Fort Lauderdale Sailfishing Charters

Sailfishing

Sailfishing in Fort Lauderdale offers the best opportunity anywhere to catch sailfish near the shore. Our reef system puts a prime sailfish habitat within a mile and a half of the shoreline. This provides you with the maximum amount of time on your fishing charter actually fishing for sailfish. Fishing for Ft. Lauderdale sailfish can be done every month of the year with the prime months being November through April. During the peak of the season you may be able to see packs of sailfish tailing(swimming with there tails our of the water) down sea in hopes of surprising their prey.

Kite Fishing for Sailfish

Kite fishing is the key to catching sailfish in Fort Lauderdale. Kite fishing is a technique that allows you to fish by splashing live baits on the surface beneath a fishing kite. Lines are fished out of release clips so that when a fish takes the bait, the line releases from the kite line and the fish is fought unencumbered by the kite. Generally, two kites are fished with up to 3 baits per kite; giving sailfish up to 6 baits to key in on. While it requires more work on our part to fish the kites, in the end you will have a much more successful sailfishing charter using this technique than trolling dead bait off Ft. Lauderdale. If there happens to be no wind, we will slow troll the same bait that could be on the kite. With this technique, we can fish 3-4 surface baits and 1-2 baits on the downriggers to cover the water column. While not as visual of a bite, the fight is just as exciting when a sailfish dances on the water.

The Bait

Live bait makes all the difference when fishing for sailfish on your Fort Lauderdale charter. Our bait of choice is the goggle eye. Though, at different times of the year, other types of baits may be the best choice. Goggle eyes are caught at night on the dark side of the moon and can drive even the best anglers crazy with their "here one day, gone the next" attitude. Local bait suppliers charge $80 per dozen or more during tournament season. On other charter boats, live bait is generally not included but will always be included on the Conched Out, even if I can't catch bait and have to foot the bill myself.

Conservation

All sailfish caught aboard the Conched Out are released boatside after a quick photo opportunity. While a certain size is legal to keep, we do not keep fish for the purpose of booking more charters back at the dock or to get you a fish mount. Ft. Lauderdale's sailfish are too great of a gamefish to be caught just once. So, beginning in November, we strictly target sailfish using circle hooks to offer better chance for a healthy release. If you would like a mount of your prize catch, we will take the measurements of your catch and send them, along with a picture, to a taxidermist to have a release mount made.