There aren't many places in the world where just 20 minutes or so from the dock you are wetting lines and fishing in the deep sea. Fort Lauderdale happens to be one of them and since so many people visit us here, it makes this fun and exciting sport very accessible.
Bernie and his son, Nicky, showed up right on time for the afternoon trip. What was supposed to be a shared fishing trip turned out to be a private charter and with just the two of them on board, we were off.
The afternoon trip can start off slow, with the heat of the day making the deeper baits the most hit. Very little surface action until that sun gets down a bit. We trolled and picked at some Kingfish and a Bonito or two before trying for something larger. You just never know how things will go.
We set a few deep baits for big fish like shark, Grouper, Snapper, whatever might be around. After all, that IS the thrill of it all, catching something big. We were also positioned close to a shallow wreck in about 150' of water and were dropping some small baits for any Snapper that might be lurking.
First mate Adam had put out a couple of small Pilchards from the rigger, there had been a few Mahi's around. Our big baits weren't being touched and the small reef stuff was having their way with us. This was turning out to be a bust. But wait… There's more! Isn't there always with me? LOL
A rigger line came down and a Sailfish began jumping. He had eaten one of the Pilchards and we had him on 20# test line. The spinning rods are great for catching Sailfish… It's just that they don't hold a ton of line. We have to retrieve everything to go after this fish before he spools us.
It was quite an acrobatic fish for sure… Jumping, running out the line, we were down to maybe 1/3 a spool left before we finally began backing down on this fish. Even as we got close, this fish was still jumping and taking drag, putting on quite the show. After 30 minutes or so, we finally had him at the side of the boat and Nick had his first ever Sailfish!
The picture shows Adam releasing this fish as we revive him. Adam holds the fish, the customers hold Adam…
Not a bad way to end our trip and remember, this is just a little over 1 mile from shore. While we don't always catch "The BIG one", Fort Lauderdale fishing can certainly be exciting either way.
Nice job Nick.
Keep em tight… Keep em on!
Captain Steve
