Summer time is here and we all know what that means, clear skies in the morning, afternoon thunderstorms and red hot action offshore. Other than our typical South Florida weather, July has offered nothing but comfortable seas and overall great fishing. The Bonito and Kingfish are solid and quantity seems to be no problem. It’s been constant action for the Lady Pamela II, resulting in about 10-15 Kings and Bonitos per trip, ranging anywhere from 8-35 lbs. Trolling the reef in July is almost like a guarantee for a great time; run into a school of Bonito, Kingfish, Mahi or Blackfin Tuna and your chances of losing count on your catch is likely.
Not only will you be putting fresh fish in the box for dinner, the occasional summertime Sailfish might just creep up on your bait and start jumping within feet of the boat. Hooking up with the Atlantic Sailfish during the month of July is pretty rare – these pelagics don’t usually don’t hang around the Fort Lauderdale area this late in the season. However, Sailfish are still being spotted offshore and there have been some takers.
Fort Lauderdale houses several shipwrecks and reefs anywhere from 200 ft to 350 ft of water. With the summer heat moving in, the reef and wreck fish just can’t get enough of it. Amberjacks, Game Sharks and Groupers are just waiting for you to drop bait on their front door. A 40 lb Amberjack on the line will show you who’s boss, can you imagine what it’s like to hook up with a 10 ft Game Shark? The Lady Pamela II has been very successful catching big fish on the wrecks lately. We’ve caught and released a handful of Game Sharks over 6 ft long and a 250 lb Goliath Grouper that put up a wicked fight.
July has cooperated quite nicely with calm seas for our Nighttime Swordfishing trips. Not only have the seas been comfortable to pull all nighters, the bite has been better than we’ve seen it in a long time. Daytime Swordfishing is a big hit these days as well. Back to back bites with big fish makes for a great day offshore.
Move inshore and the inlet is holding heavy with large Barracudas ready to eat. Cudas aren’t the only species lingering inshore, large Tarpon in the 80 – 150 lb range are being caught almost every evening. Don’t let the afternoon thunderstorms scare you away from nighttime Tarpon fishing. By 6:00 pm, clear skies roll in and the bite begins. The Lady Pamela II has caught several Tarpon this month. Some big, some small. Some jump, some play it lazy. However, don’t let the lazy Tarpon fool you in the beginning, a burst of energy will show once you think you’ve won without breaking a sweat and these fish will have you doing circles in the Intracoastal.
If you have a dolphin dinner in mind, now’s the time to head offshore to the grass lines along the surface. The Mahi action has been instant and consistent. Our anglers are all smiles when we clean there fish back at Lauderdale Marina, filling enough zip lock bags to feed a village.
Staying at a hotel and don’t have a place to whip up a blackened Dolphin sandwich? No worries. Lauderdale Marina’s 15th Street Fisheries Restaurant has it covered. They encourage you to let them cook your catch and enjoy your meal at their dockside terrace where you can watch mega yachts stroll by and cruise ships depart after a fun day of fishing.
Get your fishing trip dates locked in now with the Lady Pamela II. Consider this, load up on Mahi, Kingfish and Blackfin Tuna in the afternoon then head inshore when the sun sets to reel in a 100 lb Tarpon. And if you’re really feeing adventurous, hit the wrecks during the day for reef donkey’s then venture offshore at night in search of the Broadbill Swordfish. Our Bahamas Charter is a biggie during the summer months, too. A day’s catch in the Bahamas right now consists of a cooler full of Yellow Eye Snapper and a big Blue Marlin to tell your buddies about. The Lady Pamela II offers so many great fishing trips and different excursions. Browse through our website to see what interests you.
Sea ya on the water and until August…
Tight Lines Everyone!
Captain David Ide
954-761-8045
