In the spring
It is normal to get a run of Sailfish. We catch Sailfish all year long, but they tend to come through the Lower Keys in bigger numbers this time of year. Mostly it depends on the conditions. if the conditions are “right”, the fish are usually here. So far, although the conditions have been reasonably good, they are not as good as I would hope.
The conditions we want
It is a strong east current, deep blue water, and an east wind. The east current is the Gulf Stream and when it comes in close the water is the most beautiful “purple” Blue you can imagine. It will cause a strong pronounced “color change”. That is what you get when the Gulfstream pushes in and up against the greener, cloudier inshore water.
Sailfish Jumping
Most people see the Color Change
and think it is a depth change. It is not, basically, it is two oceans meeting. On one side of the boat, the water may have 5-10 ft of visibility and on the other, it could be over 100 ft of visibility. It is pretty impressive when you see it. Big fish like to travel along the color change looking for food. It is not uncommon to see, Bonitos, Sailfish, Sharks, Barracuda, Tuna, and even sharks swimming along it.
Because the blue side of the Color Change is the east current,
and the wind is usually out of the east, the Bule side of the Color Change can be substantially rougher than the green side. When we talk about current we talk about the direction it is going and when we talk about wind, we talk about the direction it is coming from. This means an East current and an East wind oppose each other and that builds the waves up. Unfortunately, while it is good for the fishing, sometimes it is not so good for the fisherman. Sometimes you have to earn the big fish.
Sailfish jumping during the fight
There is no such thing as a bad Sailfish
They are all cool. I’ve caught hundreds as a working Captain and I still get excited over each one. They are just special. and amazing creatures. They run incredibly fast and fight very hard. Sailfish will jump after being hooked and put on an incredible show during the fight. All Sailfish on the Southbound are catch and release. We don’t take them out of the water. I hope the bite is good this year.