Winter kayak fishing in South Florida brings sailfish, mahi and some surprises.
The month of December in South Florida is always a good sailfish month and the beginning of the sailfish season for offshore kayak anglers. They start moving through in depths ranging from 60 to 180 feet of water. Sometimes in December I have scored double sailfish hook ups on the right day. Kayak anglers need to pick and choose their days wisely in the winter months for catching sailfish, because cold fronts moving through bring some extreme conditions, but also awesome fishing.
My choice of tackle for catching sailfish on a kayak is 30 to 40 pound mono or fluorocarbon to a 3/0 or 4/0 circle hook. I like to go stealthy on my gear when targeting sailfish. Make sure your reel can hold at least 300 yards of line. These fish are one of the fastest fish in the ocean and can make strong runs. Slow trolling live goggle eyes in 80 to150 feet of water should get you hooked up. I like to fish on an outgoing tide, straight out from the Pompano pier, Port Everglades or Hillsboro Inlet.
Kingfish in December has always been very spotty for me. Depths of 80 to 120 feet will usually produce a few 15 pounders and with the occasional 25 pounder.
Schools of mahi mahi will be running through South Florida in the winter months too. What’s great about fishing for dolphin in the winter, is the east winds blow these fish into close range for kayak anglers. I will always catch 10 to 20 pounders in 180 to 200 feet around weed patches in the months of December. Look for the weed lines and color changes and fish along those areas. My choice of tackle for mahi mahi is the same as for catching sailfish. Sometimes I will throw a stinger rig on when fishing along weed patches. The occasional wahoo will be swimming either beneath a school of dolphin or up and down the weed lines.
Bottom fishing is always solid during the winter months 1 to 2 miles offshore. On a good day I have caught snowy grouper around the deep wrecks in 200 plus feet of water. I’ll use a 4 or 5 ounce egg sinker, depending on current, with 15 feet of 40 pound mono leader to a 3/0 circle hook. I tend to prefer using pilchards when fishing for grouper and snapper. For jigging over the deep wrecks I use a glow in the dark jig or my go to pink colored jig. Make sure your mono leader is at least 50 pound test.
The 2020 Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament Series is just around the corner, starting of with the Sailfish Smackdown scheduled for January 18th and 19th, in Pompano Beach. For more information go to www.extremekayakfishing.com.
Joe Hector
954-895-4527
Extreme Kayak Fishing Inc.
www.extremekayakfishing.com
joe@extremekayakfishing.com