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Sailfish are one of Mother Nature’s most beautiful fish. They are long and slender with sharp bills and a large sail-like dorsal fin, which is where they get their name. . The colors of a sailfish are unlike any other fish – with a wide range of purples, numerous shades of blue, bronze and emerald. They are fast and are known for their incredible runs and their amazing jumps. They can shred the ocean surface for hundreds of yards, half in and half out of the water; twisting and shaking as they try to rid themselves of your hook .
While we catch some sailfish trolling with artificial lures throughout the year, our favorite method for catching sailfish is to use live bait with the aid of a fishing kite. |
Kite Fishing is a favorite sailfish technique of ours. While fishing kites have been used since the early 1800′s, many people don’t realize that kite fishing was perfected right here, locally, in Florida in the 50′s. In Kite Fishing a kite is flown on a short rod so you can reach the tip and kite line easily to attach your fishing line to the special release ‘clips’ that are attached to the kite line. As the kite is let out it takes the ‘clip’, your line and the bait to its position behind the boat. Almost all of the leader and terminal tackle is out of the water making it easier to “fool” the fish.
The preferred and best live bait to use is the big eye scad or goggle eyes as we call them locally. The goggle eye is a small hardy silver nocturnal baitfish that is caught only at night. A key fact about fish is that fish eat other fish in distress; so when you take a nocturnal fish that is normally on bottom during the day and you suspend him from a kite so just his body is on the surface of the water, the distress signals from him splashing and thrashing on the surface is like a dinner bell to our sailfish.
With Kite Fishing, the sailfish is typically spotted before he eats the bait as a dark shadow appears just below and outside the bait; the dorsal fin is raised, the bill of the fish penetrates the surface of the water; and everyone on the boat sees the fish as he swims off with your bait. As this happens your line is released from the clip and you are now connected to the sailfish. Sailfish fights can be as short as a few minutes or as long as an hour with the average around 20 minutes or so. We have a strict sailfish release policy to insure their continued existence, so we pull the sailfish in for a quick picture; get the fish’s measurements in case you would like a replica trophy mount of your catch made; and then let the fish go. Replica Mounts of sailfish are extremely popular as they allow you to catch these great fish and release them to fight another day and still have your catch hanging in your office or den.
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