Summer is finally here and with it comes tournament season and monster fish!
Some big kingfish have been caught lately. One angler even reported a kingfish close to 50 pounds in Dania Beach. Many kayak fishing charters have also been bringing in some big 20 to 30 pound kingfish using live bait like pilchards or gogs, jigs and even trolling deep divers.
This time of year around the deep wrecks, you can expect monster amberjacks, mutton snapper and even big African pompano. In the Extreme Kayak Fishing Summer Slam part one 2018, one angler pulled up a whopping 36.8 pound African pompano in Pompano Beach, breaking an extreme record.
This time of year there are still some scattered jumbo tuna around. Free lining live gogs or pilchards can be effective for catching nice blackfin tuna off the deep wrecks in 180 to 250 feet. Jigging has also been successful for offshore kayak anglers, producing jumbo blackfin reaching up to 25 pounds. Try using pink or glow in the dark jigs for your best chance of catching a jumbo blackfin.
Around the July moon, the wahoo bite should be solid. Wahoo are just starting to roll in around the color changes, inlets and under schools of bonito. When using live bait, go with a down rigger or an egg sinker to get your baits down in the water column. The kayak charter companies have reported some nice wahoo up to 25 pounds around the deep wrecks from Pompano Beach to Fort Lauderdale. Some of my personal best wahoos were caught on an outgoing tide in front of Hillsboro Inlet. Be sure to launch as early as possible to target wahoo and be sure to have all of your safety equipment including a light because it will most likely be dark when launching. My wahoo success has always been at first light.
If you’re willing to venture out to between 300 and 500 feet of water, mahi fishing has been solid for this time of year for offshore kayak anglers. I’ve seen a few gaffer size mahi, but for the most part they have been schoolie size.
Most schools of mahi have been found under birds or floating debris. The size of the schools of mahi has been impressive. Most of the schools have been averaging about 30 to 40 mahi per school. While offshore fishing for mahi in 300 feet, I’ve seen gaffer sized mahi swimming in big schools, and anything I pitch at them gets devoured.
For more information on the Extreme Kayak Fishing Summer Slam Series as well as some awesome photos of what’s being caught in the tournaments go to www.extremekayakfishing.com.
Joe Hector
954-895-4527
Extreme Kayak Fishing Inc.
www.extremekayakfishing.com
joe@extremekayakfishing.com