Double Header Sailfish all week offshore of Fort Lauderdale
Capt. Paul Roydhouse
May 31, 2008
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sailfish are here late this year and I'm not complaining one bit. The action on sailfish off Fort Lauderdale has been exceptional this year and what's best is that they are hanging around very late into the season. This is usually the time of year when the sailfish action is slowing down, but the past few weeks off Fort Lauderdale, the sailfishing has been awesome. Lots of flying fish, blue runners and ballyhoo have been present at the usual bait holes, and on the reef/edge of the gulfstream too. If I was a sailfish, I would certainly be hanging wherever the food was most abundant. Sailfish are being caught on the kites with live baits and trolling with artificial and rigged dead baits.
On several trips this week, our boats have caught double header sailfish. I won't go so far as to say we're catching winter numbers of sailfish, but the action is still here if you target them. Our charter fishing boat, the Big Game has released at least a dozen sailfish in the past 2 weeks and they are still biting good out there. Afternoons have been the best bite on the sails although morning trips have been pretty decent too. Sharks mixed in with the sailfish will show up if you are kite fishing for them.
Dolphin are going to be showing up very soon in the next couple weeks. June is always a great month for going offshore and trolling for the big schools of the schoolie sized dolphins. They are always small ones, but they hang in huge numbers and if you find a school, you can load up. I love to go offshore trolling this time of year. Just head out a few miles and troll around until you find something to fish to… a weedline, a big chunk of debris, birds working a school of fish. There's always something out there this time of year. Tuna, wahoo, sailfish, and even the occasion marlin can be caught even if you don't find the dolphin. This is my favorite time of year for going out looking for mahi-mahi.
If you're offshore, give a day time Swordfishing drop a shot. You just may catch one. The daytime Swordfishing has been really good lately and there are some monster fish out there to be caught. On our last attempt at daytime Swordfishing, we had the baits down about 15 minutes before we hooked into our big fish. We fought him for over 45 minutes. When the mate grabbed the leader, the fish took off on a crazy run and ultimately pulled the hooks. It was about a 200 pound fish and what a heartbreaker it was to lose him so close to the boat and after such a long fight. Well, that's why they call it "fishing" and not "catching".
Great fishing off Fort Lauderdale right now and in the next few weeks, it will be the perfect time for an offshore fishing charter. Let's go fishing.
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Forecast:
The big schools of the schoolie sized dolphin are going to be biting offshore the entire month of June. This is a great time of year for our Wednesday All Day Dolphin trip, or an offshore trolling private charter
Target Species:
dolphin, sailfish, wahoo, tuna
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