The summer offshore pattern is in full effect off Fort Lauderdale: run east, find the weeds, and the mahi will find you. Closer in, the three reef lines are producing kings and bonito by day and a serious mangrove snapper crop by night.
What’s Hitting
What’s hot this week: mahi from schoolie size to the occasional 20-pounder along the scattered weedlines in 400 to 800 feet. The bite has been patchy — some days it’s every weed patch, some days it’s a long ride — but birds have been the reliable tell. On the reefs, kingfish and bonito are steady in 90 to 120 feet, and the night mangrove snapper fishing on the second and third reefs is as good as it’s been all season, with fish to 18 inches.
Where to Find Them
Start the mahi hunt straight out of Port Everglades and work north with the current, watching for frigates and floaters. The wrecks off Dania and Hollywood are holding kings, plus a few sailfish for the flag-minded. Night snapper are on the reef ledges in 60 to 90 feet from the inlet north to Hillsboro.
Tides & Conditions
The building moon means stronger current on the reef — great for the night drift, but bring heavier leads. Seas have been kind in the mornings with the standard afternoon storm build. The Gulf Stream edge has been in tight, which shortens the mahi run when it holds.
Tackle & Tactics
Mahi: small ballyhoo or feathers on 30s, plus a pitch rod rigged with a chunk for the schoolies that follow hooked fish to the boat. Kings: slow-trolled live goggle-eyes with wire stingers. Night snapper: 20-pound fluorocarbon, a knocker rig, and fresh-cut sardines or live pilchards, drifted with minimal light.
Local Intel This Week
The 15th Street boat ramp and Alsdorf Park (Pompano) are the practical public launches; both are jammed by 7 a.m. on weekends. Anglin’s Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has been giving up snapper and croaker for the land-based crowd. Fish are concentrating on the reef ledges after dark and the weedlines by day. Check current FWC regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
Inshore, don’t sleep on the Intracoastal at night — snook (catch-and-release) are stacked on the dock lights and bridge shadow lines from Las Olas north, and a small white paddletail worked along the dark edge draws steady strikes when the ocean is too sloppy to run.
This Week’s Tip
When you hook the first schoolie mahi, leave it in the water beside the boat. The school stays with the hooked fish, and a pitch bait keeps the action going as long as one fish is always hooked up.