail

10 foot Hammer Head just before release

This 10 foot 450lb Hammer Head shark was caught kite fishing, and fought for more than two hours. The fish was leaderd by the mate and measured at the side of the boat. I took this picture from the flying bridge and our customer shot a bunch of great digitals.  After a collection of pictures and a good measurement against the side of the boat, our angler chose to release this fish and have a replica mount built by the taxidermist. The final result is our angler had a great experience, lots of awesome pictures, and a striking mount for his office.  The fish gets to survive this ordeal and go on to create more Hammer Heads for all of our futures.

This new form of taxidermy creates a better mount than was possible using the older traditional techniques, and is a win win situation for all those involved, especially the fish. 

Please help us manage this resource, it belongs to every one.  With some creative management our great sport fishing will be around for generations to come.  Thanks from Capt. Jay, and the Spellbound crew.