The storm has passed just far enough to our East and we continue to run our daily fishing trips here in Fort Lauderdale. The Southeastern Bahamas got hit hard. Once again South Florida has dodged a bullet regarding these storms and as most are aware this was and remains a nasty powerful storm as it veers N.E. and approaches Bermuda and thankfully lessens the impact on the NE seaboard of the U.S.
Very pleasant offshore today as we enjoyed lots of sun and slightly cooler temperatures. Almost difficult to believe as this large storm lumbered by us and not really all that far away. A bit breezy but that wind was out if the West and made for almost flat calm sea conditions as we headed for the reefs with Jim and his crew from Allegiance Crane.
Our focus today was on Kings and we began right out front. The Mahi have been quite a way offshore and the with that Westerly windy today the reefs about a mile off the beach here were a logical choice. We began the charter by heading to the south down the reef line fishing from 80 to 200 feet with the intention of positioning ourselves in the vicinity of a couple of wrecks in that direction that have been holding bait and Kings. We reached the first wreck quickly but had no bites. A couple of loops around this wreck and I got a call of Kings right out front and we reversed our plan and headed there, ending with 11 or 12 Kings with eight being of legal size and hitting the ice with the others going quickly back over the side. Kings are actually very fragile and need to be put back in the water with time very much in mind if they are to survive or the purpose of the release is moot. There was interest in Wahoo and we gave them a good try for about 45 minutes after we finished with the Kings but no takers on them today for us or any other charters. Vermillion Snappers are biting but many are small.
Lots of bait in our area now with numerous schools of small Bonito which we will now begin to use more often as a live bait. If the good numbers of Kings remain in the area and continue to bite we will troll them but if that bite slows we will be sending more and more live Bonito out into the spread. Good numbers of Ballyhoo inshore from 60 feet of water on into the 1st reef which is very shallow. Still an occasional school of Mullet offshore but most have moved into the waterways or passed to the South. When the wind comes around we'll see if the Mahi move any closer to shore.
Tight lines and good fishing from the crew aboard the Marlin My Darlin
