Sailfish, Mahi-Mahi, and Kingfish offshore
Capt. John Logan
November 14, 2017
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Right now it is blowing a bit harder than we would like and we will leave the mooring lines tied to the cleats for today as Mother Nature is flexing her muscles with this frontal system more than most fishermen would prefer. Tomorrow's forecast is better and we will be heading out bright and early as our latest fishing charters here in Fort Lauderdale have yielded some Sails, Mahi and Kings but the action again has been a bit on the erratic side with some real nice fish followed by a slower bite.
The Sailfish that are here seem to very comfortable holding in waters between 150 and 200 feet in depth. Both trolling and live baiting can produce bites. These fish while not really large are not the really little guys we expect to see any day now, and have more than enough power to spend a good amount of time in the air once hooked. Always fun to get the aerial display from these fish. Light drags and catch and release.
When the Kingfish are on they are very much on and the bites come quickly. Almost all bites from the Kings seem to be inside of 120 feet of water. A few Bonito in there as well.
Some Mahi-Mahi continue to move through and Capt. Matt spotted a Hawk working in 30 feet of water and a well aimed live bait cast in front of a 18 pound fish wasn't turned down and resulted in a good fight for our angler. These occasional Mahi-Mahi working schools of Ballyhoo way inside as just described are always a sight fishing kick and it pays to watch and be aware of fish feeding way inshore of where one typically spends a lot of fishing time. There will be more of these situations unfolding as there are big numbers of Ballyhoo schooled in various depths here off of Ft. Lauderdale and the Mahi and Sails will continue to find them. When you are a ways off of the showers or sprays the patterns of the fleeing baitfish will hold clues as to the identity of the predators working them even though you are too far away to visually peg the species of the fish doing the feeding. Long pronounced Showers or sprays of the Ballyhoo, and continued one after another showers and sprays are often the Mahi-Mahi or Sailfish as they chase the Ballyhoo that are fleeing for their lives. Both species will usually push the Ballyhoo slowly inshore. Showers and sprays of shorter and often intense duration are often Bonito.
Big fat Vermillion Snappers in water mostly outside of 300 feet. Occasional Yellow Eyed snapper out there too. Included some children's pictures here today, especially young JJ and his thumbs up big smile unassisted 1st Sailfish. Holidays are coming, make some plans to get those kids on the water.
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