September 2011 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing Charter Captains Blog

9-28-11 Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing / Goliath Grouper

9-25-11 Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Off Shore Dolphin

9-23-11  Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Charters / Wahoo for Lance

9-21-11 Ft Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Corporate Outing

9-17-11 Charter Fishing Fort Lauderdale/ Sailfish on the Troll

9-16-11 Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Wahoo Madness

9-15-11 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/Wahoo and more

9-10-11 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/ Novice Fishermen

9-4-11 Ft Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/ Sailfish

9-3-11 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/ Kids Fishing

9-2-11 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing / no storm / Happy Anniversary 

 

Sept 28 Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing / Goliath Grouper

 

Our latest Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing trip involved only one angler. Curt out of Ft. Worth, Texas gave us a call and wanted to spend an afternoon offshore fishing here in Ft. Lauderdale. Curt has fished a lot off the Texas coast and we shared some stories of both our good times while fishing there. He also fishes out of the Florida gulf coast and has wet a line in Hawaii, catching a nice Blue Marlin there. Once offshore we spent a few minutes catching a handful of small “Bullett” Bonitos that were holding around a ship and then motored directly to one of our favorite wrecks in over 200 feet of water to drop a fresh live bait to the bottom. It really was a favorite wreck today as you can see by the picture here. That’s a Goliath Grouper and we guessed his (her?) weight at over 300 pounds. They are strictly protected (not even allowed to pull them into the boat for a picture). Curtis fought her for twenty minutes before getting her boatside. This was a war. The first fifteen minutes for Curtis were spent standing in the corner wrenched over with the rod butt in a fighting belt. Curtis “retired’ to the fighting chair (amid much ribbing as when we dropped the bait down on the wreck 1^st mate Lawrence asked him if he wanted to fight a fish standing up as opposed to sitting and he said “sure”). There is no doubt Curtis is sore today as this was a full on fight for those 20 minutes with all the drag pressure we could get out of the reel. “Stop em or pop em” was required here as she came out of the wreck to eat and wanted badly to be back in that wreck.  Nice surprise, a fish like that. A first for Curtis. We vented her and stuck a small gaff in her lip to guide her as we bumped along slowly for several minutes with her behind us to allow her to get some strength back as it was a full on 20 minutes for her too. Turned her loose and then put some live baits out for some surface fishing. We asked Curtis if he would like to use 20# spinning tackle for this type of fishing, and he said “sure”. The last fish on this Fort Lauderdale fishing trip was an acrobatic 50 pound Sailfish that Curt fought standing up the whole time.

Sept 25 Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Off Shore Dolphin

 

Fort Lauderdale’s charter off shore fishing for Dolphin this year has been poor to say the least. The fish just haven’t been out there in any numbers to merit the trip. So when Jason and his crew of three generations on board wanted Dolphin and Wahoo, I tried to talk him out of it. We always want our customers to catch fish and have a good time but he was set on what he wanted no matter the consequences. Certainly makes my job easier. J

Saturday was beautiful. Calm seas, clear skies and light winds. Everybody that owned a boat was out on the prowl and most stayed in shore, except for those die hard guys that only want Dolphin and us of course.

It took a few hours of traveling to find anything that looked fishy. The radio was quiet, very quiet for a Saturday. At about 8 miles from shore we encountered some scattered weed. This looked good but, there were about 4 small boats a mile or so outside of us just sitting still in the water. Most don’t do that unless…

That extra mile or so paid off. While this school of fished had been worked for a while, they were spread out and made it easy for us to troll through and grab one or two on our first pass. Chris was on the ball as the fish came in, handing rods off and keeping things in place. Talk about relief, finally a few Dolphin in the box. But things got better. A bit south we found a log, a branch of driftwood about 12’ long and it was holing fish!

Pass after pass, each time a few more strikes. Long pauses in between passes because the small boats were now coming from everywhere and yet, no word had been spoken on the radio.

Anything floating in the water will attract bait fish. Bait fish attract bigger fish and up the food chain we go. In about 1 ½ hours, we managed 9 decent Dolphin and 6 small Wahoo. The Wahoo were thick under this piece of wood but small, so just a few for dinner. Jason and the group were hungry.

But all good things come to an end and it’s the same when you find something like this. The fish began dispersing and soon, so did most the boats. Time to find something else but nothing was to be found.

