May 2010 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing Charter Captains Blog

5-29-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-21-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-20-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-15-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-13-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-12-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-12-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report

5-1-10  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report 

 

May 29 Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog

 

Fishing in Ft. Lauderdale can throw you a bonus from time to time. One of the great things about fishing here is that unexpected fish as you troll around looking for a school. We had just that happen today and that’s when a proper crew and a ready boat come in very handy…

A request for Dolphin had been made by John and his group. There had been some around but the holiday weekend had started and the beautiful weather had everyone in a boat out there looking for the same. A few Kings, a Bonito or two, small Blackfin Tuna here and there, but as of yet, no Mahi’s.

It is mating season here for the sea turtles and we came upon a pair on the surface. The light was just right and a Cobia was seen accompanying the pair. A quick turn, a pitched live bait that missed it mark but close enough for the fish to sense and the game was on.

Our angler did an excellent job of fighting this fish. You can’t pull too hard but you have to pressure these fish. When they run, they don’t go far… You can’t get anxious, probably the main reason fish are lost close to the boat. With the Cobia never more than 50’ away, they fought back and forth until finally Andrew had a sot, gaffed the fish and got him into the boat in one smooth motion. Our prize was not happy about his new home and we had some sit on the box to keep him with us. They have released themselves before.

We had caught one small Dolphin and time was running short. Another strike and this time the Dolphin was good size, 12 to 14 lbs. Another patient fight and our prize was captured.

The boys did a great job on the rods. J

 

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202   

 

May 21- Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

Ft. Lauderdale fishing offered Chris and his family a pretty good day, both in weather and fishing. Coming aboard was his wife, daughter and son in law and their two children. Our day was supposed to start by catching small baitfish for the kids but the tide was against us and the sea was where we headed for fun.

A trip to the closest deep reef and some left over baits from the day before Gave Chris’s daughter (the birthday girl) a nice Amberjack. The kids stood by and watched Mom reel this fish in and once it was seen, were amazed Mom had the strength.

Next was her son’s turn and he too, with a little help from Dad, landed a nice one as seen in the picture here.

We left the wreck in search of other things. A beautiful tide edge, where clean blue ocean water edged against green tide water formed. Our first bite came on this edge with a small Kingfish. A bit more trolling produced a few misses and a couple of good size Bonito.

With time getting short, we headed inside for some smaller fish on the light tackle. The tide had turned and conditions allowed us a few Pinfish, some Jacks and a Blue Runner or two.

All in all, everyone was all smiles. 

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202   

 

May 20 - Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

Sometimes the fishing in Ft. Lauderdale begins before the sun comes up and that was the case today with Jerry and Dave. While scheduled to leave at around 6, the boys showed up ready to go at 5:30. We still left around 6 and got out to sea right as dawn broke.

Almost flat calm today and with the day before offering Kingfish in some quite good time, we began trolling with zero luck. What possibly could have changed so drastically as to not offer at least a hit or two?

With the word spreading fast over the radio between the boats, we slipped over to the wreck and caught both Jerry and Dave an Amberjack. Keeping one for dinner if we struck out offshore fishing for Dolphin, we headed out. The day before about 9 miles out there had been some activity and our search was on. Jerry was pretty sure he wanted to spend his time in the deep so off we went.

The further we went, the worse the water looked. Green, lack of current, far from what had been the day before. I began doubting the decision to go offshore, it removes the reef and a better bet of catching fish from the equation. But we were determined and finally the water cleared and some deep blue was seen.

A scattered grass edge looked pretty good and it wasn’t long before this Dolphin pictured with our other fish came along and slammed a bait. You never know how well a fish is hooked until he is boated. Larger Dolphin like this are notorious for leaving you before their trip to the boat is complete. Today, Jerry won this battle and his prize was in the boat.

We worked the area a bit longer and saw a few more fish but none in our baits. A deep line went off and it was Dave’s turn. A somewhat disappointing Barracuda had bit and was easily brought in. A short time later, another “Cuda” was caught and Dave also landed this one. I began calling him “Barracuda Dave”…

With time running short, we headed in toward shore. The dirty water we had traveled through was now gone all the way to the reef. Even after 35 years of doing this, it amazes me how quickly things can change, We caught one more smaller Dolphin before heading home. 

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202  

 

May 15 - Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

Today Ft. Lauderdale fishing offered some of its finest to Chris and the boys from Kansas. While a few lulls were had today for the most part, fishing was excellent and consistent.

We began our day picking up both Goggle Eye and Pilchard live bait, a dozen of each. We headed out on our early day and had lines in the water by 7:30.

