Fort Lauderdale Fishing Update /May 2010
Deep Sea Fishing in Fort Lauderdale during the month of May offers an endless variety of fish, from 30 lb Mahi – Mahi on the troll to 10 ft Game Sharks in 350 ft of water. May is notorious for its east wind, which pushes the blue water edge in tight close to shore and the fish follow.
May is the last hurrah for the Atlantic Sailfish bite, though other fish fill in the blank. Throughout the month of May, we have caught an average of 4 Sailfish per week while live bait kite fishing offshore. Kite fishing is key to catching. Live bait flopping on the surface attracts 90% of the Sailfish we catch in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Sailfish bite will continue to fizzle out as we come into summer. However, Fort Lauderdale is labeled Sailfish Alley for a reason; summertime Sailfish do exist and they will pluck your bait during the months of June, July, August and September.
Game Sharks, such as Hammerhead Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Mako Sharks, Bull Sharks, Sandbar Sharks and Silky Sharks, are some of the largest, toughest fighting fish that pass through our waters here in Fort Lauderdale. From April to August, Game Sharks are king in South Florida. When searching for a Game Shark offshore, Blackfin Tuna, King Mackerel, and/or bloody Bonito heads make the prefect bait to drop in 350 ft of water. All that’s needed is a knot of current, fishing kites and the proper deep bait and your chances of hooking up with a monster is likely.
The reef is very active right now. Trolling in 100 – 300 ft of water with pink/blue/white seawitches is catching the eye of the King Mackerel, Blackfin Tuna and Bonito fish. These lures imitate flying fish and squid which attract the fish to our line and then into the fish box. The King Mackerel are showing up in numbers anywhere from 80 -175 ft of water, averaging anywhere from 5 – 20 lb’s, occasionally catching some fish in the 50 lb range. The Blackfin Tuna aren’t hiding, either. We’ve been successful with the bite, allowing anglers to go him with ample amount. These fish put up a nice fight on light tackle and make great table fare.
May is known for its east wind which pushes the bluewater edge in tight close to shore. In other words, the Mahi are loitering right out front. Lately, during our 8 hr fishing charters just a few miles offshore, we have been taking many 20+ lb Mahi and Wahoo. The Lady Pamela III caught 22 Mahi – Mahi (Dolphin fish) on Sunday, May 23.
Wreck Fishing has been hit or miss this month. When the current dies, fishing slows down on the shipwrecks. We like to use live bluerunners, speedos and bonitos to lure these fish out and off the shipwrecks. The types of species we’ve been hooking up with lately are Amberjacks, Almaco Jacks, Black Grouper, Warsaw Grouper, Cobia and Mutton Snapper. The standard rig we use to drop on the wreck is a 15.0 circle hook attached to a 30 ft, 125 lb test leader with a 2 lb lead. After we present our bait, we wait patiently for the bite. As soon as we have a visitor, we set the hook by pulling the boat away from the wreck so the fish can’t run back into its favorite territory.
Nighttime Tarpon fishing has been the best we have seen in months. The grassy flats in the Intracoastal are full of life. When nighttime Tarpon fishing in Ft Lauderdale, we like to leave the dock around 6 PM and get out there before the sun sets. This week we had three Tarpon trips, and every trip we averaged 4 Tarpon bites. On May 24th, we had 4 Tarpon bites and ended the trip with a Shark bite, which put up a great fight.
During the first week of May, we headed offshore to Swordfish grounds in search of a Broadbill, or two. Shortly after we deployed our spread into the deep blue, a Swordfish visited our bait and gave our angler a sore arm. We are looking forward to our next scheduled Swordfish fishing trip in a few weeks.
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Captain David Ide
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