Fort Lauderdale Sportfishing

Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing Trip

Captain — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:14:59 +0000

Nice catch aboard the Big Game on a sportfishing charter

Great fishing today on our sportfishing charter. We set out this morning on a 4 hour private sportfishing charter. Denny, our customer, told us that he wanted to catch dinner and then go after something big. Well, grouper season just opened up on May 1, so we knew we could easily catch some nice groupers around the wrecks. The groupers have been completely unharrassed by us fishermen for over 5 months. They are stacked up around all the wrecks. On our first grouper spot, we caught 3 snowy groupers in just as many drops. We also caught a 50 pound amberjack fishing the same wreck. So, with dinner in the box, we went out to the edge of the gulfstream, into 350ft of water and set our kites for something big. We kite fished for about a half hour with no bites, so we decided to make some drops for vermillion snappers while we were kite fishing. 3-5 vermillion snappers were coming up on every drop, 3-4 pounders all of them. It was fun for about 20 minutes until Capt Paul yelled down, “Sailfish, LEFT SHORT”. We free spooled to the sail for a minute and then gunned the boat ahead and started winding until we came tight. Fish on! We caught the sailfish in about 20 minutes. The sailfish was gagged, so we brought him in. It was a fun day. Not bad for a half day fishing charter in Fort Lauderdale.

Sailfish caught charter fishing in Fort Lauderdale by Denny, Capt Rod and Capt Paul

The fishing in Fort Lauderdale is getting awesome. Some monster fish have hit the docks this week. Big Hammerhead sharks are everywhere and can almost be caught on demand. They are in the middle of their major migration down our coastline. They are moving fast and they are hungry. If you want to catch a 6-10 ft hammerhead shark, this is the month to go fishing. Other big sharks are biting out there too. Mako sharks are being caught out there, as well as deep water thresher sharks. Fishing is hot this time of year for the Fort Lauderdale charter fishing boats. Good luck fishing everyone.

Capt. Rod Roydhouse

Fort Lauderdale Charter Fishing Trip

(954)707-2147

Nice sportfishing catch on a charter fishing trip

Fort Lauderdale Swordfish Charter

Captain — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:58:15 +0000

Nice swordfish caught on our Fort Lauderdale Swordfish Charter last night

2 nice swordfish landed on last night’s swordfish charter out of Fort Lauderdale. A couple of guys down on vacation chartered our boat the Big Game for a night swordfishing charter. We left the dock at 6pm and headed offshore. The water looked good for mahi-mahi, so we threw out some lures on the way out fishing grounds. We didn’t catch any mahi-mahi, but we did catch a nice blackfin tuna. The tuna was the only bite we got trolling.

Double header swordfish caught on last night's swordfishing charter in Fort Lauderdale

We listened to the radio on the way out to fishing grounds, to hear how the action was for the commercial fishing boats fishing for swordfish. One boat had a single bite, but nothing else good to report from any of the other boats. We were just setting our third bait, when we got the bite. The long bait’s marker balloon plunged down and line started screaming off the reel. We were hooked up. The angler grabbed the rod and got set up in the fighting chair when the other rod starts jerking and pouring out drag. At first we thought it was a the same fish, either tangled or that he ate both baits. But the angle of the lines proved it was 2 different fish. We fought the fish to the boat in 20 minutes. They weren’t the biggest swordfish we’ve ever caught, but they were nice ones. The bigger fish was 80 pounds and the smaller fish 60.

After catching those swordfish, we kept fishing for a couple more hours. We had one mystery bite that came back with a mangled bait, probably a shark of some specie. Also, we had a tiny swordfish, a 15 pounder or so, come swim up in our light off the back of the boat. He swam there for a good 5 minutes, zooming in and out of the light. We pitched a couple baits to him, but he never ate and eventually swam off. It was cool to see though, and I’ve never seen one so small. Any trip you land a swordfish on is a great trip! We’re having some good fishing action on our Fort Lauderdale swordfish charters. Tight Lines and good fishing,

Capt Rod Roydhouse
(954)707-2147
Fort Lauderdale Swordfish Charters

Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter

Captain — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:24:14 +0000

Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter
Fishing is getting awesome in Fort Lauderdale this month. March, April and May are my 3 favorite months for fishing in Fort Lauderdale. All the coolest fish in the ocean are starting to show up and bite for us. Today, Robert and I went out on an afternoon charter and had an awesome trip. We had a family that asked us to catch them the biggest fish we could find. Big game fishing this time of year means kite fishing, so we went out to 300ft of water and set out our fishing kites. The action started immediately. We caught 2 sailfish right off the bat, double header caught at the same time. Catching one sailfish is hair-raising enough, but a double header really gets my adrenaline pumping. We set the kite baits out again, and we did have 2 more sailfish come up to look at the baits, but they were window-shoppers and swam off without eating. The sailfish were awesome, but that wasn’t all we caught.

