Shark Sailfish Dolphin Fishing Report
Capt. Steve Souther
April 1, 2016
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
With April almost upon us we look forward to spring fishing here off Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood Florida. But our winter has been pretty good compared to the last 3 years with a mix of some Shark, Sailfish and Dolphin activity.
While the winter time is our most productive time of year for Sailfish, this year was better than recent years. Not in the numbers we like to see and certainly not consistent but we've had a good showing, especially recently. At this point in time, we'll be seeing these fish moving both directions in their migration patterns as opposed to south in the winter. Believe me, there's nothing more exciting that getting one of these on your line, even for guys like me who have been doing this for years!
I chose this picture of the Sailfish because it shows the entire fish. This particular fish was 87". If you look closely, you'll see a clear tube which feeds the fish we boat seawater to help them survive as we measure and tag them before their release. Preserving our fishery is very important to us and we do this with most boated game and sport fish.
April also brings some Shark activity. To this point we have had some good results when trying for something big but that's going to improve, it always does, Thresher, Hammerhead, Bull, Sandbar, Tiger and Dusky Sharks just to name a few. It is this time of year that landing any other fish becomes difficult because of the predators eating your catch before you can land it. Reel quickly or you might end up with just the head of a fish on your line…
Dolphin are generally caught in the late spring and early summer but this year we've had good to excellent results through the winter. A trip just the other day produced a nice catch of some schoolie Dolphin and a few big ones to round out the field. Usually when a catch like this happens, it all happens at once but this day offered bite after bite with the fish hitting in pairs. Most the fish were in the 6 to 8 lbs. range with a few in the low teens to round things out. We had to almost force them to take a few to a local restaurant to be prepared but the rest? Well, my wife has a killer recipe for Dolphin…
The weather is warming, the fish are on the move and things are heating up toward some excellent fishing. Sharks, Sailfish and Dolphin are just the tip of the iceberg but certainly part of the main group. It gets easy writing fishing reports this time of year…
Captain Steve
Target Species:
Sailfish, Shark, Swordfish, Wahoo, Tuna, Dolphin, Marlin and more...
More Fishing Reports:
