July is here and with it comes solid fishing, the rain & tournaments. This month has produced some of my biggest kingfish catches to date in very shallow water. I have caught 30 pound kings in 60 feet. Of course with the heavy rains the fishing can get slow or the fish could move out to deeper water. Lately, the kingfishing has been on fire, with kayak anglers consistently catching 15 to 25 pounders. Use a 30 pound mono leader and a short piece of wire with a 3/0 J hook and the always important stinger.
Targeting wahoo in July has produced some awesome catches in depths from 180 to 250 feet of water. I’ve caught some slobs really shallow as well in the 80 to 160 foot range on a full moon and an outgoing tide in the early morning off Pompano Pier, which is perfect for offshore kayak anglers. Try slow trolling with a downrigger mid depth for killer results. On your top bait use a live goggle eye with wire and a stinger rig. The stinger is very important as most of my catches were only hooked by the stinger. If you are in a large school of bonito drop your live bait down deep and slow troll for solid results. Wahoo eat bonito so they will hang around under the schools of them.
Wreck fishing can also be very good in July. Many anglers jigging on the deep wrecks for big amberjacks have gotten lucky with a nice 20 to 30 pounders. The morning bite is key, the sooner you make it out to those deep wrecks the better chance of you catching a beast, especially on an outgoing tide. If you’re heading out before first light, make sure you have all your kayak safety equipment, including a light. I’ve done well with a green or yellow glow in the dark color jig. We’ve also caught nice gag groupers and snowy groupers off Fort Lauderdale and Pompano at those same wrecks. If you’re using live bait, make sure your leader is over 10 feet long..
Blackfin tuna are slowing down some in the month of July. You can still catch some jumbos from time to time and large schools of the small tuna will still roll through around the full moons. Blind jigging has been pretty effective for catching a passing jumbo, but try around the deep wrecks in 200 feet or deeper to increase the odds. The pink jig has always been my go to for blackfins.
Be sure to check out the Extreme Kayak Fishing Summer Slam Series in Pompano Beach on August 29th. For more information on this one of a kind tournament series go to www.extremekayakfihshing.com or find us on Instagram @extremekayakfishing.
Joe Hector
954-895-4527
Extreme Kayak Fishing Inc.
www.extremekayakfishing.com
joe@extremekayakfishing.com