Fort Lauderdale fishing charter with New Lattitude

I heard of some big amberjacks biting around the shipwrecks and we were pretty close to a good wreck that I knew, so we reeled in our kite baits and made a run for the wreck. On our first drop, we hooked into something really big. The fish took a massive run, deep into the wreck and busted us off. We couldn’t pull him out. Busting off that fish pissed me off, so I pulled out our big 130 Penn International reel, I call it the “Stump Puller”. Robert baited it with a giant blue-runner and the angler dropped it to the bottom. As soon as we hit the bottom and the angler put the reel into STRIKE, the rod doubled over with a monster fish. I powered the boat ahead and yelled down, “Hammer down the drag. Put it into PARK!”. We pulled the fish out of the wreck and after a 10 minute fight, the fish popped up on the surface with a belly full of gasses. It was a monster warsaw grouper, 50 pounds or bigger. Nice Fish! We made a couple more drops and caught a nice amberjack before it was time to head home from the charter. It was a great Fort Lauderdale fishing charter. Thanks guys for coming fishing with us and please come back to do another charter with us the next time you are in Fort Lauderdale. There are some really nice fish biting out there. Fishing is getting good in Fort Lauderdale. Sea you out there and good luck everyone!

Capt Rod Roydhouse
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter
(954)707-2147

Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter

Captain — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:42:27 +0000

Fort Lauderdale fishing charter catches sailfish

My favorite time of the year has arrived, Fort Lauderdale’s best season for fishing. This is the month when it all begins, the big fish start showing up around the wrecks, pelagic fish like dolphin, tuna and wahoo are on the Gulfstream’s edge, and the big game shark migration begins where we can catch game sharks 6-10 feet long every day. It’s a great month for fishing, just about anything you try yields nice fish. Wreck fishing is one of my favorites, because the amberjack fishing. You can pull up to a wreck, drop a live bait and within a minute be hooked into a 40-60 pound gamefish. Amberjacks are super aggressive. If you get a bait anywhere near one, they inhale it. Big groupers, cobia, barracuda, snappers and more live around these shipwrecks and can be caught here too, but you rarely get your bait past the giant amberjacks. These fish are super strong, one of the strongest fighting fish you will pull against. I love ‘em!

Nice Fort Lauderdale fishing charter aboard Big Game

Every year in Fort Lauderdale this time of year, we have a few days when the wind blows hard out of the east for a few days in a row. When this happens, the dolphin fishing goes off the chain, right in on the reef and inside edge of the Gulfstream. Big bull dolphin and cows, 20 pounds and bigger come in on the reef to spawn. They eat everything in sight and everybody catches a boat-load of fish. This few day window of dolphin-flurry action always sneaks up on us and it lasts just as long as that hard east wind blows, and then it’s over. And for all you big game fishermen out there, this is the beginning of the Fort Lauderdale shark migration, when tens of thousands of hammerheads, probably hundreds of thousands, migrate northward along our coast. They generally stay out in 350′ and deeper in the warm Gulfstream current. We catch a lot of monster hammerheads, and also some exotic sharks such as thresher, mako and tiger sharks. These fish fight us for up to 2 hours on our heaviest gear. It’s a big game fisherman’s dream come true. Get ready for some great fishing this month. Tight Lines everyone and good luck on your Fort Lauderdale fishing charter.

Capt. Rod Roydhouse
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter
(954)707-2147

Fishing Fort Lauderdale for almaco jacks

Fort Lauderdale Sportfishing Report for January

Captain — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:40:24 +0000

Sailfish being caught aboard the Big Game, leaping behind the boat.

The peak of our sailfish season is here and they are snapping! The recent cold fronts and stiff winds are great conditions for kite fishing. The majority of our sailfish are caught on the kite. The reason for this is that with kite fishing you can often hook into multiple sailfish at a time, a double or triple header. On the best days you could potentially catch 6-10 sailfish, when they are really snapping. Kite fishing isn’t just good for sailfish, you can catch all kinds of cool, top water game fish. Dolphin, tuna, cobia, sharks and kingfish are all hunting these same waters and all love these same baits. Mahi-mahi dolphin bite especially well during the winter, this past month has been outstanding. Any day with an east wind has good potential for dolphin.

