January is here and winter is in full swing with cold fronts already hitting South Florida with temperatures dropping as low as 40 degrees. Of course, right before and during these cold fronts is your best shot at catching multiple sailfish in one day on a kayak. Check your weather report for a nice northwest wind and an outgoing tide during the cold front for maximum results. This time you can catch sailfish as shallow as 40 feet or as deep as 300 feet. Look for the color changes as those edges are where they will be. There are always lots of great sailfish reports around the third reef in the Pompano Beach area.
The wahoo bite has been on fire with anglers catching 3 to 5 wahoo per boat and some solid 40 pounders landed kayak anglers. Try fishing on an outgoing tide in front of the inlets in 200 to 250 feet. We have caught many on the slow troll using a live goggle eye. Try adding a 1 to 2 ounce weight above your swivel to get the bait down a bit. I like to do mini kayak drifts from Pompano Pier to Hillsboro inlet, especially around the color change. Don’t just fish on the blue water side of the color change, I have caught some monster wahoo on the green water side as well. My personal best wahoo of 65 pounds was caught in green water. Definitely slow troll around the deeper wrecks for some bites. I like to go stealthy on wahoo. Use 50 pound mono leader to 6 to 12 inch length of wire with a 3/0 J hook and small treble for a stinger.
The mahi mahi bite has been very good, but they are still pretty far offshore with reports of some nice 15 to 20 pounders being caught in 350 to 400 feet. Anglers are catching a bunch of schoolies around the color change after a long drift as the fish become curious about the floating kayak. There are many times I see these schools come right up to my yak. If that happens drop a heavy knife jig deep under the school for that surprise wahoo.
The king fishing has been good with some nice ones being caught in 140 to 180 feet of water off Pompano Pier. I’ve caught most on the slow troll heading offshore in the morning. For those anglers that like to stay in shallow, but still like the salt water action, the Spanish mackerel bite is great right now. Drifting around Pompano Pier or Fort Lauderdale Pier with a live pilchard in 20 to 30 feet of water has been outstanding, plus they are great eating. Two kayak anglers I know caught 5 to 6 each and left them biting.
The nation’s only kayak billfish tournament, the Sailfish Smackdown is right around the corner, taking place January 9th and 10th. For more on this event go to extremekayakfishing.com or find us on Instagram: @extremekayakfishing.
Joe Hector
954-895-4527
Extreme Kayak Fishing Inc.
www.extremekayakfishing.com