Have fun on your trip
Capt. Steve Souther
June 17, 2016
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
I have been writing fishing reports for the Fort Lauderdale area for years now. There are times when the fishing is great and there are those when the fishing isn't so hot. I'm always trying to keep things upbeat and positive because if you fish? A positive attitude is important.
This week I had two specific trips I will talk about. Neither one had spectacular fishing by my standards but one trip was quite pleased and the other very disappointed. And just what is it that makes a fishing trip great? You might think the fish you catch but that's only part of it. It is also an attitude of why you are going fishing.
Each day we greet new people at our boats and hope to make their day special. Some people are easy to please and some are not. LOL Some have expectations that aren't realistic and I happen to be one of those people. I expect to catch great fish each day. But we all know you can't win every battle and certainly cannot catch a great fish for every customer. Boy, wouldn't that be great? For me it would.
So now we come to the fishing lately. Seas have been calm, light winds from the west and some pretty good thunderstorms popping up in the afternoons, our normal weather pattern. And this will continue for quite some time which means our top baits don't get the attention our deeper baits do. Kingfish, Bonito, Tuna have been preferring the deeper baits lately and with some nice sized Tuna mixed in with the small. Those west winds I spoke of blow the debris and weed off shore and the Dolphin fishing has been less than stellar.
So now we start our trips, always searching for fish. Schools of smaller fish can lead to bigger bites. Wahoo, Sailfish and other predators like to be around small Tuna and your chance of catching something cool beneath the school is high. I realize they aren't big but small fish can lead you to bigger. And that is ALWAYS our goal. To catch fish!
Does it work out every time? I'm afraid it doesn't. But if you're catching fish on your fishing trip? It is certainly a start…
I also had an all day trip this week. Four guys showed up with beer, booze, snacks and sandwiches. They had been with us before in less than great conditions. Rougher seas, nasty winds and so on. These guys were thrilled with each fish reeled in. They caught a few Kings, some Tuna, a few Bonitos and a large shark. It was really kind of funny as it was hot that day so they spent most their time in the A/C of the cabin, only to exit when Freddy would call them out for a bite. Then the phones came out to take pictures and the trash talk started.
Both these trips caught fish. The one trip was delighted with their day and I truly believe that had they caught nothing it wouldn't have dampened their spirits. They were out to have a good time and were bound to do it no matter what. The other trip left disappointed and unhappy because they didn't catch their big fish.
So the pictures for this report are of the happy group. The first is doing battle with the shark and the second is of the group at the dock. Did the big shark they caught make a difference in the fun they were having? Absolutely not! And after catching that big fish, they mentioned that there was no need to do THAT again. LOL
Fishing is fun, no matter what you catch. We hope when you do come fishing with us, you come to have some fun and catch some fish. Because that is what we are trying to do each and every day.
Let's have some fun… Fishing off Fort Lauderdale.
Captain Steve
Target Species:
Sailfish, Shark, Swordfish, Wahoo, Tuna, Dolphin, Marlin and more...
More Fishing Reports:
