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 bonito flood our waters. Bonito 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 Fort Lauderdale we catch thousands upon thousands of them. They are already showing up and biting like mad. Right along with the schools of bonito are king mackerel, blackfin tuna and barracuda. They all feed on the same baitfish and travel together, but the bonito highly outnumber everything else. We have caught some really nice kingfish this month, a few of them smokers. Wahoo will usually travel within or underneath the schools of bonito 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, while fast and jerky busts them off.
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 groupers. There are usually some cobia that move through in July. Every few nights we’ll get lucky and catch a big, fat cobia and always when we least expect it to happen. With little to no waves on most nights, July is a great month for night anchor fishing. The July full moon can sometimes be really good for muttons too. July 5th 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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