March 8th 2017

Today we had a group from Tennessee, Jeff and his son. This group did not mind what they caught just wanted to catch something on their father son excursion. Kite Fishing recently has been decent and we had the bait, so we went right for the gold. Deploying 2 Kites into the air the second that the boat stopped. Strictly kite fishing can be risky some times if fishing is slow, it is possible to not even get bite on the wrong day. Full of confidence we watched the baits carefully, starting in 200′ of water just South of the Port Everglades Whistle Buoy.

We only had one dozen live baits and the conditions were pretty choppy, so we wanted to make the best of what we had going. For the first 2 hours we did nit receive a single bite, changing out a few tired baits, wondering if we made the right decision. Then the clicker on the right long made a slight noise, and I picked up the rod to feel the line and the bait. I did not feel the bait, just a few taps of the line. I had a feeling I had something, but did not want to excite the customers just yet. Secretly Feeding the fish the bait and not telling the crew. The fish began to increase speed and the line came off the reel at a high rate of speed, this is a behavior of an Atlantic Sailfish. The second I engaged the drag the fish came to the surface and began Tail Walking towards the South, as Jeff and his son yelled from excitement. We Battled the fish for 35 minutes with a few jumps near the side of the boat, took a few pictures and released the fish. It was just in time to make it to the dock at 12:00pm, perfect timing.

I am glad Jeff and his son can cross this one off the list, another bucket list fish in the books.

Here is a photo of Jeffs Son and the Sailfish with first mate Paul in the background.