We're Catching the Crap Out of Sailfish in Fort Lauderdale
Capt. Rod Roydhouse
March 30, 2017
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Traditionally, sailfish are a winter fish here in south Florida. But in recent years, the sailfish bite has moved later and later into the year. Last year, the most epic sailfishing actually happened in April and May. This year it seems, is following that same pattern. Don't get me wrong, we had a very good sailfish bite this winter. But the crazy good bite on them was a bit off. I thought it was because of the lack of cold fronts moving through this year as we had almost no cold weather at all this year. But then I started looking at my photo albums and fishing reports from last year and I realized the bite as moving later on into the year. This has happened with a few species over the past few years. Mahi-mahi have shifted to a Spring and Autumn bite rather than a summer bite. Bonitos and kingfish now show up best in August and September rather than May and June. Of course, these trends shift too, but they usually last a couple years in a row. Last year the sailfish bit best in April and I believe this year will be the same.
Sailfish are one of the most exciting fish in the world to catch. They jump out of the water and shake their head, putting on one of the most acrobatic displays of any fish in the sea. The only fish to rival the jumping power and ferocity of sailfish is the tarpon. Tarpon are equal if not superior jumpers as sailfish are. Sailfish are one of the rivals to wahoo as far as their speed too. Sailfish are argued to be the fastest fish in the ocean. Wahoo too are argued to be the fastest fish in the ocean. It's a tossup between the 2, but it's close and the one thing we can agree upon is that they are FAST. Sailfish come leaping out of the water at tremendous speeds. They have a couple special adaptations that give them extra speed. They have special flaps inset into their body where they can tuck all their fins into, giving them an extremely streamlined profile. They tuck their fins into these ‘pockets' whenever they want to take off with some speed. Coupled with their great strength and large tail, they can go faster than a boat powered with triple 300HP Mercuries.
This is a great month to go out and fish for sailfish. They are the ultimate offshore sportfish and a bucketlist fish to any angler who hasn't caught one yet. There's no rush in the world to match someone catching their first sailfish. I still have my first sailfish hanging on my wall that I caught with my dad when I was 11 years old. It's a memory to last forever. Good luck fishing everyone, I'll sea ya on the water.
Capt. Rod Roydhouse
www.NewLattitude.com
954-707-2147
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