Marlin My Darlin Fishing reportFt. Lauderdale Fishing 1-31

[Fishing Report]

Ft. Lauderdale fishing continues to produce some larger fish offshore. We continue to get Sailfish and early season Sharks into our area. Yesterday and today had Sailfish showing in depths from 90 to 200 feet of water. Once again these fish can be caught trolling dead baits out of the outriggers but live baits fished either out of the outriggers or presented out of the kites continue to draw the most bites. We keep a sharp eye for any changes in this pattern, as although we love to catch the sails by any method we really like to have the opportunity to catch them on the troll with the dead baits. There is something about taking a long dead Bally-Hoo (the dead bait of choice) and rigging it so that it swims naturally (“black back” is the term for a perfectly rigged dead bait, which means the bait stays straight up as it trolls along showing only it’s darker back to us as we scrutinize the presentation from the boat, and doesn’t lie over on it’s side looking a bit un-natural, or as we say on Marlin My Darlin “weird-o”). It’s not that easy and first mate Andrew can put a school of black backs out into the spread everyday. But the barometer is bouncing and the sails are a therefore a bit lazy, and that live bait with it’s heartbeat and frenzied attempts to clear the area when that lazy Sailfish pops up for a look is the key to success as of late. As we said Sharks continue to pass thru our Ft Lauderdale fishing area and they seem to be concentrated between 150 and 250 feet the last two days. Small Kingfish are still here and a strong east wind has brought a few welcome Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi). Congratulations to Chip and also Mr Wolaski on successful catches and releases of Sailfish on their respective charters.


Fishing in Ft. Lauderdale/ Sharks


Fishing in Ft. Lauderdale has been producing more and more Sharks for our clients who are looking to pull on a big fish that likes to pull right back. We are doing Ok with the Sailfish, Tunas, and Kings ( they are running small, but are biting) and this is all good news, but there is something about Sharks that generates a lot of interest for a lot of our fishermen. And the sharks are here also. A good flow of northerly current has the sailfish and the Sharks spending a lot of time in shallower water than we typically see them. Although we did catch and release two Hammerheads in 350 feet we have caught others in the vicinity of 200 feet and that depth seems to be very comfortable for them right now. No encounters with the truly big ones we see around March and April. A big fish right now would be a 200 pounder with most being between 100 to 150 pounds. These are still good fish capable of making anglers sweat and hurt a bit to earn their prize. Congratulations to Chris, Jack and Bobby on their fish. The biggest fish belonged to young Mr. Meena who released a 200 pounder in that 200 foot area that took a three pound Tuna fished as a surface bait. His brother also had an opportunity in the same depth on a Bonito bait but that Shark twisted against the drag and broke the 350 # leader wire three feet above the hook. Not all luck is necessarily good and fishing fortunes are sometimes painful as we all know, and although we re-rigged and re-baited with Tuna as bait that proved to be our last chance at a Shark or for that matter anything big for our young Canadian anglers as we toughed it out with a big fish as our target for the remainder of the charter. Hopefully they have some great Salmon days on their Pacific coast and we will catch the boys a big fish on their next trip to do a little Atlantic fishing in Ft. Lauderdale.



Fishing in Fort Lauderdale is one of the “fun” things to do if it’s your first time here with us. For our group today, not only was it their first time in Florida, but for some it was their first visit ever to the United States.
With their host Jay, we set out with 5 guys from the Ukraine. Catching something, anything would have been a pleasure as most hadn’t ever caught anything even close to the size of our bait fish. But one gentleman had done and been exposed to some fishing in and around the Black Sea. I believe he led the group in their want to try for a shark.
The day hadn’t been promising for shark fishing. A few boats had tried with zero success. Usually that means that what appears to be good conditions of current are not. We set out to catch some more bait to go with the live Pilchards we had bought.
Bullet Bonitos bit well enough to give us 10 or so. So excited to have their picture taken with a fish, we had trouble getting them into the live well. They don’t do well when kept from the water too long. We promised pictures after but hoped for something bigger. 
Things were tough today, we struggled to catch a few small Kingfish. Weed was heavy in parts but we did our best to avoid it and it certainly kept Andrew busy keeping the baits clear.
We changed from trolling to dragging live baits from the riggers, even tougher in weedy conditions. Two bites came at once, one was missed and the other hooked. These fish speed off and can change direction in a millisecond, if the line isn’t kept tight? They are gone and that’s what happened. Another bite and a miss as well, frustration was setting in for the crew but not our group. They had plenty of beer and Vodka.
Finally clear of weed and a pause from our last hit, two Sailfish appeared behind the boat very interested in the livies. The bait was freaking as the fish chased them to opposite sides of the pattern and ate. Lines crossed, one hooked and then the other. A quick move, things straightened out and we were engaged.
It took some time but we manage a release on both fish. Both were released unharmed but no pictures were managed. 
A nice Kingfish was boated and then we set out to try for a shark. It didn’t take long either when a top bait sang out, was dropped, eaten again and finally hooked. While the Sails were longer, this fish had some weight! It took just over 30 minutes before we had the Hammerhead to the boat for pictures and smiles, time to head in for a picture at the dock. Those smiles you see are what happen when you relax and have some fun fishing in Fort Lauderdale. Please pardon my thumb… but if I take it out, we lose one of the release flags…


Marlin My Darlin
rick@marlinmydarlin.com
Bahia Mar
Fort Lauderdale
Biz Phone: 954-761-8202
http://www.marlinmydarlin.com/