Once again April is here and brings the best time of year to fish in ft. Lauderdale. Big Bull Dolphin are roaming our waters and chasing bait in as close as 60 feet of water. The kingfish have made an appearance with some heavy smokers being caught. Each morning we have been starting the action in close and catching Kingfish on every bait we set out. Once we've had enough of that species we start looking for Dolphin in the deeper waters. Last week we started trolling live baits out deep searching for rips and Sargasum when our long bait gets hit and we all watch a huge splash behind the boat. I saw a glimpse of a fish but it didn't jump. Then I saw a brown color with another one of the same swimming next to him. Ed Tarka reeled the one fish closer to the boat and I saw we had a pair of Cobia. We tried to get the other one to eat but he wasn't interested, so we put the first fish into the boat and then finally the other Cobia took the bait. These fish fight hard and go deep to battle it out. Whenever you get Cobia to the boat, if you decide to harvest one, be careful and put them straight into the fish box. They have very strong tails and can wreak havoc all over the deck.
Blackfin Tuna are also showing up in the 30 pound range. The Sailfish are biting and most productive right now when the current is moving north. They can be anywhere from 60 feet out to 400 and sometimes deeper.
We have had a few Swordfishing trips this month but we didn't make the heroes list. On one night we caught 3 fish but all were under size and had another night with a few slashed baits. Whenever we have a month like that we can always count on the next month as a good one. The summer months are a great time to enjoy the calm evenings. The next couple of weeks will be very busy and I hope to be posting some very good photos.
See you on the rip,
Captain Cary Hanna