Sailfish and dolphin biting on Fort Lauderdale Sportfishing boats

A few miles further offshore offers different species of game fish. There are some giant bull dolphin out there to be caught if you’re willing to invest some hours trolling. In that territory, wahoo are another big game fish you may come across. Last January we boated some monster wahoos. Fish a deep line or a weighted surface lure for wahoo. White and blue marlin are a long shot to catch but it is possible if your fishing in that zone, one may bite. There are always a few caught in Fort Lauderdale during the winter. That same area is also good swordfish grounds if you have some time to make some drops. Some enormous swordfish are being hooked deep dropping for swords. The fish are out there but you have to work for them. A little patience, skill and determination is all it takes to catch fish…and a little luck never hurt anybody. Best of luck on the water guys. Tight lines!

Capt. Rod Roydhouse
Fort Lauderdale Sportfishing Charters
(954)707-2147

Nice sportfishing catch aboard the Big Game

Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charter Catches Boatload of Dolphin

Captain — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:34:25 +0000

Lots of dolphin caught on sportfishing charter

The fishing is absolutely awesome this week in Fort Lauderdale. The dolphin are on the reef and they are everywhere. On today’s fishing charter, we went out and started trolling the reef. We started getting dolphin bites immediately! Before we got all 6 of our lines out, we already had 3 dolphin hooked up and fighting. The action lasted almost all day, hitting a pack of 2-3 dolphin every 10 minutes or so. We really crushed the dolphin today. After all the fish were counted, we had 33 dolphin. I know we jumped off another 10 behind the boat and missed some more on the hook up. The action was spectacular today. This east wind we’re having now is really good for fishing. The seas are big, but the fishing gets off the chain.

Giant bull dolphin

All week the dolphin action has been good. December is always an awesome month for dolphin and this east wind has them all stirred up. Tuna are also biting on the reef. Blackfin and skipjack tuna are biting good on the troll, hitting natural feathers and torpedo dart lures. When drifting, whip jigs and butterfly jigs are getting good bites on tuna. Sailfish season is getting excellent too. On our sailfishing charters, we are kite fishing with live goggle eyes and mullet. On our half day trips, we are averaging 2 sailfish per trip. Sailfishing gets even better as we get deeper into December. Look forward to an awesome month of deep sea fishing over the next 45-60 days. Good luck and tight lines everybody!

Fort Lauderdale dolphin fishing trip

Big Game Fishing in Fort Lauderdale

Captain — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:26:58 +0000

Today sportfishing was awesome. We started out catching live baits, called speedo mackeral, at the bait buoy. After 15 minutes of catching live baits, we went out to the edge of the Gulfstream current, in about 400′ of water, and put out the kites to do some kite fishing. We had a few baits dangled from the kites, a couple deep lines down, and live bait out of the outrigger. We waited for about 45 minutes, when all hell broke loose. A big hammerhead came up on the outrigger bait and another one on the kite bait. We hooked up both of them. While we were fighting those 2 hammerheads, a third hammerhead shark comes up and eats one of the remaining kite baits. 3 hammerhead sharks on at one time, now that is excitment.

Nice hammerhead shark

During the fight on these fish, one of the hammerheads gets lucky and shakes the hooks. Sad, but we were still happy because we had 2 other big sharks on the line. It was a long, hard battle for about 45 minutes. We were fighting both sharks on only 30 pound test and severly outclassed on tackle for these big fish. The anglers did a great job and after a tiring fight, we landed both of these trophy gamefish.

Nice Hammerhead Shark

We pulled them into the boat, got a couple quick photos, took measurements and tagged and released them. They swam off strong in good condition. The anglers who landed their fish were Kenny Becher and Drew Weatherford. I was Drew’s first sportfishing trip, who told me he was not very lucky when it comes to fishing. It seems he was just saving his luck up for today. It was a slow day and none of the other charter boats had seen much up to that point. After we landed those fish, the entire Ft Lauderdale charter boat fleet swarmed to fish where we were just fishing.

Hammerhead shark

That was an unexpected catch because these big game sharks usually come through much later in the year. Thanks to the anglers who came fishing with us, I had a great time fishing with you.

Fort Lauderdale Sportfishing- Great Action This Week

Captain — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:08:34 +0000

Bottom fishing trip for groupers, snapper and cobia

The fishing in Fort Lauderdale was excellent this week. A lot of bottom fish are biting around our bottom fishing spots. We’re catching some really nice snowy groupers right now. Snowy groupers live in depths of water over 400 feet. They average in size around 5-7 pounds but can sometimes reach a weight of 30 pounds. They fight very hard for their size and sometimes, using a 3 hook rig, you can catch more than one grouper at a time. This week, we’ve spent some time poking around at the bottom spots looking for these groupers.