Our day began trolling. Recent outing have shown us the Kingfish to be especially ravenous towards live bait and we chose to troll a bit which produced some Kingfish for dinner. A reluctant third choice but fresh fish IS fresh fish so we kept 5 or so and released some others.

We moved away from where we had been catching Kings and set up the kites with live bait in almost 200’ of water hoping to attract other species such as Sailfish or shark. While no Sails were seen today by us, we were not disappointed.

Our first few hits were Kings blasting our live baits. We caught a few more and kept moving deeper hoping to avoid their onslaught. A large Hammerhead cruised through our pattern of baits, totally uninterested in what we had out for him be it live or dead. We think he wanted one of the Kingfish we were fighting and simply slipped away as his prey was removed from the water.

Finally set in 240’ of deep blue water, our first non Kingfish hit of the day, but we didn’t know it till we landed the fish. A Blackfin Tuna had come upon us, his weight around 30lbs or so. Not knowing what you have on and thinking it was a King, we pushed the heat up (increased the drag) and he fought hard all the way to the boat. Once Andrew got his eyes on what we had on, he backed the drag off a tad until we boated the fish.

A few small Dolphin stopped by, tormenting the Goggle Eyes. They weren’t big enough to eat them but in this case, they sure did enjoy trying. The Pilchards came in handy and 3 Mahi’s were taken in short time. Tuna and Dolphin for diner. Things are looking up!

With the onslaught earlier of Kings, were are now down to our last few baits. We reset and waited for our next bite.

We already had a box full of fish and really no more room to hold much. The group had talked about going home early, quite happy with their catch when a large Dolphin appeared and ate the short, right bait.

No problem swallowing the Pilchard, he was hooked deep on one of the 30’s and having his way with us when…

One of the long baits sang out. Another unknown bite was on and now two anglers are fighting fish. We began clearing the rest of the lines and found yet another large Dolphin showing interest in the shark bait we had out. While lighter tackle would have been preferred, the 50 would have to do since the fish inhaled the bait and now all our anglers are attached to fish.

The last 3 fish boated today were a large cow Dolphin, weighing about 22lbs, her traveling partner weighing about 18lbs and another Blackfin Tuna, smaller than the first but certainly respectable at over 25lbs.

Not a bad way to end the day.

Just one note…

We returned with 2 live Pilchards in the well.

I wonder…

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202   

 

May 13 - Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

Another beautiful Ft. Lauderdale fishing day was had this morning as we greeted RJ, Cynthia and RJ’s dad, Jim. Out for a bit of fun on the sea and hopefully, something for dinner. With the action we had yesterday with Kingfish, it wasn’t really our targeted species, but catching a few would be ok, we just wouldn’t be keeping them.

We opted to go straight to it hoping for a Dolphin or Wahoo bite early by the Port Everglades sea buoy, it happens quite often to the first couple of boats out each day. The chain that connects the sea buoy offers protection and food to tons of bait fish and often fish are around the area first thing in the morning before traffic in the area increases.

But things were slow today with little current and clear, blue water. Trolling netted us a few Bonito, one Blackfin Tuna (which would be had for dinner) and a few Kings, all of which we let go except for this 20 pounder that Cynthia is holding. She did mention something about always catching the biggest fish…

Getting late in our day we slid over to the wreck to drop a few of the small Bonito we had caught. The Jacks were biting and each of our guests caught one of these fierce fighters. For the most part, the Amberjacks will be gone soon, searching for cooler waters. I think Cynthia mentioned something about catching the biggest one of these Jacks too…  

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202 

May 11 - Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

The Captain’s Blog on Ft. Lauderdale fishing has been somewhat limited lately. While we have had some great people, the fishing has been somewhat mundane, especially for the crew. Amberjacks have been biting well, some Blackfin Tuna, mostly small but a few nice ones and some Kingfish with Bonito mixed in. It had been that way trip after trip.

But today, we had Phillip and his crew from across the pond (England). They showed up  a little early and we were off for what we expected to be another day of what has been the norm lately.

With some strong winds we recommended live bait which hasn’t been doing too much lately but certainly does make fishing more comfortable when the wind blows. We were off to the wreck to try for a couple Jacks before we set up and they were cooperating today quite nicely. Two “insta-bites” produced one big Amberjack and one not so big. After that another bite was not to be had so the kites went up after moving into shallower waters.

It took a bit for our first bite but a nice sized Kingfish was hooked and boated. Ok, things are looking up. As we hooked him, a Hammerhead shark swam through the pattern. Uninterested in our baits, he might have been homing in on our Kingfish, but he never made a move and we got the whole fish.

