Fort Lauderdale Fishing In February

Hello everyone, Capt Vinnie here, sorry to everyone who always looks forward to my weekly report but last week was super tough fishing and I didnt have much to report, but that being said looks like this week is starting to head in a positive direction. All this crazy weather we have been having with a cold front every other day and cooler temps has been throwing the fish through a loop I feel, you need steady conditions for some type of pattern to form. On the bright side for the report this week fishing has begun to pick up specially the trolling bite, on the inshore side of things there has been a few really nice mahi mahi around in the early mornings. There has been a few tide rips and scattered weed lines just outside of the reef that the mahi have been on, if you can find some birds working the rips and the weeds thats going to be as good of a guarantee as you can get for the mahi right now, the mahi have been really good size mostly what we call gaffer fish anywhere from 8-15lbs. Surface baits have been the most productive, fresh bonito strips fished with a mylar seawitch as well as a naked ballyhoo is my go to. You can also get lucky and catch a few mahi just random but if you find whats mentioned previous your chances are improved greatly. Afternoon tuna bite remains super steady right now anywhere from 200-400 feet, trolling remains to be the best technique if your looking for tuna, baits fished under the surface seem to get the most action being most tuna feed under the surface specially when the sun is high. We use planners to take the baits below the surface and right into the strike zone, the last few cold fronts we have had have made the shrimp run in Miami and just north of Fort Lauderdale in deerfield beach, alot of the tuna we have been catching have had shrimp in there bellies, shrimp have a pink tint to them so majority of the bites we have been getting have been on pink lures. Small pink spoons as well as pink squid lures have been the best. Its always best to try and match what the gamefish are eating and use that information to your advantage it will greatly increase your odds in catching more fish. Average size on the tuna have been anywhere from 5-8lbs but there has been some larger ones up tp 15lbs around. Bottom fishing report has been our saving grace when the fishing is slow, for me its all about producing fish for my customers and sometimes if nothing is biting but bottom fish then so be it, thats what I will do to make sure everyone goes home with some dinner. Vermillion snappers have been the main catch on the bottom right now but we did release some red groupers earlier in the week, they open season again in May. The vermillion snappers have been very good size this week averaging around 2lbs with some up to 3.5lbs. 200 feet of water on natural structure seems to be the sweet spot right now but that changes daily with tides and currents. Other then vermillion snappers we have been catching a few lane snapper, mutton snapper and large trigger fish. This week please be sure to check out some of the great photos of some recent catches caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters and remember to give us a like and follow on social media platforms like facebook and instagram @Ybnormalsportfsihing for daily fishing content. For the next few days looks like some excellent weather approaching as well as steady conditions, lets just say I have high hopes! We recently started to get some nice northern current which usually brings fish with it, if these conditions end up staying for a few days the fishing will turn on major, should be some sailfish start to showing up as well as possibly a few nice wahoo as we approach the full moon, lots to look forward to like I said high hopes! If your thinking about coming down to Fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing we have plenty of availability for the month of February and fishing is beginning to heat up, so please look us up we would love to show you a great time on the water. more later... Capt. Vinnie