The fishing in Fort Lauderdale this summer has been very impressive. As usual, we are getting a lot of kingfish and bonitos while trolling on the reefs. On a 4 hour sportfishing charter, you can usually expect to limit out on kingfish these days. They have pretty much been jumping in the boat. On most of our half day trips, after we get everyone some action trolling the reef, we’ve been mixing it up with some bottom fishing, shark fishing and/or light tackle live baiting. There are a lot of big game fish aroung this time of year if you spend the time fishing for them.
Big game sharks are regarded mostly as a springtime fish, but we still catch some monsters in the summer months also. Big dusky sharks, bull sharks, hammerheads, threshers and even the occassional mako bite this time of year. With all the kingfish and bonitos on the reef, its no wonder why a lot of bigger sharks are swimming through the South Florida waters. Kingfish and bonitos are their staple diet, so wherever your getting the most action on the reef is probably a good place to soak a shark bait for a half hour. You might just catch something bigger than you are.
Offshore trolling has been kinda slow. We had a few good weeks of dolphin fishing out there in the beggining of the summer, but it sort of fizzled off. You can still get lucky and find a big school of dolphin out there, but plan on being patient, because it can take a long time to find the fish out there. Its a big ocean and your looking for a pod of fish in miles and miles of ocean. Your definetly much better off trolling the reef for constant action and then switching over to snapper fishing or grouper fishing if you’re looking for some good eating fish.
Blackfin tuna started showing up in Miami last week and we are just starting to hear of few caught off Fort Lauderdale now. Trolling is the best method to catching them this time of year, and fortunately they live right where the kingfish and bonitos do as well. When we’re trolling the reef, the occassional wahoo jumps on the line as well, but not every day. Wahoo are an elusive fish.
In the coming months of September and October, we can expect to start seeing some really good sailfish action. Sailfish season begins in September and peaks in December. We’ll be getting sailfish all autumn and winter. Wahoo and cobia action will pick up as well and there will be some good schools of tuna moving through. Now is a great time to go sportfishing in Ft. Lauderdale. Sea you out there…
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