We headed for shore and stopped by a wreck for a drop. An almost insta bite came from an Amberjack. After struggling him to the boat, we dropped again but to no avail. Trolling the reef was also slow at this point in the afternoon and with a thunderstorm on its way, we headed in to clean our catch.

Fishing off shore in Fort Lauderdale on a charter boat can be fun. Dolphin are a blast to catch and our skill to capitalize on a given situation is proven. We just need a little luck in finding that spot. So, do you feel lucky? Jason did. J 

Capt. Steve Souther

Fort Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

 

Sept 23 Ft. Lauderdale Fishing Charters / Wahoo for Lance

 

Our Ft. Lauderdale fishing charters are providing us with opportunities for catching some fish for action and we are also getting chances at some true blue water exotic species. We always try to tap into what has been biting so that our customers have a decent opportunity to catch fish, which is what most charter trips are about. Put a bend in that rod regardless if it’s a Snapper or a Shark. Well we had Lance aboard today who fishes quite a lot in his home state of Kansas. It was Lance’s second trip offshore and on the first trip Lance and his lady caught a few kings and had a good time. Bent the rod. Not a lot of Kings but enough that Lance decided to go again, so off we went. We chose to go directly to live baiting as Lance was a good angler and wanted a chance at a good fish. A fish you don’t catch every day. A few laps around an anchored freighter on the up current side provided us with enough small Bonito to start our hunt. Fishing certainly wasn’t on fire as we spent a bit of time zigging back and forth from 125 to 200 feet of water. Finally Lance got his fish, a nice Wahoo on 20 pound spinning tackle. A “Striper’ as they are affectionately known around here. Wickedly fast, super strong fighters, and a beautiful fish as well. A second Wahoo bite resulted in a clip off, too bad as that fish was on 20 pound spin also and appeared to be the same size as the first Wahoo. Wahoo are a great fish and we are catching them now. They love a little Bonito and aboard Marlin My Darlin we believe that a small Bonito is the best of all baits. Chances for Wahoo decrease dramatically very soon for the rest of the year. Mid August thru early October are our favorite months here for Wahoo along our outer reef line. Now is the time to put Mr. Wahoo at the top of your wish list on a Ft. Lauderdale fishing charter.

 

Sept 21 Ft Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Corporate Outing

 

Each year many corporate groups choose charter fishing in Ft. Lauderdale. Today we had the pleasure of Spirit Airlines group on the Marlin My Darlin. I’ve mentioned before how I find it preferable to start slow and build to a big finish but today really tested that.

Some small fish were being caught but we couldn’t attract a hit. Chris from the cockpit kept asking if I had both engines in gear? We’re we in the right area? It was funny at first but even I began to doubt if we were in the right area. Wrong colors maybe? Too slow or too fast? All these things play a part in trolling for any fish and going for 40 minutes without a hit was getting old.

Our first hit did finally come and much ado was made over the bouncing rod. Our angler settled in and a Wahoo about 8 lbs or so was boated. Not the big ones we have been catching lately but I sure felt a little better.

We went on trolling catching some small Kingfish, 4 or 5 had to be release because they didn’t meet the minimum. We also had another shot at a Wahoo but he cut us off before we could do much about it. They have very sharp, small teeth. Time was running short but we pressed on.

One thing about fishing is you just never know what’s around the corner. Today, the next rod that went off was quite the bite. Charley who had been with us before and is an accomplished angler was on the rod and did a great job of landing an 18 lbs. Kingfish which will be in his smoker sometime today. NOW we’re talking here!

And then, the other deep rod went off. Another nice strike! Whatever it was jumped but we never saw anything but the hole left behind. Another jump and again we had missed our shot at seeing what we had on. Everyone was concentrating on Jay as he fought the fish.

Fish that jump are usually Sailfish, Barracudas or Dolphin. No fish is limited from jumping except maybe bottom fish and I suppose if something big were chasing them as they were reeled in, they might jump too. As the planer came up and Chris grabbed the shock cord to finish off the fish by hand, we still had no idea what it was.

As it came closer, we could see it was big. Maybe a big Wahoo, they had been around lately. But as the bubbles from the props cleared, there he was, plain as day. He’s swum right to the boat and the fight for this Sailfish was done in record time.

Pictured is Jay, Charley and Chris with this prize and… it was now time to go home.

See what I mean about ending with a bang? This one WAS close!

