Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Dolphin Days
Capt. John Logan
December 19, 2011
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Charter fishing off Fort Lauderdale has been great for Dolphin and more. For those of you that read these blogs, you know our summer was less than great for these wonderful fish. But as it has been the case for the last 3 years or so, the Mahi-mahi are in full swing right now and we're loving it for two reasons. First off, it's just plain fun chasing these fish around. They are exciting to catch and a blast to watch as they jump and run, not to mention good eating. The second reason is, the reef hasn't been too active lately and even though we've been fishing deeper water, we're still not that far from shore.
One of the great things about the 6 hour trip is it gives us a bit more time to explore further from the port. This could be to the north, south or east, which is where we went today. With TJ and his crew aboard, in town for one of his brother's wedding, we headed off with a tall order. We need enough fish to feed the wedding party. Yikes!!! 14 or so hungry mouths to feed? The fish gods were with us.
About 5 miles from shore, we found cleaner water and large patches of seaweed. While the fish weren't pouring through, they were holding to the weed here and there. Trolling along we kept encountering bites and landing fish, all nice sized ones too, between 8 and 12 lbs. These are perfect eating size and one fish will feed 4. We ended up catching 10 or so. The picture shows the group holding some of their catch as we headed in.
With our afternoon trip waiting at the dock, Chris cleaned fish as we prepared to go back out with Dr. Mark and Debra. Most times on a 4 hour trip we would not chance going 5 off to try for fish but since we knew they were there, we took that chance and were back out there in no time.
Things change and the lines we fished in the morning had moved closer to shore, only about 3 miles out now. And the action was even better than the morning. It wasn't long before we were exactly where we had left off that morning. Boating nice sized Dolphin and having trouble keeping baits in the water.
Mark ended up with his hands full. Debra caught one fish and that was all she needed. With multiple strikes each time we crossed fish, mark would catch one and be handed another rod immediately to land another. I think we caught 9 Mahi's and a few Tuna for good measure. No action shots today, I was kind of busy with the rod on the bridge.
Fort Lauderdale and charter fishing for Dolphin… Summer in November.
Target Species:
Sailfish, Shark, Dolphin, Tuna, Wahoo Kingfish, Bonito, Barracuda, Swordfish Marlin and more...
More Fishing Reports:
