The sailfishing has really started to heat up in the offshore waters of Palm Beach County. With cold fronts cycling in on a weekly basis, I expect the sailfishing to continue to be red hot around the reef ledges from Boca Raton to Boynton Beach. Florida's wintertime sailfishing peaks this time of year as cooler weather pushes the sailfish Southerly in pods often exceeding 20 fish each. The best way to fool these sailfish is by using monofilament leader, live bait, and circle hooks. While sailfishing, the preferred livebait during our fishing charters is live goggle-eyes or threadfin herring. While suspended underneath fishing kites, these live baits can stop a pod of sailfish in it's tracks. We have been catching up to 10 sailfish per trip when the winds are out of the North.

This year's record breaking Silver Sailfish Derby out of Palm Beach is a strong indicator of just how good the sailfishing has been this year. Over 600 sailfish were released on the first day with only 40 boats fishing the tournament. Since the Silver Sailfish Derby ended, other tournaments have reported phenomenal catches as well. The Scales Gear fishing team reported that they released 19 sailfish under the guide of team leader Keith Mcdonald during the Jupiter Billfish Tournament. Hard Way ended up winning the Jupiter Billfish Tournament with over 30 releases in just two days! As these sailfish tournaments continue for the season, I expect the sailfishing to remain phenomenal. The sailfish bite will be at it's peak when the coldest weather is moving through our area.

At Delray Beach Fishing Charters , we have been experienced incredible sailfishing within 10 minutes of leaving the dock. Just the other day, we spotted a free jumping sailfish within 200 yards of the Boynton Inlet€¦that's only a 5 minute boat ride from our dock in Delray Beach! The sailfish bite can be exceptional around the shipwrecks as well. With permanent populations of bullet bonito inhabiting most of the shipwrecks in Palm Beach County Waters, the pods of migrating sailfish will often stop near a wreck to feat on these bonitos. In these wreck fishing scenarios, I like to go fishing with threadfin herring because the local barracuda populations tend to ignore the herring when compared with goggle eyes. Threadfin herring should be bridled through the nose when sailfishing with kites and slow trolled around the perimeter of the ship wrecks. On our Delray Beach Fishing Charters, we like to be as patient as possible when awaiting for a sailfish bite. Sometimes we find that a pod of sailfish will instantly €turn on' and often we experience multiple hookups if we put in enough time.

If anyone is interested in a sailfishing trip this Winter in South Florida waters, contact me to book a trip today!

Capt. Chris Agardy

561-451-7646