Fish Local Knowledge for great catches
Capt. Mike Johnson
July 1, 2010
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing Fort Lauderdale June blogs
This month has brought the heat but with it plenty of fish. Early starts are finding more bites along with late evening trips. Dave, Jamie and Clayton from KY joined us on the 8th from some kingfish action and a nice barracuda. On the 11th in the morning we had Joe, Pat, another Joe and Mark trying their hand at some Ft Lauderdale charter fishing. We got blitzed time and time again by the eager and hard fighting bonitas. Once the cooler was full we tried for some amberjack on the deep wrecks but with no current we couldn't get the bite. In the afternoon Sam, John, Francesca, Kim and Francis from Houston wanted in on the hot mahi mahi bite that Fort Lauderdale has to offer. We made a short 3 mile run and put the baits out in 550 ft of water on a southeast to northeast edge. Within minutes we got jumped by schoolie dolphin, a lot were undersized but we managed some keepers. We continued on the edge and continued to pick the fish. The box was nearing full when Francesca got a little overheated and we made a run for the dock. Fishing Fort Lauderdale with us on the 12th was Eric, Amanda, Matt, Jean and John. We started on the troll on the reef and the bonita assault was on. After they had their fun with those we went after something to eat and crushed some big tilefish, TASTY!! In the afternoon Sam and Carlos caught some tilefish and snappers with us on a meat packing trip, enjoy guys! On the 13th Fort Lauderdale fishing was a little slow for us and gosh darnitt it was with a real good repeat customer and friend Tony and his friends the Colonel Sanders, Mark, Dan and AD plus the rest of his boys that chartered another boat the Marlin My Darlin with Capt. Rick Brady. The Marlin stayed on the reef and managed two bonitas and a couple of small barracudas. We went offshore for dolphin and couldn't find them. We ended up deep dropping for rosefish and managed two and that was it, the next day we all played golf in the Bahia Cabana Golf Tournament and I was lucky enough to hear how bad the fishing was all day. The afternoon trip brought Skelton and Kenny from Texas to try their hand at Fort Lauderdale fishing charters. The bonitas bit real well for us and we pulled out a king as well. The 17th Shawn from Texas (must be Texas week) took the boat himself and caught a blackfin tuna offshore and then caught a 100# tarpon inshore! Great Job, Shawn. David and his son David Jr., Chris, Andy and Mike book a Fort Lauderdale fishing trip with us on the 18th . The guys were from Homestead, Fl, and what a great group of guys. We bent the rods on some bonitas and headed offshore for the elusive mahi mahi, with no luck there we headed back inshore and found some kingfish to save the day. In the afternoon Dave and Bob from Indy busted up a couple of kings and some bonitas. The 19th brought Joe, Carlos, Brendon, Jordan and David for plenty of action with the kings and bonitas. Wanting something a little better to eat than kingfish we tried for tilefish but they weren't on the spot. Kings will have to do! We had a late snapper trip with Ron and his son Brandon from Pompano Beach, Fl and Atlanta. After anchoring up and dispersing the chum the father son duo pulled out 13 nice mangrove snappers, 4 mutton snappers, a couple of lane snappers and some toros. Fort Lauderdale fishing with us on the 20th was Mark and "Stumpo" from Plantation, Fl had one of the slower days with just 2 kings and 1 bonita. Sorry it was so slow guys! The 21st T-mac, his son Ryan, Joe and Jim caught a nice king a couple of bonitas and 10 real nice vermillion snappers that we had cooked up at the Bahia Cabana when we got back in. Thanks guys, always a good time. Rodney and Oneil found some nice red groupers fishing with us on the 22nd. George from Philly took the boat himself on the 24th for a short trip and pulled out a nice blackfin tuna, a couple of bonitas and a giant barracuda. Nice day George. The 25th Mike and Nick from Chicago caught the bonitas pretty good, a couple of football blackfin tunas and a nice kingfish.
The 26th of June was a special trip of sorts. Great high school friends Linc, his wife Kristine, Joe, Jim and Rob (Where was Field?) were fishing with me. The night before was their 20th year reunion. The Jager Bombs must have been flowing pretty good as Big Chris was a no show and Robbie was sick from the minute we cleared the inlet. Fishing had been a little slow due to the full moon so we did something a little different. The night before I went baitfishing and loaded the boat with pilchards a small live bait. We trolled down to wreck to the south and threw the anchor and put out the chum. We put up a kite and some flat lines and then dropped live baits to the bottom where we busted up the mutton snappers and a cobia. We then went for some deepwater vermillion snappers and caught about 10 or 12 real nice ones. We then took pity on Rob and got him back to the dock before he became a danger to himself or others. You're a great sport Rob! It was great to see everyone again. On the 29th Nick, Rod, Jill and Ashley caught a bonita, a giant barracuda like 44 inches, a smaller cuda and a couple of jacks inshore. Great time guys!
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