Dania to Fort Lauderdale Drift 18 September 2021
The launch was off Ft. Lauderdale Beach a couple of hours before sunrise. Goggle eye fishing was dead along the beach, there were lots of ladyfish and I lost a sabiki to a Tarpon. After peddling South, I headed outward off Dania Beach. The weather was excellent and the sunrise was inspirational.
In 175ft, I commenced vertical jigging and was stoked to get some sushi meat right off the get-go.
In past years I have not taken many Blackfin Tuna in September, so this was a treat. Several drops later, I hooked something that fought hard in about 250ft of water. During this time of year, I have taken nice Cobia, Muttons, and Gags off Dania Beach, so expectations were high and the fight did not feel like an AJ, so it was a bit of a surprise spoiler.
A few drops later, I connected with another big fish. This time it felt like a Tuna. Having already been disappointed once, I fully expected this fish to be a large Little Tunny. It was an awesome surprise when a nice Jumbo Blackfin came up instead!
What is up with this? Nice Jumbo Blackfin off Dania in September is a first. I will take it. Fishing was slow after that until I drifted North off Ft. Lauderdale. Then I hit a school of Tuna for 4 fish in a row in four drops of the jig.
I jigged for a couple of more fish before the current became too fast for jigging so I started heading in around 1 pm.
On the way in I trolled the 1 live bait I had to catch a King Mackerel.
I did not expect to load up on Blackfins this trip, It felt more like springtime fishing than what I would normally expect in the fall. Four Blackfin were kept for an upcoming barbecue party and all other fish were to fight again another day.
The launch was off Ft. Lauderdale Beach a couple of hours before sunrise. Goggle eye fishing was dead along the beach, there were lots of ladyfish and I lost a sabiki to a Tarpon. After peddling South, I headed outward off Dania Beach. The weather was excellent and the sunrise was inspirational.
In 175ft, I commenced vertical jigging and was stoked to get some sushi meat right off the get-go.
In past years I have not taken many Blackfin Tuna in September, so this was a treat. Several drops later, I hooked something that fought hard in about 250ft of water. During this time of year, I have taken nice Cobia, Muttons, and Gags off Dania Beach, so expectations were high and the fight did not feel like an AJ, so it was a bit of a surprise spoiler.
A few drops later, I connected with another big fish. This time it felt like a Tuna. Having already been disappointed once, I fully expected this fish to be a large Little Tunny. It was an awesome surprise when a nice Jumbo Blackfin came up instead!
What is up with this? Nice Jumbo Blackfin off Dania in September is a first. I will take it. Fishing was slow after that until I drifted North off Ft. Lauderdale. Then I hit a school of Tuna for 4 fish in a row in four drops of the jig.
I jigged for a couple of more fish before the current became too fast for jigging so I started heading in around 1 pm.
On the way in I trolled the 1 live bait I had to catch a King Mackerel.
I did not expect to load up on Blackfins this trip, It felt more like springtime fishing than what I would normally expect in the fall. Four Blackfin were kept for an upcoming barbecue party and all other fish were to fight again another day.
