We are at the start of the summer fishing season and the weather is getting hot. The action on the reef is even hotter as droves of bonitos flood our waters. Bonitos are a very bloody type of tuna that migrate through our reefs each year, in massive numbers. They are incredibly strong for their size and put up a greater fight than most fish twice as big. Throughout the summer months in Ft Lauderdale we catch thousands of bonitos. They are already showing up and biting like mad. Right along with the schools of bonitos are king mackerel, blackfin tuna and barracuda. They all feed on the same baitfish and travel together, just the bonitos highly outnumber everything else. We have caught some really nice catches of kingfish this week, a few of them smokers. Wahoo will usually travel within or underneath the schools of bonitos too, so no matter how sure you are that the fish you are fighting is a bonito, fight every fish as if it were a big wahoo with a soft jaw. Fighting them smooth and steady catches the fish, fast and jerky busts them off. Some big wahoo are hitting the docks this week and there will likely be many more in the weeks to come.
Night anchor fishing was astounding during the full moon in June. We caught a ton of mutton snappers. They were snapping! Snapper fishing in general has been quite good. Yellowtail snappers are coming up really good in the chum-line, right up to the back of the boat. Sometimes it takes a half hour of chumming to get them going, but once they start biting it’s a blast. Some nice mangroves and muttons are down on the bottom, along with a few big grouper. There are usually some cobia that move through in July. We will catch a big, fat cobia on some night trips this month. With little to no waves most nights, July is a great month for night anchor fishing. The July full moon can sometimes be really good for muttons too. We’ll have to wait and see, July 9 is the full moon.
It looks like it should be a great summer fishing season for everyone. Good luck out there fishing everybody. Sea ya on the water.
Capt. Paul Roydhouse
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