December has been a good month for deep sea fishing in Fort Lauderdale. We have been catching a variety of species, and the methods have been one of the below methods.
Trolling the reef is a method for targeting species that inhabit the shallower waters around reefs. Species like Kingfish, Mackerel, and Barracuda are often caught using this technique. Offshore trolling in Fort Lauderdale is going farther offshore, which allows you to target larger pelagic species like Tuna, Mahi Mahi and Wahoo. Trolling with artificial lures or rigged baits can attract these fast-swimming predators. Bottom fishing is another great method for targeting bottom dwelling species such as Snapper, Grouper, and various other species. Fishing over underwater reef and rock formations can be particularly productive. Wreck fishing can be incredibly active with species as the wrecks attract a variety of species - Amberjack, Snappers and Grouper are common around these wrecks. Live bait kite fishing in Fort Lauderdale is using live baits that are suspended from a kite and it can be an exciting way to target species like Sailfish. The natural movement of the live bait in the water can attract predatory fish. Live bait fishing is using live baits fished out of the riggers, using a down rigger and targeting a wide variety of species.
Bottom and wreck fishing in Fort Lauderdale - First we stop and catch live bait which can help tremendously when targeting certain species. When arriving to the bottom structure, position the boat in front of the wreck and up current. This will help the baits naturally fall into position. The first mate will rig a leader to a circle hook with a lead to bring the bait down to the structure. Then slowly drop the bait down to the wreck not spinning the bait back up the line. When the predator species is close to the bait, the rod will start to bend over as the fish is feeding - reel tight to hook the fish. We have been catching some Amberjack and Almaco Jacks. Another style is fishing dead bait on the bottom for Snappers and Groupers. Here the mate will rig a long leader with a lighter lead and fish the bait on the bottom targeting Groupers and Snappers. We have different depths to fish when targeting certain species; for example, we will fish deeper when targeting Amberjack and shallower when targeting Snappers, Groupers and Barracuda.
Trolling the reef, we have been catching King Mackerel and Bonita. These fish have been traveling in 100 feet of water out to 200 feet of water. The mate has been rigging a baited sea witch and using different colors to either match or compliment the water color, cloud cover and sea conditions. Using deep diving planners gets the bait down 50 feet or more depending on the current, boat speed and type of fish we are targeting - also, fishing surface lines looking to target anything from Mahi Mahi, Black Fin Tuna or Sailfish, all of which are traveling in "Sailfish Alley" off the Fort Lauderdale coastline. The surface baits are Ballyhoos and lures. These baits are staggered back in the spread on the short, long and shotgun positions. Depending on what species we are targeting will also determine the speed and depths we are fishing. For example, we will fish a little faster when targeting Tuna and Wahoo. The hook size is increased for Wahoo and decreased for targeting Tuna. We will still use the planners when targeting Wahoo and Tuna, just fishing a little deeper.
Wintertime offers some great live bait kite fishing in Fort Lauderdale. The offshore winds blow primarily out of the northeast, which is the best for kite fishing. Kite fishing is a style using kites to suspend the baits on the surface, which makes it very attractive for predator fish when they are feeding. Using two kites, one flown to the right, and one flown to the left. On the kite line we have release clips, and the tension of the clips is set just to hold the live bait without releasing the clip; when a predator fish feeds and is hooked up the clip will release. The kite will still be flying up in the air while fighting the fish. Goggle eyes are an excellent bait to use while kite fishing, and we will also use Herrings and Blue Runners. When the predator fish feeds, the angler will feed the fish some line, then start reeling tight. It’s an exciting way to fish in Fort Lauderdale. In addition to using live baits from the kite, we will also fish a bottom bait. Depending on what the angler is looking to target, such as a larger game Shark or smaller edible fish, will determine the bait used. For larger game Sharks we will fish a larger dead bait with a single circle hook and cable. The Sharks we are catching are Hammerheads, Bull Sharks, Sandbar Sharks among others. The other option is to use a smaller live bait such as a Pilchard or using a dead Ballyhoo. We will use a lighter leader with a smaller hook. Here we are looking to target anything from a Snapper, Grouper or Amberjack.
Contact Capt. David Zsak at (954) 439-8106 to book your deep sea fishing charter.
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