Deep sea charter fishing off Ft. Lauderdale. Corporations, friends, families or just folks. We always try for that big ending. J 

Capt. Steve Souther

Fort Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

Sept 17 Charter Fishing Fort Lauderdale/ Sailfish on the Troll

 

Charter fishing in Fort Lauderdale has trends each year and one of those trends is: Sailfish are not supposed to be here right now. Traditionally, September is probably the worst month to try for a Sailfish. However, today with Raul, Rob, Dave, Scott and Sheila aboard, this “trend” did not affect them at all.

If I could have my way, I always prefer to start slow and build to a hot and fast ending. Today was not the day for that! With a full spread in the water making our first turn, we had a Sail up. He tried the bait no less than 8 times before Chris managed to get him to “stick” Handing the rod to Rob, instructions on how to fight this fish were being given when a second Sail tripped a deep line. Winding the plainer up to the tip still left 100’ of shock cord in the water with a hot Sailfish trying to eat the bait. Chris gave up trying to tease him to strike and went for a pitch bait but it was too late. The fish took the incentive and hooked himself, tearing some line off the reel. He only managed to pull about 75’ out or so before stopping and jumping. I believe it was Scott who wound him back in and Chris grabbed the shock cord pulling the fish to the boat.

But things on Rob’s fish were getting tense. He wasn’t gaining line and the fish was way off in the distance, so Chris made quick work of the fish by the boat, pulling the hook from him just 6’ away and we were off backwards chasing Rob’s fish, which was landed and photographed here in this picture.

Wow, we still have 5 hours left of a 6 hour trip. Now what do we do? See what I mean about starting slow? LOL

As it turned out, our day was anything but over, We ended up catching 9 Kings, a bunch of Bonitos, I lost count, had another Sail on for about 10 minutes before he jumped off. Raul seemed disappointed about this but it is one of those things that happen. He was doing a great job on the reel. Another shot at a Sail on the troll rounded out our day. We tried some live bait but it wasn’t productive and we set off for home with some very happy and entertained people.

Fort Lauderdale charter fishing… Sometimes I just love my job… 

Capt. Steve Souther

Fort Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

Sept 16 Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing/ Wahoo Madness

 

Fort Lauderdale charter fishing has been red hot this week with Wahoo being the prize. John, Tony and Skeeter were down from Indiana to try their hand at it and were rewarded with a great day!

Our day began trying for bullet Bonito at the sea buoy. Andrew and I had some great luck the day before with this catching a 23 and 46 lbs Wahoo’s. Chris and I saw no reason to change a wining formula but the fish gods were against us and the small desired bait had been replaced by larger Bonitos too large to use. We began trolling north to a spot we hoped to try for the smaller Bonitos later.

On our way, we caught Kingfish and bomber Bonitos filling in the gaps as we moved toward our target spot. A pretty good haul too, space in the fish box was becoming a problem. I love when that happens. J

Our small baits were there waiting to be caught so we loaded the live well with them and then set out to change our tactics from trolling dead bait to dragging live baits. Being as it was almost noon, the bite has slowed a bit.

I think we caught a few more Kings before our first Wahoo strike. The fight lasted over 20 minutes when we finally saw a 35 pounder down below in the water.

We use small hooks and light wire leader when doing this so it is a true test of ability to land these fish. You cannot muscle the fish to the boat. Yu have to play them, work them and hope you can entice them to swim your way.

With one “Hoo” in the boat, we set back up, slow trolling the live bait back toward the port. A few more fish were caught, a couple of Kings and a Barracuda when another Wahoo struck. We saw the bite this time but couldn’t be certain if it was a “Hoo” or not. As we fought this fish, we had another strike and now both John and Tony were fighting fish. Skeeter had just landed one a short time before.

Some dancing in the cockpit to keep the lines from crossing before finally landing one Wahoo at 26 lbs and a second for John bigger than his first!

It has been quite some time since coming in with 3 of these prized fish. 5 in two days is also quite a feat.

Pictured is Tony, John and Skeeter across the back, myself and Chris in the front. The real start of the shot though are those 3 Wahoo’s being held.

Charter fishing in Fort Lauderdale IS red hot right now! 

Capt. Steve Souther

Fort Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

 

Sept 15 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/Wahoo and more 

Fishing the deep sea off Fort Lauderdale today was absolutely magnificent. An actual coolness in the air in the morning lingered. I know it may not sound like much, but after the sweltering heat we have here with high humidity, get even a small break in either and it’s noticed. Clear skies and calm seas also aided this picture perfect day as we welcomed Dave and his group for their business/ fishing day at sea.

