Fort Lauderdale Lunker Report
Its All About Sailfish
Of coarse there are other species to fish for right now, like whahoo, kingfish and even swords, but the vast majority will be in sailfish mode.
Who can blame them we get some world class sail fishing down here during these months. We became real serious about it when we customized my 31 foot Bertram a few years ago to be a sail fishing machine.
One of the first things we needed was a good above deck live well system. Keeping live bait is a must for kite fishing and slow trolling.
Next we wanted to get the widest spread possible when running two kites and trolling, so we rigged our outrigger line with very easy to open clips so when the fish eat they release with very little pressure.
We also crimped 1 inch diameter steel rings in the rigger line so you can run your kite line through them and then put them out on the rigger for maximum spread.
Last we contacted Tommy Green at " Custom Rod & Reel and had him put together a pair of electric kite reels that make fishing a whole lot more fun.
There a re a few things that you need to do to be successful with sails. Probably the most important is get a good bait source. I get my live bait at the Lauderdale Marina dock in Fort Lauderdale.
They always have bait and they have great retail hours. When i want to troll live ballyhoo I make sure the conditions are right and I catch the ballyhoo myself. Also being prepared to fish when the conditions are right will increase your catches tremendously. Sailfish like the cold fronts so when you know one is coming down the coast have your ducks in order to get out there! Finally when you get out there fish where you think the fish are.
Look for color changes, weed lines , birds, bait or maybe even seeing some sailfish free jump. If you are fishing and not getting action change depths a little sometimes you are only a hundred yards away from the fish so do not be afraid to move.
Not to many things compare to having a sailfish take half your spool off while jumping frantically. So the reward is well worth it.
The other game right now is wahoo fishing. Many anglers run over ti the bahamas to fish which is not a bad idea if you can afford it. Anglers that do not have that kind of budget
can find them between 100 and 400 feet. I like the deeper water around 350. I prefer to troll fast at about 11 kts dragging lures behind trolling weights, but other charter captains like to slow troll live speedos or goggle eyes for them.
Either way they this is the time to get them.
Inshore quits down a little right now. Snook and tarpon become a little hard to find. Other species such as mackeral , jack cravelle and bluefish will keep you occupied. You can find them off the beaches and through the inlets.
Shrimp fishing the intercoastal will produce plenty off sheeps head and mangrove snapper so catching dinner will not be to hard. Fishing is fun this time of year and the weather is beautiful so take advantage.
Good Luck out there and be careful!
Capt. Jeff
Lunkerdog