January kicks off the 2020 EKFT season with the Sailfish Smackdown. Some of my best sailfishing days and some of EKFT’s most memorable tournaments took place in the month of January.
Sailfish start making their way through South Florida in pods of hundreds. Finding the right depth is key when trying to locate these pods, especially when hoping for multiple hook ups. For me, the prime depth for targeting sailfish is a range from 60 to 200 feet of water. I always look for the color change where the blue water meets the green water and concentrate my fishing along that line.
When targeting these pelagics, my rig is fairly simple, yet stealthy. Make sure your reel holds at least 300 yards of line. I like to tie the main line directly to the leader or use a very small but strong swivel. I’ll use 5 to 6 feet of 40 pound fluorocarbon leader tied to a 3/0 to 4/0 circle hook.
During this month you will find decent sized schools of mahi mahi. These fish, for the most part, will be in kayak anglers range from 100 to 300 feet of water off Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach. Again, look for the color change and weed lines as well as flying fish. Many kayak anglers are already posting pictures of their prized dolphin catches. Many of them ranging hitting the scales at 20 pounds or more. My personal best mahi mahi was caught in January in only 120 feet of water off Pompano Beach. That fish weighed in at a whopping 45 pounds.
Wahoo fishing has been solid around the moons in Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale. They are being caught on an outgoing tide in 190 feet of water on downriggers. Recently, a kayak angler pulled in a nice 40 pound wahoo by slow trolling a live goggle eye with a stinger rig off the downrigger.
Some nice kingfish, with the occasional 30 pounder, are being caught in 90 feet of water. Most of the kings are being caught deep peddling or paddling from 80 to 120 feet back and forth while slow trolling.
Catch the fish of a lifetime during the popular sailfish run in Pompano Beach Florida. Do it in the most fun, safe and competitive way possible by registering for the Extreme Kayak Fishing Sailfish Smackdown scheduled for January 18th and 19th. Join us for the kick off party at Bru’s Room in Pompano Beach on January 17th from 5 to 8pm! For more information visit www.extremekayakfishing.com Follow us on Instagram @extremekayakfishing for amazing kayak fishing photos, videos, podcasts and tournament information.
Joe Hector
954-895-4527
Extreme Kayak Fishing Inc.
www.extremekayakfishing.com
joe@extremekayakfishing.com