Bottom fishing for grouper

Red snappers are biting great out there now too. Fortunately for us, they bite on the same bait and same rig that the groupers do, so we can catch both snappers and groupers at the same time. Snappers are smaller fish, but wow do they taste delicious. On one drop, we caught a snowy grouper, a red snapper and a cobia on the same rig. A bottom fish grand slam in a single drop. Bottom fishing is excellent right now, fishing in Fort Lauderdale. Until next week, sea you on the water.

Capt. Rod Roydhouse

(954)707-2147

Bottom fishing for a little bit of everything

Swordfish Fishing in South Florida

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:13:17 +0000

Not to be confused with the Marlin family, south Florida has a big game Swordfish Fishery right off the coast. All you have to do is get past the shelf and you’re in Swordfish territory 15 miles offshore. There is only one catch, you have to go at night and be prepared for anything to happen. Mako Sharks are in this body of water and have been caught by quite a few boats past the 700-pound mark. The Swordfish have been caught approaching this mark also.

Besides these large fish lurking these waters be prepared to weather a storm because it can approach in less than a moments notice. In August 2005 I remember fishing a Swordfish Tournament and all was quite as we were fishing comfortably waiting for the bite. We watched a storm at least 20 miles south of us but paid it no regard as it looked to have been moving straight east from its southern location. Then it was like someone turned on a switch as the winds picked up to 40+ knots with heavy rain and lightning. As we reeled in our gear it got worse. We were in the middle of this storm and had to be punished for the next 45 minutes as the wind and rain beat down on us as I tried to make it back to shore at 3-5 knots progressively. I regret my radar not working at the time. We could have seen the storm approach and wound things up earlier.

So a few things are necessary to have on your vessel when planning a trip to the Swordfish grounds for the evening. Having radar is important, as I have learned the hard way. Always do a bilge check to make sure things are in working order. There have already been some horror stories of boats taking on water out there in the middle of the night. If your fortunate, you might get some help from a nearby fisherman or else you might have to wait for the coast guard or Sea Tow. Make sure your navigation lights are working. This is most important when you move to reset your spread. You have to rely on other boats navigation lights to avoid a collision. So it works both ways.

There is nothing better than enjoying a successful Swordfishing excursion. In particular because we get to break in the good gear. On my boat we fish 80 w Shimano Tiagra reels with a few 50 w Tiagras as well. There will always be the debate on which way to spool it up. My preference is to go straight mono all the way to my swivel. I like to have no connections out there when I’m on a good fish. You might prefer to have a braid backing to get more yards on a 50 wide reel. I spool up with 80-pound mono on my 50’s and 100 pound on all my 80 wides. Last year some time in September when we set up on our second drift Swordfishing, I had set our first bait in the water and within 1 minute of the line being set the bait light came racing for the surface. I came tight on the fish and wasn’t impressed by his reaction. He actually swam right to the boat and I was able to grab the leader. The fish just swam to the boat and he just kept going tearing the leader out of my hands. The fish took a few dives almost straight down. His surges lasted for what seemed forever as the spool would just empty down to the bottom. The rod was doubled over hard with all that line straight up and down. It was the most insecure moment you could have knowing that he could just keep going and pop the knot or the line could snap.

Once you get past your line preference you have to think about leader material, length and strength. When you measure your length think of how it’s going to go down when your fish comes to the boat. Swordfish have eyes the size of baseballs and hunt at night. So I prefer to use long leaders past 30 feet, keeping your swivel well away from the bait. I also attach my Electralume bait lights here. If your using light sticks they can be attached with rubber bands and you can go closer to the bait.

Be cautious if you go with long leaders because wiring these fish can get dangerous. Be prepared to dump the leader if your fish surges at the boat. Never take wrap your hand around the line because if you have to let go, these fish can surge at lightning speed. If there is anything caught in the way including your hand or fingers, they will get dragged overboard. One time I was wiring a small Swordfish that was all lit up at the boat, I had to release the leader and a loop caught my finger. As the fish took off, the loop from the leader synched down on my finger and took all the skin off my knuckle. I thought I lost the tip of my finger it hurt so badly. When leadering a fish make sure the angler points the rod tip away from you so you have room to drop the leader in the water. As you progress on leadering the fish, release the line to your side outside of the boat. That way if you have to let go of the leader, it can run away smoothly without any snags. We use 3-500 pound leaders mainly to help resist the abrasion.