With Andrew back on board for the day, we began catching small Bonito for live bait. They have been biting well and didn’t disappoint us. Once done with that we began trolling to the south for some wreck fishing, and while the day was bright, clear and even a tad cool, the sea was not being kind to the crew of the Marlin My Darlin. Sea weed was everywhere in huge clumps. Some areas were so thick with it, you couldn’t keep a bait clear for 10 seconds. And it was quite some time, about 30 minutes or so, before our first bite came along. But if you’re going to have a slow time, I like it early and a strong finish to end the day. And that’s how it went.

We began with a few Kingfish and Bonitos as we worked our way south. Then came the birds and a huge school of Bonitos was working off shore. Each time we found them, we were covered with fish on every rod. This is one of those times that pandemonium is great! Andrew began looking up at me asking how many of these we wanted to keep as the box became full to the brim and it wasn’t 12 noon yet.

Our wreck fishing was a bust. With little current, they just weren’t biting so we began dragging the livies around. A kingfish or two bit and then came the Sailfish. We’d had a shot earlier trolling but didn’t connect.

The fish was a hot one, jumping away from us with tremendous speed. Our angler could do little but watch as his fish stripped line from the reel. One of the guys caught the fish in midair with his phone camera, a feat in itself. Within 25 minutes or so, he had retrieved all the line and the fish was released boatside. High fives all around and back to work.

A few more hits and this time a nice bite on the high line. No jumping from this one but a strong fish none the less. Once we had him to the boat, this 23 lb Wahoo was quickly added to our already full fishbox. J

We still had time and were now out of live bait so a trip to the buoy for more was in order. It works well sometimes doing it this way as the guys were already trained in this. J We caught another 6 quickly and with 30 minutes left, we began again. Another King was boated, then the deep line went off and it was a miss. Then things got really interesting and in truth, I can’t say how many fish there were. Was it just one doing this damage? Two? Maybe?

The water erupted next to each bait we had out almost simultaneously. Almost. One rod stayed connected and Andrew glanced up with that look he gets of OMG!!! This battle took over 20 minutes as well as we coached our angler to be gentle, almost sure of what it was. Another Wahoo, twice as big as the first had hit and with the mall hooks we use for this, it was tense for the crew. We’ve seen what can happen here.

While fighting this fish, another fish, a Barracuda, nice sized in his own accord was hooked and left way out away from the boat not to foul the other line. When all was said and done, the 46 lb Wahoo was resting comfy in our box and the 20 lb Cuda was released boatside.

See what I mean about ending strong? All within 2 miles of shore off Fort Lauderdale fishing in the deep sea… 

 

Capt. Steve Souther

Fort Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

Sept 10 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/ Novice Fishermen

 

Deep sea fishing is tried by many who visit us here in Fort Lauderdale. Most have had some type of fishing experience, be it on a lake with their Grandfather, or maybe a pond with dad or Mom. At some point most people have “wet a line” whether or not they caught anything. But today’s group were total novices. Originally from Argentina, all except one came from the New England area. Pablo, Carlos, Marcello and the other three had never caught a fish before and boy did they have a blast!

It was a perfect day to try for these guys. Seas were flat calm, though that didn’t help one who subsided to sea sickness. Might have been from the night before, I can’t say. J And fishing by the crew’s standards was less than great as we began our day catching 4 very small Barracudas. But the guys had a ball making fun of whose was smaller or bigger, who had the toughest time of things and so on. A few Kingfish and Bonitos finally joined each other in the box and with dinner aboard, we tried some live bait fishing.

Things had slowed on the troll when we began hoping to entice a fish or two and finally a hit came along. Nice fish, taking line and running from the boat. Chris cleared the other lines and we began backing up helping our angler. The group was cheering him on and then, about 30’ from the boat after having him on for 15 minutes? He was gone.

That’s when the fun REALLY began. Everyone but the angler yelling “You lost out fish”! Chris and I could do nothing but stand by and watch the fun. Too bad he got away but I think they had more fun because he did. Pablo is pictured here with the biggest fish landed today, as well as the rest of the group and catch.

