February is a hit or month for fishing in Fort Lauderdale. There are a lot of fish around this month, but they move through in spurts and schools. So we get a nice flurry and some awesome trips and then we hit a lull and there it’s tough to get a bite. Fort Lauderdale has the Gulfstream current, the main reason for our great fishing just a mile off our coast. This warm water current acts as a conveyor belt for the migratory fish, ushering in new fish through our waters every day. We get tunas, mahi, barracuda, sharks, sailfish and more this month and it all depends on a million variables that change every day.
In the winter months, some of our biggest fish make their way throughout waters. Sailfish, probably the most exciting and sought after fish in the ocean, are the grand prize for game fishermen and this is one of the best months to go after them on a sportfishing charter. After February, sailfishing tails down slowly through May and June and then they are only caught once in a while until the season starts back up. So get out there now while the bite is still hot. You gotta make your ‘hay’ while the sun is shining!
Wahoo are another species that bites incredibly well this month. The best bite is concentrated on the Full and New Moons. Wahoo love the tide change, when the offshore waters flow over the reef, bringing a strong head-current toward the baitfish and washing many of them away from the protective structures of the reef. Once they get into the open, they are easy targets and wahoo can use their tremendous speed to grab them before they even know what’s happening. The tide changes with the greatest force during the Full Moon and New Moons, so it makes sense that wahoo bite the best during those days. But wahoo can be caught any time of the year and at any time of day and the only sure thing is, they always bite when you least expect it.
While wahoo are one of the biggest gamefish on the reef this month, there are plenty of other cool species to be caught too. Blackfin tunas, bonitos, kingfish, barracudas and more are all over the reefs this month too. These fish make up the majority of our action and are always a thrill to catch. The plethora of baitfish over the reef this month make for good hunting grounds for a variety of fish, most of them feeding on all the same micro-species of baitfish. So all the fish we’re trying to catch this time of year are concentrated on and just outside of the reefs. This makes trolling the reef the most effective style of fishing so you can cover a lot of territory through the most lucrative fishing grounds.
Shark season is upon us! Sharks are the biggest and baddest fish that can be caught in the ocean. They are the Apex Predators and nothing hunts them back. They are the top of the food chain and remember, it’s all about the food. Big game fishermen come from around the world to come shark fishing from February to May. It’s a great season to catch hammerhead sharks, duskys, bulls, sandbars, makos and threshers. You can catch just about any kind of shark off our coast and some of the biggest ones are 6-12ft long. If you want to fight a truly large gamefish, shark fishing charters are the ultimate catch.
It’s a helluva month for fishing in Fort Lauderdale. Good luck to everyone that is fishing with us this month. I hope you have some good luck and hook into some of the awesome gamefish that are migrating off our coast. Sea you on the water,
Capt. Andy Roydhouse
754-214-7863
Facebook