By Captain Weston Russell, Contributing Writer
Welcome to another year of Sportfishing success. The Coastal Angler Magazine will put out 12 months of articles to help you land that Trophy Fish you have been craving. At Reelintensefishing.com, January is one of our favorite times to do epic sailfishing that take place. Expect mass invasion of sails on the north winds. Most bites will take place from 100ft to 300ft depth. Live bait is a must and having a live bait boat on speed dial is the best way, but VHF channel 68 will work too. You anglers really need to order the day before your trip to ensure you get your goggle eyes. Drifting or bump trolling live baits off the kites will be the method of choice but dragging rigged baits will produce nice fish too.
You will see a few Sportfish vessels fishing off Palm Beach Inlet. This is tournament time for sailfish. The Silver Sailfish Derby is my favorite and if you enjoy competition fishing, this is a great tournament to enter. Reach out to the West Palm Beach Fishing Club for info.
Along with sailfish there will be wall hanging dolphin swimming with the sails, so be ready! One of the problems with big dolphin is when you’re reeling a monster in, it will fight you harder the closer to the boat it gets. These fish can see out of the water just fine, and they see you! My advice is to purchase an 8ft gaff. It’s long but it makes a difference. We have our gaffs custom made from BBW gaffs. They’re awesome!
The inshore fishing heats up in the PBI. Large schools of jacks and sheepshead will be hanging around the mouth of the inlet looking for food on both tides. We have more boat traffic in January, so keep your head up and motor running for safety. Tight lines and good luck!
Capt. Weston Russell
Reelintensefishing.com
561-310-2690