Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing Tuna
Capt. John Logan
August 21, 2012
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Today's fishing charter off Fort Lauderdale shouldn't have happened if the weather forecast was believed. After 3 days of steady rain, something not often seen here in the south, our storms tend to be short lived, windy conditions had the seas forecast to be rough. As I drove the beach to work that morning, it didn't look bad, but looks can be deceiving. None the less, Jim 1, Jim 2, Buddy and Eric showed up at the dock ready to go on this grey day and we said we'd give it a try. Options for fishing inside had been thought of.
Once out the inlet, seas were fairly nice, surprisingly nice and we began trolling quickly as there was a beautiful edge of green to deep blue water just ¾ of a mile from shore. With only 3 lines in the water at this point, we got our first strike and a large Bonito was caught.
We trolled for a few hours and while we were disappointed that no Mahi-mahi were caught, conditions were perfect for this, we did catch some more Bonito, a few Kingfish and 3 or 4 decent sized Blackfin Tuna in the 8 to 10 lbs. range.
The tide turned to incoming and the seas lessened even more as we set up the kites and had our first break in the action as we waited for our first bite on live bait. It took about an hour but we were rewarded with a very nice Sailfish bite that had Jim 1 (he got that number because it was he that booked the boat) caught and landed. We had a shot earlier at one of these fish but missed him on the troll. I managed a picture of Jim and his fish before he was released, with some effort, back to the sea.
We set back up and waited a bit but the fight had taken us into shallow waters and we needed to reset.
So we pulled everything in and went back into deeper water. By now, conditions had really improved. Buddy and Jim 2 had emerged from the cabin after a bout with sea sickness and let me say, that's not something you see often. They were given some grief by their friends.
But the move proved to be a good one as we began setting up, we immediately had a strike. Another Blackfin Tuna bit as the kite was on its way out and Eric got the call. These fish aren't too hard to catch when they are under 10 lbs., but they CAN give you some trouble when they get bigger. This one was about 18 lbs. and are tough next to the boat. The final outcome was a very nice Tuna chilling in the box.
Resetting and it wasn't long as we bumper back to depth that another nice sized Tuna hit. Buddy fresh from his nap got the call but we lost this one next to the boat. Fear not though, another shot came quickly and Buddy landed this one, another good sized one.
Then came something we don't see often and it proves that fish see quite well. Another big Tuna was hooked, as we pulled the boat ahead to hook the fish, the kite went up higher in the air, lifting a bait from the water and left it dangling about 3' from the surface. A Tuna was jumping into the air trying for the bait… Not once but 3 times! When Chris finally managed to get the bait into the water, he was immediately eaten and we now had 2 on.
I've put a picture in the gallery of a couple of these fish. Great to eat and tough to catch, they really made our day as we headed in for shore. Fort Lauderdale charter fishing with Tuna and Sails as the reward? A darn good day for Jim and the boys…
Target Species:
Sailfish, Shark, Tune, Dolphin, Wahoo, Marlin, Swordfish and more
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