Great Time with Capt Mike 954.522.4773
Capt. Mike Johnson
February 9, 2011
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Ft Lauderdale and Miami Fishing
Feb 3rd great friend and repeat customer Ryan from CONN came out with us again to do some Fort Lauderdale Fishing. We cleared the inlet that morning and ran south toward Miami, fishing had been picking up that way and we didn't want to miss it. Once we cleared the buoys we couldn't believe our eyes, as far as you could see were baby man-o-wars. Floating jellyfish that will sting the H%LL out of ya. To the north, south and east all you could see were the floating jellies. We ran outside them where they thinned out a little bit and put out the trolling spread. We high speed trolled down south hoping for a wahoo or blackfin tuna and finally got a sick bite on the high line, before I could pass down the rod the fish had out over 200 yards of line. We never saw the fish just a huge explosion on the bait. Ryan got in the chair and fought the fish for close to 20 minutes and then heart break, the freakin hook pulled. We all know how fishing is especially Ryan but we all just wanted to know what the heck it was. We continued trolling and scraped up a small blackfin. Reports on the radio were not good and the comments from the peanut gallery were getting louder and more frequent (thanks Buddy). So we were going big or going home. We put out the meat (shark Baits) and waited and waited, Ryan started getting loud again and we finally got the bite. I was so happy. Ive fished with Ryan a long time now and nothing quiets him like a big fish. He strapped himself into the chair and went to work, Ryan is a real good angler and put the stones to this fish and had him at the boat in less than 30 minutes. The fish was a 275 pound hammerhead, no slouch there!
Great Job, Ryan!
On the fourth Eric and James came all the way from the UK to experience some great FT Lauderdale fishing. All Eric and James wanted to catch were sailfish. I knew it was going to be a long day because sailfishing had slowed way down this past week but we stuck to our guns and gave it a shot. We ran north toward Palm Beach. Fishing has been a little better up the coast and we figured that was a good of place to start as any. We popped the kites and sat it out. It was a couple of hours before we got our first sailfish bite. The man o wars (jellyfish) had still been fouling up the fishing in on the reef where we wanted to be. With so many around the fish don't want to come to the surface and risk being stung to feed. So we put a couple of deep lines out to see if they were trying to sneek by us under the boat. The deep line finally took a bow and mr. sailfish came up jumping. He was beautiful, right around 88 inches. James jumped in the chair for the fight of his life and one I wont soon forget. The current was screaming to the north and just north of us was an anchored freighter ship and the fish was running right towards it. I had to clear the kites while Richie my mate cleared the lines while I tried to run down the fish before he got under or around the freighter and cut us off. With the kites cleared I was able to concentrate on the fish and really go after him and I did just that. The fish came as close to the freighter as it could without touching it and I was right there with him the current pushing us down the side of the ship while I tried to pull the fish off shore and away from it. Quite a few tense moments later we finally got the leader, the pictures and the release! We filled in some time by catching a couple of huge bonitas while waiting for Erics sailfish bite. A while later we got the bite but the fish threw the hook a short while into the fight. Everyone still had a great time and look forward to doing it again real soon. Thanks Guys!
Tony and Jen from British Columbia, Jason from Chicago and Daria and Ricardo joined us on the 5th to try their hand at some fort Lauderdale charter fishing and were not disappointed. What a great group and a fun time. It was everybodies first time sport fishing and everyone was very excited. Fishing was slow earlier in the day so I was hoping things would turn around in the afternoon for us and it did. Right off the bat we saw a large hammerhead shark tailing down sea, we tried to pitch bait it a couple of times but had no interest in eating. Everyone on board got to see the giant before it swam off and loved it. A few minutes later the action began and didn't stop the rest of the trip. Smaller but very tasty blackfin tunas were on the prowl and would jump us every few minutes or so along with some big bonitas everyone got to catch their first fish and then some. Glad everyone had a great time thanks guys see ya soon!
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Forecast:
Look for great fishing now through June. While the North is getting hammered by blizzards we are getting hammered by the fish. The weather is mild and the fish are biting.
Target Species:
Sailfish, Mahi Mahi, Sharks, Kings, Jacks and Tuna
More Fishing Reports:
