Fort Lauderdale fishing report for Top Shot Sportfishing Charters. As we are nearing the end of September and coming into October the last few weeks have been producing a variety of pelagic species. We are seeing some Sailfish inshore on the reef and catching them both trolling and live baiting. Also have been catching Mahi Mahi trolling and live baiting. The depths are a much wider range from 100 feet out to 1,000 feet of water. There have been some Amberjack and Groupers on the sunken ship wrecks. Other pelagic species such as Black Fin Tunas are biting in 400 and 500 feet of water. The Wahoo bite has been yet another wide range of depth and we have been catching them anywhere from 100 feet of water out to 700 feet of water. Some decent Snapper action with both the shallower water snappers such as Mutton and Yellow Tail and there have been some deeper water Vermillion Snappers.
We fished an all day charter few days ago, I first started on the reef in 100 -200 feet of water in hopes to hook an early Wahoo in front of the Fort Lauderdale inlet. The early morning Wahoo bite is a thing and if you have your lines in the water enough times you will get rewarded with a stud Wahoo. We trolled the reef for about 30 minutes and no luck with a Wahoo but and caught one King Mackerel. Then decided to head offshore in search of Mahi Mahi. We ran out a few miles offshore Fort Lauderdale and got our lines in about 600 feet of water. The first mate had a spread of 5 surface swimming Ballyhoo lines, one deep planner line with an Islander Ballyhoo and one bridge squid teaser. As we were heading offshore we were in about 800 feet of water a floater was sighted by Kyle the first mate. He saw a floating log way off in the distance. We made a hard turn and headed over to the floater. Soon as we trolled by the log we had a rigger come down and a Mahi Mahi on. After catching the fish we made another turn on the floating log and hooked and caught a second fish. The live well was full of baits so we backed up to the floater and casted a couple live baits hooking another Mahi. After fishing the log we continued to head offshore searching for more floating debris and or birds. A few miles later I came across more floating debris and on the first pass two rigger lines came down and we had Mahi Mahi on. The anglers fought the Mahi Mahi and as they were reeling in the fish the mate was ready to cast out live baits if there are any fish following and there were a few. Once the fish were close to the boat the mate made a long cast. We got the two Mahi Mahi in the boat and at about the same time hooked another Mahi Mahi on the live bait. We continued to hook and catch the fish. There were some nicer sized fish and we released any of the Mahi Mahi that were undersize and even the ones that were just over limit. Heading back towards land heading west we had 5 good miles of country to cover. I picked up the speed to about 10 knots. The drag settings backed off in case of the big bite. All of a sudden the line started screaming off and we ended up catching a nice Wahoo.
#Mahi Mahi and Wahoo
Charter fishing in Fort Lauderdale during the months of September and October we have been seeing some Sailfish caught. I was working down the reef fishing in 100 to 200 feet of water and we had a full trolling spread including two deep planner lines and swimming ballyhoos. The first bite came on the deep planner line, but the fish was not there. Just a tripped planner. Then I could see on the long rigger line a dark shadow then a bill coming out of the water. Daniel the angler fed them hooked the Sailfish. Daniel was our angler and he did a great job fighting the Sail. We got the hooks out the mouth, a quick picture then released the Sail.
Bottom fishing has been productive while fishing in Fort Lauderdale. With the right conditions able to properly target Snappers, Amberjacks and Groupers. Long leader with both live and dead bait has been good for Mutton Snapper action. Deep water with cut bait on a multiple hook rig has been good for Vermillion Snappers. To book your deep sea charter fishing adventure out of Fort Lauderdale contact Capt. Dave Zsak with Top Shot Sportfishing Charters.
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