Deep sea fishing off Fort Lauderdale wasn’t great today but it was good enough to have a great time, especially with these guys. J

 

Capt. Steve Souther

Fort Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

 

Sept 4 Ft Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/ Sailfish

 

Our Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea fishing for Swordfish certainly seems to be a good way to spend a day (or part of a night) offshore. Our last two night trips aboard Marlin My Darlin have resulted in Swordfish for our charters. On these trips we have left our dock here at Bahia Mar Marina a little after 4 PM. That gives us plenty of time to get offshore to the Swordfish grounds and get set up by dusk. It also gives us time to catch a few Dorado if we should happen to come across a school or two along the way. That hasn’t happened as we ran offshore these last two night trips, but that’s fishing, and we of course will be rigged and ready with our spinners to try them again on our next Sword trip. Ate dinner tonite with our neighbors Pat and Missy and Swordfish was on menu as Pat had a nice 100 pounder he caught this afternoon ( and had bites from a couple more). That’s good fishing when the target is a glamour species like a Swordfish. We have some night trips on the books, but only one day trip scheduled. Let’s go people, the odds are good. The fish are there.

Our reef trips continue to produce Kings and Bonito. There are some Sailfish around and some good sized Wahoo as well, but it has been erratic. Deep water Snappers are biting well. There are some Grouper on our wrecks with the Snappers. Get off the couch and get the dingy off the trailer. It’s time to get the big guns out and do some offshore Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea fishing for the big prize, a Swordie.

 

Sept 3 Ft Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing/ Sailfish

 

Ft. Lauderdale deep sea fishing hasn’t been red hot lately but there’s been enough action to entice some repeat guests back the next day. This was the case with Landon and his wife, Jenna from Oklahoma here for their honeymoon/ 1st anniversary. After enjoying the day before with Captain Rick, they joined us again the next day with me. They had caught Kingfish and Bonito the day before, today they wanted to try for something big.

We set out to the sea buoy to catch micro Bonitos for live bait and they bit well. We caught a dozen or so in just a few passes. The seas were becoming choppy as the weather threatened to rain and we immediately set up the livies from the riggers to await our first bite.

It didn’t take long and either a Kingfish or Barracuda grabbed a bait with Jenna in the chair. One of the biggest mistakes that can be made in fishing is to allow slack in the line between the rod and the hook. This was not the case as I watched the rod spring up from its bend and the fish was gone. But there was plenty of time left and Landon mentioned that HE felt lucky!

So again we deployed the baits and the high line went off. This rod is fished from the flybridge where I sit and after putting the boat in gear, I set the hook and handed the rod down to the pit. Chris and Jenna frantically cleared the other lines as this 85” Sailfish went ballistic with jumps and runs. Not much time as we were fishing spinners with 20# test.

As soon as the lines were cleared, actually a little before… we began chasing Landon’s fish around. With the light line and small hooks we were using, this was a true test of listening and doing the right thing. Too much pressure and the fish would be gone.

It took about 20 minutes for Landon to get his first Sail to the boat where we were able to boat, measure and photograph this fish before reviving and releasing him boatside. Jenna snapped a few shots of the fish swimming away.

A couple more fish, Barracudas were released as well but it was the Sail that was the highlight.

Congratulations to you Landon, on a job well done.

Deep sea fishing off Ft. Lauderdale… You just never know.

 

Capt. Steve Souther

Ft Lauderdale Off Shore Fishing

www.all-inclusivesportfishing.com

(954) 761-8202

 

Sept 2 Fort Lauderdale Deep Sea Fishing / no storm / Happy Anniversary

 

Well Hurricane Irene did in fact veer off to the East of us as we all had hoped. It gusted to 28 MPH one time here as she passed 200 miles to the east of us. We didn’t miss a single day of fishing in Fort Lauderdale. Deep sea fishing was in order and we were able to fish comfortably throughout. The weather was actually better as Irene passed by than it has been the last several days. Despite our hopefulness that the fishing would be red hot due to Irene we actually found ourselves scrapping for a few good fish. Scattered Kingfish and only a few Bonito were willing to bite. By passing so far to the East of us Irene didn’t boost our Fort Lauderdale fishing fortunes as we had hoped. Wasn’t terrible, but we struggled. The better news is that we still have all our trees, power and roofs. Fishing has improved somewhat and we are doing better on the Kings, a few Tuna and Wahoo, and the voracious Bonito, which we are trying to avoid by fishing larger baits at slower speeds. Our last two trips have been with couples celebrating their marriages. Happy Anniversary to Doug and Lisa and here’s wishing you many, many more. See you next year.

 

 

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