December 17th 2016

December 17th 2016
Today we had a couple of A Fort Lauderdale Locals, just looking to jump on a boat and try to catch a few Sailfish. Once again we had fresh bait and windy conditions. This time we had North winds and North current, ideal conditions for kite fishing. Eric booked an afternoon trip so we left Bahia Mar around 1:00pm in search of Sailfish. On this day we had luck on our side, we set up our spread in 145ft of water just North of Port Everglades. On the windward side of the boat, I deployed a few live Ballyhoo on large spinning tackle, while Michael(our crew) maned the kite spread. As soon as the second live Ballyhoo was deployed and the bail was shut, a sailfish inhaled the short spinning rod and was tail walking towards the stern. We were on within minutes of lines in, always a great feeling aboard the Good Hit. We made quick work of our first Sailfish, with seasoned anglers aboard and the correct equipment.

After releasing fish number one, we quickly reposition the boat and focussed on our kite spread. I signal to my crew that right long kite looked heavy and not correct. He quickly picks up the rod and handles the line, gives me a strange look and opens the spool, “Im getting ate”he says. Due to the last quick realease, we have an idea of what is biting the line. Sailfish Number 2 on the line, we get angler number ready for the battle.

This fish made us work for it, he headed offshore and directly into the Northernly swell. After about 20 minutes, we grabbed the leader and quickly cut the fish off close to the hook. We know we are in the right spot and quickly tended to our spread, changing a few baits and repositioning the boat. That’s when we hooked number 3, the Sailfish ate the short kite bait on the left side. Ready angler Numer 3, only angler that has not caught a fish yet.

Once again, this Sailfish heads offshore and makes us work of the leader touch. We didn’t want to go crazy, so we took our time with this one. With the entire kitespread behind the boat and the fish towards the bow, we fished while slowly gaining line on the offshore Sailfish. This fish took us 15 minutes to grab the leader and quickly release the fish. We then deployed the spread for once last final time, in hopes of a couple more fish. Minutes after we hooked number 4, from the looks of the fish, it looked on the smaller side and quickly jumped off the kite. Smaller fish usually have a harder time finding the hook, and after catching three other fish we were not too worried about it. We were quickly approaching 4:30 pm, and decided to pull it. Action packed afternoon for the Good Hit!!