Swordfish can come boat side quietly or fighting. Many times they come with their bill swinging. This can be intimidating to the leader man but you must keep steady leading him to the boat and in 1 motion gaff him in the gills. If you can keep his body in the water for a moment he can bleed out before you take him in the boat but watch for Sharks. Sometimes the Swordfish will have another Swordfish following them and swimming around the boat, so be ready to pitch another bait at them. If your going to release your fish it’s best to cut the leader right at the boat and let the hook rust out. If you try to take the hook out be careful of the swinging bill. A heavy-duty pair of gloves will make you feel more confident in securing his bill. Be prepared if your fish makes a jump at the boat. They will jump into the boat. It’s not a good idea for everyone on the boat to be crowded around the angler and leader man during this time. They need room to move away if the fish comes up and in the boat, especially with a fish that has a long sharp bill.

Choose a good hook in the 9/0 to 12/0 range. Some guys are experimenting with large circle hooks and having success. My hooks are Mustad J’s and stainless J’s crimped to the leader. When I crimp my hook to the leader I leave a tag end about 2 inches long for rigging purposes. When I rig my squid I insert the hook through the top of the mantle and pull it all through including the long tag end. Now my squid can hang on the tag end like on a coat hanger. You can then measure where the hook lies against the squid and reinsert the hook right through the center of the meat. This rig takes all of 15 seconds and swims very natural. If your squids don’t look to fresh or are washed out, you can add some red food coloring to a bucket with some salt water in it. You can set this up on your way out so that when your ready to fish your baits will have soaked in that deep red color. Live bait is also a great option. I like to use any of the Runner species, Rainbows, Blues etc. In the wintertime the Tinker aka Boston Mackerel are abundant and work very well as a live presentation. All my live baits are bridled to their hooks.

When setting out my spread I start with my first bait around 100 feet deep. I attach a 1-2 pound lead with a long line clip 50-70 feet away from the bait to a permanent loop in the line I make with 90 lb wax line. As I’m at my 100-foot mark, another permanent loop, I attach my float by balloon or milk jug. I have a light stick attached to them for a visual when they’re away from the boat. I attach my float with a rubber band. The same goes for the rest of the spread accept I will go deeper as I get closer to the boat with the #2, 3, or 4 rods. You want to keep your floats spread out and away from each other spacing them 70-100 feet apart. Most times a fish will take the bait and surface with it. The last rod I fish is set under the boat with no float. I can always reel in or let out this line anywhere from 50-400 feet below.

As you wait for the strike your drag settings should be carefully monitored. Some guys like to keep the drags loose with the clickers on and others keep their drags tight at all times. Either way you need to preset your drags anywhere from 12-25 pounds at strike. Setting your drag takes practice. I like to fish a heavy drag but that came after years of experience. It’s just like King fishing; you will land more fish with a tighter drag from the run-off. You also will have the extra drag in case you need it on a very large fish.

Every night presents a different challenge with the weather. Your best success will be from drifting a perfect north course. The Gulf Stream in which you are fishing in moves along north at 1.5 to over 5 knots at times. With a good east wind you should be getting pushed inside, but sometimes the current will be moving northeast pushing you outside, even on an east wind. So monitor your GPS to see which way your drifting. A sea anchor comes in very handy and can help with your success. The anchor will stop your wind drift only, keeping you in the zone and current much longer.

You never know what you’re going to get into out there. You might hear of a lot of small fish being caught but that doesn’t mean to show up under-gunned. Just about everyone I know has had a shot at a very big fish. It can and will happen to you so be prepared.

See you on the rip,

New Lattitude Sportfishing Charters

Cool Runnings

Captain — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:12:06 +0000

The weather has certainly changed as we are experiencing a cold and windy season so far. The ups and downs of the vast ocean are nothing new but wow does my back get tired after 6 hours in 4-6 foot seas.

A nice Sailfish bite continues as proven in the miami tournament with well over 300 Sailfish caught and released. If you can find a nice rip in a north current you might get some smokin action. We were slow trolling live baits in 400 feet of water and found an aggressive Sailfish chasing our baits. Jason Bourne of North Carolina made quick work getting his fish to the boat.

The Kingfish action we rely on comes and goes but as the winter progresses we expect them to show up everyday. A few Mahi-Mahi are around and heading south fast. They are one of my favorites to set up on.

The Dark Side of the Moon Swordfishing tournament is this coming weekend and the weather and moon look like they will be cooperating together. Lets hope for the best and good fishing to all.