A short time later, one of the reels sang and to our surprise, the largest Blackfin Tuna I’ve seen in a few years was taking the line. He took almost 15 minutes to land and once in the boat, we knew he’d go better than 30lbs. Actually, at the dock, he weighed out at 36. In the picture, he is second from the left and the picture just doesn’t do him justice. Just 9 pounds shy of the current record and apparently 13 shy of a pending record… Oh well.

We rounded out our day with a little trolling and caught another 3 Kingfish, a Bonito, some small Bullet Bonito and went one for two on small Wahoo, losing one at the back of the boat.

Some action! Some variety!!

Let the blogs flow again!!! 

 

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202  

 

May 12 - Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

For the last 3 years Ft. Lauderdale has hosted a fishing tournament that is sponsored by Southwest Airlines and their vendors. The Marlin My Darlin has been privileged to be part of this outing and is quite delighted to be requested each year by the same people to fish with. This year was no exception. It is a full day of fishing with prizes for the largest Dolphin, Kingfish, and general fish.

Now, before I go into our trip, I’d like to mention that the rules change each year and we always seem to get only partial rules at the time of departure. We have been runner ups 2 of the last 3 years in numerous categories… Need I say more??

This year we left just a tad late. These folks have parties each night and really enjoy themselves. Sometimes, it delays our departure…

Finally, we’re on our way, live bait in the well and ready to catch fish. The kites are set and we don’t even have a full spread out when the Kingfish attack. They even tried to eat the shark bait, which counts this year… BTW.

We catch one out of three and reset the kite only to be attacked again! Another nice King in the boat and two missed, moving deeper trying to get outside these fish that are chopping our baits up as soon as they hit the water.

Finally, a full spread is deployed and we are found by three Hammerhead sharks, all in the 6 to 8’ category.

I do wish I had a picture of this, it truly was quite amazing. They are avoiding the shark bait and chasing the live baits with little success. Finally, one decides on the shark bait and the game is on!

Celeste is in the chair, she’s the one holding the shark flag with all the signatures on it, and the fight begins. It’s her fish and she’s not giving up. After an hour and 15 minutes, the fish is finally brought to leader, an official release. We even joked about cutting the line after 4o minutes or so and she was fine with that idea…

The middle of the day produced little as out well of live baits were diminished and finally, as the tide edge pushed out, Sailfish began to appear.

We hooked one and caught him, missed another and a third was seen swimming through the baits. We aren’t sure if he was the one we released or another fish swimming by.

The photo includes all aboard. The flags are upside down because all non-edible fish were released.

It’s a great event for a good cause… and we aboard the Marlin My Darlin are delighted to be part of it.

 

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202   

 

May 1 - Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Daily Report Blog 

Today was also a day of repeat guests for fishing off Ft. Lauderdale. Dan and his son Jessie were aboard. Last year around this time, Jessie had wanted to go fishing for his birthday and the experience was so enjoyable, he voted for another birthday on the water with his Dad.

While enjoying their day last year with Captain Rick and my son Mike in the pit, this year they opted for something other than the Kings and Bonito they caught last year. And since Jessie’s birthday falls on the same day each year, that means fishing at the same time of year which generally means the same type of fish are abundant. Oh boy says Captain Steve…

Luckily this year things are a bit late. Our colder than normal winter has things a little backed up and with some great conditions, we were off to catch anything but Kings and Bonito.

Our first stop was a deep wreck for an Amberjack. Sadly our first attempt yielded nothing and with strong current, we moved back over the wreck and tried again. This time we did get a bite and after pulling the fish away from his home, handed Jessie the rod and stepped back to watch the battle. And I have to say, for his size, he did a marvelous job fighting and catching this fish. A little help from his Dad holding the rod sure made me feel better. I expected the fish to rip it from his grip.

With a new species under our belts, we headed out for other species and never had a chance to put a second line out when the high line, that’s the one from the bridge went off. A small Blackfin Tuna was hooked and retrieved.

Now Tommy, the deck tech, and I have a little competition each day when we troll. He gets all the lines in the cockpit while I fish my one from the bridge, a small feather hopefully close in color to what the fish have been feeding on. Who can catch the most fish Sometimes he wins with his 4 or 5 rods, and sometimes I do. While his are usually bigger, that isn’t always the case and this day, victory was mine!

We ended up catching and releasing over a dozen of these small Blackfins along with 2 over 10 and one over 20lbs.. We also landed a few Bonito…

Sorry Dan… J 

Captain Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale fishing (offshore)

Contact: www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

Biz phone; 954-761-8202   

 

 

 

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