We’re fully into the summer fishing season and the fishing action is as hot as the weather. July is one of our best fishing months on our drift boat trips in Fort Lauderdale. Bonitos, kingfish, barracuda, blackfin tuna and more are schooled up in pockets of fish lurking on the reefs. Bonitos have the strongest presence and matched with their aggressiveness, they are making for some really fun fishing trips. They average 10-15 pounds and are pure muscle, putting up an incredible fight on light or even heavier tackle. In the summer months, typically July through September, there is a massive migration of bonitos through our waters just off our coast. They are highly concentrated on the reefs where food is most prevalent and they are very aggressive. On our drift fishing trips, it’s not uncommon to have 20 people hooked up to bonitos simultaneously. This makes for some crazy fun fishing action where it takes the cooperation from your fellow anglers to successfully land your fish. Although bonitos are the most aggressive and make up the majority of our catches this month, kingfish and tunas are also caught in the same area using the same bait and techniques. Drifting a natural ballyhoo, sardine or cigar minnow works very well, and jigging can be very effective too.
For those who prefer bottom fishing, snapper action can be quite good this month. Mutton snappers during the day or mangrove and yellowtails at night are a good bet. Fish the bottom with either a ballyhoo plug (a ballyhoo with the head and tail cut off), or use a simple chunk of squid or other chunk bait. Spend some time with your bait set right on the bottom and you should catch yourself plenty for dinner. In my opinion, there is no better tasting fish in the ocean than snapper. Groupers are biting still too and will hit the same bait/rig you are fishing with for snappers. In fact, cobia, sharks, porgies and the whole array of other bottom critters are all down there.
No matter how you fish or what bait you use, you’re bound to get good action fishing the Fort Lauderdale reefs in July.
Good luck to everyone fishing this month, I’ll sea ya on the water!
Capt. Paul Roydhouse
Fishing Headquarters
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