 Fishing in Ft. Lauderdale can be a lot of fun, especially when the big ones are biting. We had the pleasure of fishing with Nat and his gang of fishermen / golfers yesterday. Nat has been aboard the Marlin My Darlin before with various members of his wintertime Boca Raton crew. The morning started out quite slow and the ocean was full of seaweed which was constantly fouling Andrew’s lines. We could only manage a single Kingfish in the first hour of fishing and a couple of missed Kings. We decided to return to some cleaner water we had seen closer to port and try some live baiting in hopes a change of tactics would put a few fish on the line. Nat and his boys didn’t really seem to be too bothered by the lack of activity. Mel was engaged in conversation with Jim, and Ed was relaxing upstairs with me Maybe it was Mel’s 6 inch cigar that got things going. We got back to the pocket of basically weedless and clear water, Andrew fished five Goggle Eyes out of the baitwell and we launched two light wind kites. The first sailfish ate the right long goggle eye and we were connected. That fish never made it to the boat as he threw the hook. Short wait and a nice Sailfish showed on the right short goggle eye and we were connected to our second Sailfish. Nat took this fish in less than ten minutes. A few quick pictures and an equally quick release and we were back in action. Mel had to put down that cigar for the next sailfish which crashed the left long kite bait and the battle was on. And quite a battle it was for nearly an hour. After nearly taking all of Mel’s line the fish settled in about 100 feet down and showed serious resolve and tested Ol’ Mell as we said for most of an hour. Great pictures at boatside (by Jim) of Andrew and the long process of reviving this proud fish. These pictures show Andrew and the textbook revival which involved two hands to hold and keep the exhausted fish upright. A fish as tired as this one requires special attention before release. Fishing in Ft. Lauderdale. Can’t get the small ones to bite? Go long.
Capt. Rick Brady |
