Fort Lauderdale fishing report for the charter boat “Happy Day Today” and Top Shot Sportfishing Charters.
It tends to get fish up feeding and moving into the current. Anytime after a cold front passes we start to see the numbers increasing for the amount of fish we are catching.
Tiger Shark caught while fishing in Fort Lauderdale
We started the morning trolling to the South heading into the current. We fished 4 surface lines and two deep planner lines. I like to spend a little time trolling which gives me the chance to see exactly how fast the current is moving. Also gives us a good handle on the bait, surface action, bird action and of course we are always searching for the big one.
As we were trolling the current started to pick up as we were getting deeper plus this is where the clean green water met with the electric blue water. As fishermen we say “it looks fishy” and this spot certainly did. We then sent out two kites with four live baits and a fifth as a flat line. Kyle had rigged a whole Bonita and sent it down to the bottom with a circle hook rig.
It took some time before we had the first strike. The shark rod bent over and the line started peeling off the reel and our angler did an excellent job. After a good fight the first mate Kyle had a full grown Tiger Shark on the wire. He wired the Tiger to the back of the transoms and we cut the Tiger Shark free.
This whole time we were still kite fishing which is the beauty of kite fishing, it allows the baits to continue to fish while fighting another species. I looked back and saw a Sailfish in the spread. Luke was the angler and he fed the Sail some line then came tight hooking the fish. After a great fight we were able to remove the hook, take a quick picture then release the Sail.
Great day fishing in Fort Lauderdale with a Tiger Shark and Sailfish release.
Fort Lauderdale fishing for Sailfish
Hammerhead Shark caught while fishing in Fort Lauderdale
Fishing charter in Fort Lauderdale for Sailfish
Joe from NY and his kids booked up for a deep sea fishing charter from 1-5pm. We started the charter trolling in 100 feet of water then worked out to deeper water. Soon as we made our way out to 400 feet of water we had a double header hook up with the planner rod and outrigger line. We were catching Black Fin Tunas and was a very consistent bite. We only kept the larger Tunas and released the smaller sized ones for good luck. Also mixed in with the Black Fin Tunas were some Skip Jack Tuna and Bonitas. At the end of the charter we filleted some of the Tunas for Joe and the kids to take to a restaurant.
Tony and his group from Finland booked us for a half day morning fishing charter in Fort Lauderdale. The easterly wind was blowing with a small chop and clean blue water. We started the trip with catching live bullet Bonitas. They make excellent live baits and just about everything in the ocean feeds on them. The first mate put out a spread of 4 live bullets. One of my favorite baits to fish in Fort Lauderdale. Within a short amount of time a Sailfish showed up and started feeding on one of the live bullets. After feeding the sailfish Tony started reeling tight and hooked the Sailfish. After a great battle we were able to bring the Sail along side the boat and up for a quick picture then released the fish. The overall measurement of the Sailfish was 101” which is a very big Atlantic Sailfish. Great job Tony.
Ron, Matt and John from Alaska booked us for an afternoon fishing charter. The ocean currents were still moving to the North and the bait fish were up and feeding. We started the afternoon charter with catching bullets and soon as we had a half dozen baits the first mate put a spread. One high line, two rigger baits and a down rigger line is an extremely effective spread of live bullets. We slowly started pulling the live bait spread over the reef structure in 150′ of water. A huge explosion on the surface and the high line started screaming off drag. I passed the rod down to Matt and he started fighting this fish. This was a great battle on light tackle. After a long fight a huge smoker King Mackerel was behind the boat. Kyle the first mate gaffed the King and in the boat. The King Mackerel measured out at 63″.
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