The big game fishing off Fort Lauderdale is going off. Offshore, schools of mahi mahi are formed up and being found offshore. Most of them are schoolie sized or slightly bigger, but we are finding them stacked up into small schools made up of 10 to15 fish. Trolling offshore and covering a lot of ground and keeping a lookout for weedlines, floating debris or diving birds is the best way to find dolphin. There are usually some nice weedlines formed about 10 to 12 miles offshore this time of year. Tuna and wahoo are also being caught offshore and there are even a few blue marlin around if you get really lucky. On the reefs, the kingfish and bonito are still biting pretty good. A few big blackfin tuna are being caught slow trolling live baits, along with some really big kingfish. The bigger kingfish bite strong this time of year and dominate the reefs. September is the beginning of sailfish season and a few sailfish are already showing up. Within a month, when the wind picks up, almost all our fishing trips will be going after sailfish. Sailfish are spectacular game fish that spend more time when on the line out of the water, than in it. They put on an incredible aerial display that is exhilarating to see.
Wreck fishing deserves an honorable mention this season too. The big amberjacks of the spring have moved along, leaving a lot less competition for food on the wrecks. There are still a few amberjacks around, but the massive schools of them are gone. Groupers are beginning to move in and make their homes again around these shipwrecks. Black groupers, gag groupers and the biggest ones, warsaw groupers are biting pretty good around the deeper shipwrecks. Big mutton snapper, cobia and the rare cubera snapper are also being caught around these wrecks. Just pull up over the top of a wreck, drop down a live bait and wait for the bite. It’s really simple and can yield some very cool fish this season.
There’s a lot biting out there these days no matter what you fish for. I’m looking forward to a great September fishing season. Tight lines everyone.
Capt. Rod Roydhouse
New Lattitude Sportfishing
(954) 707-2147
www.newlattitude.com