Andrew Roydhouse

The sailfish bite is going off this week in Fort Lauderdale. 200-300ft of water, wherever the blue-green water color change is that day, is the hot area for the bite. A lot of these sailfish are mutliple hookups too, pods of 3-4 fish. May is usually one of the best spring fishing months to catch sailfish. Some will get caught in the summer months of June-September, but this next couple weeks will be the best sailfish bite we'll have again until next October. The strong east wind is a big factor for the good sailfishing this week too. For kite fishing, the best technique to catch sailfish, we need some wind, which also means some choppy seas. The choppiest days are usually the best days for sailfish. Kite fishing in 200-300ft of water is also very good fishing for blackfin tuna and cobia. A few of these fish are also patrolling the color change in search of food, always keep a pitch bait ready for something unexpected.

Bottom fishing on the shipwrecks also deserves an honorable mention. Groupers, which have been off-limits to us since January 1, just opened up on the first of this month. They are on all the wrecks, you just have to drop a bait right on their heads. Black groupers, gag groupers, warsaw grouper and the deepwater snowy groupers are out there and ready to be caught. On these wrecks there are also amberjacks up the wazzoo, and a few cobia schools moving through. Make sure to catch your fish quickly though, sharks are also in season and ready to pounce on any struggling fish you hook into. We've been known to loose more than a few fish this time of year to big bull sharks around the wrecks. Great fishing this week in Fort Lauderdale. May is my favorite month to fish in South Florida, because of the great variety of gamefish in the area, and the sheer bio-mass of fish in our waters. It's great to see so many fish biting.

Ft Lauderdale Fishing Forecast

Drift Fishing trips in the morning are going to have good kingfishing, snappers biting better in the afternoon. A few cobia and blackfin tunas will be mixed in. Watch out for a few smoker kingfish to get caught over the next few weeks.

Night Snapper fishing will also get really good this month. The muttons are biting good around the wrecks and on the reef if you chum for a long time. Yellowtails too are biting, with some mangrove snappers on the bottom. The full moon in June is the mutton spawn here in Fort Lauderdale. Try fishing on the June full moon to catch get in on some awesome mutton snapper fishing.

Sportfishing- Wrecks are hot action and as guaranteed a catch as you can get in Ft Lauderdale. Big amberjacks, groupers, cobias are stacked up. You shouldn't have to wait long for a bite. Kite fishing in 200-300 ft of water means you can catch anything and everything that bites on top. Some of the biggest gamefish of the year will get caught over the next few weeks. Dolphin fishing is good too, but you need a full day of fishing to get out there, they are mostly 10-15 miles offshore these days.

Fish Species: Sailfish grouper amberjacks
Bait Used: live goggle eyes
Tackle Used: 30-50 Penn Internationals
Method Used: Kite fishing and bottom dropping
Water Depth: 200-300ft
Water Temperature: 83
Wind Direction: east
Wind Speed: 20
Sailfish action heating up in Ft Lauderdale
Sailfish action heating up in Ft Lauderdale


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Andrew Roydhouse

About The Author: Captain Andrew Roydhouse

Company: Fishing Headquarters

Area Reporting: Fort Lauderdale South Florida

Bio: I am a 3rd generation fisherman out here off Ft. Lauderdale and have been fishing proffessionally all my life. My company, Fishing Headquarters, runs daily drift fishing trips, sportfishing privae and shared charters, night time swordfishing trips, and any other type of fishing you would like to try.

954-527-3460
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Andrew Roydhouse