If there’s a secret to why certain captains and crews excel at catching billfish, it’s that they don’t leave anything to chance.
They begin their preparation well in advance, making sure that they have enough baits and that their tackle is in tip-top condition. While they’re fishing, they constantly watch their lines and also keep an eye out for free-jumping fish. And they don’t let up until they head back to the dock.
It used to be that January was the best time of the year to catch sailfish in South Florida, but now March and April are the best months. If you’ve always dreamed of catching and releasing one of the acrobatic, hard-fighting fish, here are some tips to help you accomplish that goal, as well as to catch more sailfish.
“It’s the littlest thing that makes the difference,” said Capt. Casey Hunt, who grew up fishing in Pompano Beach and now runs charters in Key West (cnitadventures.com). “Every single time a line goes in the water, it’s perfect. The hooks. The knots. You’ve got to spend that extra time because that extra time is going to catch you more fish.”
Whenever Capt. Bouncer Smith talks about fishing, he stresses the importance of being ready for anything.
“One of the things I always try to emphasize is be prepared for a lot of different things,” said Smith. “Carry the things that might save the day, like a box of jigs.”
While you’re fishing for sailfish, always bring some spinning rods so you can cast a live bait or jig to any dolphin you encounter, as well as any sailfish that suddenly pop up next to the boat.
“I cannot tell you how many guys go offshore and don’t have anything to catch a dolphin,” Smith said.
For Capt. John Louie Dudas of Miami, who has won countless sailfish tournaments, one of his keys is to never quit.
“Things can change in a split-second,” said Dudas, who has pulled out tournament victories by taking advantage of a last-minute bite.
He also doesn’t hesitate to go after free-jumping sailfish. The reason is that where you see one sailfish, there often are a lot more around.
As he heads over to where he saw the fish, his crew members grab spinning rods so they can cast out baits when they arrive.
“You don’t have to be on top of [the sailfish],” Dudas said, “just get ahead of them. When one comes up, they’ll be like a school of dolphin. They’ll be aggressive.”
When Hunt is targeting sailfish, he fishes in areas with good bottom structure such as coral reefs and rocky outcroppings, something most anglers don’t ever consider unless they’re fishing for snapper and grouper.
“Knowing the bottom in the areas you’re going to fish is huge,” he said because good bottom attracts bait, which attracts gamefish. “It makes a difference whether you’re sailfishing, king fishing, or grouper fishing.”
He added that he was one of the first captains to work with CMOR Mapping, which provides high-resolution, detailed images of everything on the bottom.
Hunt also is big on looking for temperature breaks, no matter how small. His crew once caught 13 sailfish where the difference in temperature went from 75 degrees to 75.7 degrees. That’s where the bait was, and so were the billfish.
“A tenth of a degree, two-tenths of a degree can make a huge difference,” he said. “Because there’s something there, there’s something going on, something’s getting ready to happen.”
Once you get into sailfish, something that Capt. David Fields — who has won sailfish, blue marlin, and white marlin tournaments — and fellow multiple tournament winner Rob Ruwitch agree on is that anglers should have the fishing rod in their hands before a fish eats the bait.
“If the fish gets there first,” Fields said, “he wins.”
Rather than letting a fish pop the line from a kite clip or outrigger clip, Ruwitch points the fishing rod at the clip so the fish feels as little pressure as possible.
Once a billfish is hooked, knowing how to properly use your tackle will help you land the fish. Ruwitch recommended that anglers learn how much drag they can apply without the line breaking while fun fishing.
“Go to a wreck, hook an amberjack, and find out how much pressure you can put on it,” he said. “The most important thing that I’ve found with drag is the lighter, the better.”
Hunt has always been a proponent of using the lightest tackle possible. His outfit for sailfish, as well as kingfish, is an Accurate Valiant 600 conventional reel with a 7:1 gear ratio because it quickly takes up slack line, and a 7-foot light-tip Accurate rod.
He puts 450 to 500 yards of 30-pound Momoi Diamond Braid on the reel as backing, followed by a 250-yard topshot of 20-pound Momoi Diamond Illusion, a green, “super tough” monofilament, and a 50-pound fluorocarbon leader. His preferred sailfish baits are goggle-eyes and threadfin herring and, if possible, sardines to use as pitch baits for fish that he can see.
When it’s time to move and reel in the lines, Hunt has his anglers work the baits, reeling them in a little, then hesitating before reeling again, rather than mindlessly cranking them back to the boat.
“Sometimes you’ll get a good bite like that,” said Hunt, who, because he’s always prepared, is always ready when that unexpected bite happens.