This is truely my favorite time of the year to fish in south florida. The dolphin are running and in good numbers, the kingfish are hungry, the blackfin tunas have shown up, sailfish still remain, and the bottom can be alive with tasty bottom dwelllers.
Offshore of Fort Lauderdale and on the reef after a good easterly blow the dolphin fish have been in really good numbers. We have been catching fish from 5-25lbs pretty regualarly with most fish traveling in groups. It can be mayhem when you find a big school but you can have a blast catching fish after fish of these tasty fish.
The larger blackfin tunas (10-30lbs) showed up a week or so ago off Ft. Lauderdale and are quiet possibly the most fun to catch on light tackle. The are true tackle testers pulling much harder then their closely related bonitas or little tunny. We have been catching 1-2 per trip when the conditions are right.
King mackeral have been in really good numbers up and down the coast. These fish have been in the 5-40lb range and have one of the fastest runs out there. They have been biting best for us on the downrigger with the biggest baits drawing some of the biggest fish.
Sailfish remain on the reefs off Fort Lauderdale out to 300ft. Getting at least one shot every trip and the right conditions could lead to double digits over the next couple months. Last week we fished the World Sailfish Championship in Key West and were seeing 10-25+ sailfish a day and these fish have to make there way north at some point so there is still a really good shot at sailfish over the coming month.
On the bottom the mutton snapper bite has been really good. Fish from 5-15lbs. have been common and they are my favorite fish to eat. They are a challenge to pull out of our wrecks and reefs but we are always up to the challenge. While fishing for muttons yellowtail snappers, cobia and grouper all have been making a showing over the past week.
Offshore the swordfishing has been really good.
Give me a call to book a trip to get in the great spring time action.
