Calm seas, light winds, sunny skies and some great fishing… Does this sound good to you? Well, this is what we've had for the last week or so here in Fort Lauderdale. Our guests are having a blast catching all kinds of fish in near perfect south Florida weather, the kind they advertise in the brochures, the kind that make you jealous when the temps are freezing. And we expect this kind of thing to continue and even improve.
May is usually an exceptional month for fishing here in Fort Lauderdale. Big Mahi's are already being caught, slightly ahead of schedule. Small ones too are making their appearance and we expect more to come. Tuna fishing is down right now Wahoo fishing is getting stronger. With some Bonitos already coming through, summer fishing has begun.
One fish it is very nice to see return is the King Mackerel or Kingfish the largest of the mackerel family. This was always a staple in fishing here and for the last 1.5 years has been very slow. And we did a little fishing for Kings today with our group. Karina, Chris, Ian and Mark joined us for the day. Loaded with a bunch of food and beer, we headed out in winds so light, no kite could be flown. Catching some live Ballyhoo was our thought because Sailfish and Dolphin LOVE live Hoos. But the light winds and little current made things difficult. We still had a blast catching the ones we did. Chris and Mark actually got quite good at it.
We started trolling and caught a few Kings, nice sized ones at that. Chris and Karina both love to cook and were discussing how to prepare the fish when the highline sang out. Something big had grabbed our bait and was making a long run with it. Karina was up and got the call to the chair where for over 20 minutes she battled the unknown. Rod bent, she did a great job staying tight with the fish until he finally appeared.
The Kingfish in the picture with Karina and mate Adam was what she had landed. Over 40 lbs., quite a catch on light tackle and even more amazing to land whole, what with all the sharks that have been present.
Speaking of sharks, we did a little of that kind of fishing after landing this fish since our edible quota had now been met. Some live Hoos out and a few shark baits. Fishing for sharks can take an hour or two but we only waited about 30 minutes before the rod bent and we were connected to something large. Ian was called to be our angler on this one.
This took about 40 minutes to land, a just under 7' Bull shark. Bull sharks are notorious for bad dispositions and this one was mad. Adam pulled the leader to the boat numerous times and the fish just wouldn't quit. We finally got him close enough to measure and retrieve our hooks before releasing him back to the sea.
Some trolling home for mahi-Mahi or Tuna but we struck out on that today. Still all in all, it was a great day and our crew was out of beer. Time to head home and restock.
Great weather AND fishing are here right now. Why aren't you in Fort Lauderdale?
Tight Lines
Captain Steve
