Fort Lauderdale Fishing Trips
We offer the following fishing charters:
Reef and Sailfishing Trips -4 or 6 hours
South Florida is an exceptional hot spot for sailfish and the great thing about our area is that you can catch sailfish just ½ a mile off the beach. Sailfishing is a dynamic style of fishing. The best technique for catching sailfish in Fort Lauderdale is kite fishing. Kite fishing is a method of fishing where we present baits to the fish by flying a kite and dangling live baits from it. When sailfish take the bait, they jump, somersault, flip and fly into the air. A sailfish can put on an extraordinary aerial display. It can be very exciting.
Kite fishing is great for sailfish, but they are by no means the only species that we catch kite fishing. In fact, sailfish is what we are hoping for, but most of our catch is usually other fish, like kingfish, bonito, mahi-mahi, tuna, and even the occasional wahoo. Blackfin tuna, skipjack tuna, bonito and the rare yellowfin are all the members of the tuna family that frequent our reefs also. Fort Lauderdale always has a good variety of migrating fish along the reefs.
Sailfish are probably the most sought after game fish in the ocean. Most people like to get a trophy made of the first sailfish they catch. Modern day taxidermy does not require the actual parts of the fish, so we prefer to catch and release sailfish. The captain can help you get exact measurements for a replica mount. Sailfish are a beautiful and impressive fish to put on your wall.
Inshore Tarpon trips- 4 hours
This is the perfect trip for light tackle enthusiasts. Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because of the massive canal and intracoastal waterway. A lot of big fish live in these nutrient rich waters. Mangrove snapper, snook, jack crevalle, tarpon, barracuda and even big game sharks wander throughout the intra coastal waterway. On inshore tarpon trips, we like to slow troll live baits around specific spots where we know the big tarpon hang out. Tarpon are a hellacious fighter and instantly leap from the water as soon as they are hooked. They put on an incredible aerial display and are an awesome fish. Tarpon are all catch and release although, we can usually hold the fish next to the boat for a few quick photos. Barracuda are another big game species in the intra coastal waterway. Meat fishermen regard them as a nuisance, although true light tackle fisherman absolutely love these inshore, aggressive and powerful fish. Barracuda have razor sharp teeth and attack baits the same size or even bigger than they are. They are incredibly aggressive feeders and tough to outsmart. Inshore barracuda are famous for getting you wrapped up in rocks, or taking you over a deep ledge and cutting you off. Jack crevalle are another species you may encounter in the ICW(intra coastal waterway). Jacks are pack hunters and typically travel in large schools. Jack crevelles range anywhere from 2 pounds up to 15 pounds and are tremendously strong against light tackle equipment. Snook are a very seasonal fish, but are caught exactly where we fish for everything else, so you never know when one will take your bait.
The intracoastal is always quiet, calm and relaxing… except when your hooked into a big tarpon. And then I think you’ll find it not very relaxing at all. The great thing about the intracoastal is that you never have to worry about the wind. The intercoastal is a protected waterway and is NEVER rough. A lot of days where the weather was too rough for fishing the ocean, turned into awesome days of tarpon fishing in the ICW.
Sunset Snook Trips- 3 Hours
This is a trip we do only when the snook are biting or in season. The best snook bite is usually within an hour either side of sundown. Live shrimp and pilchards are the bait of choice for snook. Snook are a very cunning fish that live in the shallow waters around jeddies, dock and piers and areas of good bottom structure. Snook are cautious fish and eat only when you entice them with something they just can’t do without. Shrimp are their favorite food and make up much of their diets. Shrimp typically bury themselves during the day and rise up to the surface at sundown to feed. When the snook are around, they are looking for some tasty shrimp to go floating by.
Snook are an edible fish and if you catch a nice sized one that meets the legal requirements, we’ll bring one in for filleting. Please don’t ask us to kill every snook you catch to fill your freezer with though. This is more of sportsman’s trip than a meat packing trip. Snook are a great light tackle gamefish that will put up a great fight for you to enjoy. And along with snook, tarpon can be caught on these trips too, as can barracuda and jack crevalles. And if you don’t mind me stealing a line from one of my favorite movies, “Fishing is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Offshore Dolphin Fishing- No less than 6 hours
Head offshore Fort Lauderdale in search of the tastiest fish on the menu, mahi-mahi. Dolphin are one of the most fun fish to catch in Fort Lauderdale because they usually hang out in huge schools. When you find the dolphin, you usually find a big school of them that will keep you busy for a long time. On our dolphin trips, we usually go trolling for them to start. This is a good way of covering a lot of ground and fishing at the same time. When you fish for dolphin, you can catch them just about anywhere, but you’re your really looking for a school of fish swimming under some sort of debris. They love to hang around sea weed lines, floating boards and other debris. Find an untouched piece of floating debris that’s been floating for a few days and there could be hundreds of dolphin underneath it.
Finding something to fish to offshore can take some serious time, so we only offer offshore trip for 6 hours or more. You need some time to look around out there. This is a great trip for anyone looking for good eating fish to load their coolers with. Possible fish you can catch on this trip are dolphin(mahi-mahi), tuna, wahoo, sailfish, tripletail, or you can even get super lucky and catch a white or blue marlin!
Swordfishing Trips- 8 or 10 hours
Swordfishing has become very popular here in Fort Lauderdale in recent years. All long-lining was banned about 10 years ago off our coast and since then, recreational fishing for swordfish has gotten better and better. On our Swordfishing trips, we run way offshore (about 15 miles), to about 1400’ of water. Our most successful technique for catching swordfish has been drifting live blue runners and rigged squids in varying depths. Every bait gets rigged with a fish attracting strobe light. These lights flash different colors which can be seen by the fish for hundreds of yards. This technique has proven very effective for us and we have some areas offshore where the swordfish congregate in good numbers. If you’re looking to catch one of the biggest, strongest, toughest, and one of the best eating fish in the ocean, then this trip is for you. Because of the distance we must travel to get out to swordfish grounds, we charge $150 fuel surcharge for this trip. We’re sorry to do this, but the fuel prices are very expensive for us on this charter.
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