Seems Like Winter Sailfish Season

Report Date: June 24, 2003

Stuart, Florida ? the ?Sailfish Capital of the World?. During the last few days at times the Sailfish bite has seemed like we were nearing the peak of the Sailfish season in January. On nearly every trip we are getting multiple chances at Sails. In addition we continue to catch good numbers of Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi), King Mackerel, Amberjacks, Bonito along with a variety of other species. We are experiencing excellent rod bending action and are catching a good number of quality fish on nearly every trip.

On a trip a couple of days ago we had a couple of gentlemen on the boat who were visiting our area. The weather had been less than desirable for a couple of days before their trip so we were anxious to get out early and to do as much fishing as possible before the storms started rolling our way. We started our day by catching bait around the entrance to the St. Lucie Inlet. During the last few days live bait has been easy to catch with a good variety including greenies, sardines, cigar minnows and blue runners. We moved offshore to an area northeast of the inlet that holds lots of bait. On this particular morning the water was clean and blue, the current moving to the north at a brisk pace and the winds were from the west. Shortly after putting out our spread we were hooked up on a decent size King. This was followed by another strike, another King and the action continued. As I have mentioned in several recent reports I always have at least one ?Bluewater Bobber? in my live bait spread. This morning was no exception. We had the ?Bobber? positioned long off the starboard rigger and as I was watching the lines I saw a Sail come up on the bait. He played with it a little, chased the bait around then grabbed it and started moving off. I set the hook and there was nothing. I then turned the reel a couple of cranks and stopped. Within seconds the Sail was back on the bait and this time with little fanfare he grabbed it for real. After a very short count I set the hook and the Sail was airborne. ?Fish on? - this was an extremely active fish that jumped time after time. The nice part is that most of the jumps were close to the boat and we were able to get some great pictures that you will be seeing soon on my WEBSITE. After the Sail put on an incredible show for us we were able to get him along side the boat for a couple of close up?s, remove the hook and release him?at least 85? long and 65 pounds of Sailfish on 20 pound tackle?a thrill for all of us. Most of the balance of our day was spent catching Dolphin and Kings that were very cooperative. A little before noon another Sailfish came calling this time he came ?sailing? in on the bait, grabbed it and ran off. We set the hook and the fish ran and made his first jump?another big fish. This time when he shook his head he managed to throw the hook back at us as to say ?not this time?. We finished our day by catching several gaffer size Dolphin along with some large Kings. A great day of offshore fishing in Stuart, Florida!

The following day was a little different. The ocean had changed; the water temperature was several degrees lower, the winds from the Northeast and the water as dirty and green. Bait was easy to find and we found an area close to the inlet where the Kings and Bonito were active. After catching a few we moved back further to the north where we found more dirty water and poor conditions. I then moved offshore where we found a temperature change of a couple of degrees. This is the area we spent the balance of the day fishing. We saw three Sails and caught one. The Kings were active along with lots of Bonito and an occasional Amberjack. The action was spectacular when we got in the right area and my anglers had plenty of rod bending action.

If you enjoy offshore fishing now is a great time to get out there and enjoy the action and the great variety of fish that are available.

Good luck and remember you can?t catch?em at the dock.

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