18 March 2018 Boynton Beach Drift to West Palm Beach

John McKroid

Bait fishing had been very slow in Pompano, so decided to try Boynton instead.  Boynton has bait for sale on the water via Xtreme bait, as a backup. We launched off Briny Breeze beach at 5:45 am. We managed to get 9 Blue Runners along the beach, and supplemented them with purchased Goggle Eyes from Ken of Xtreme Bait.  The weather was beautiful.

Reports had been of multiple Sailfish hook ups days prior, and slow for everything else.  Fishing in Boynton was slow. I had 1 brief hook up with a Sailfish that ate my downrigger bait.  The current was strong. It was too strong to vertical jig in deeper than 200ft, and even 200ft was challenging.  I caught zero fish on vertical jigs. Later in the afternoon, I hooked 2 more Sailfish off West Palm Beach. One fish came off, the other is in the below photos.  There have been many Sailfish taken off kayaks during the last few days. If someone was seeking to do that, now is a good time to try.

The raw patch is why it is against the law to remove a hook and release Sailfish from the water. This Sailfish was pretty beat up with lesions around the raw skin areas. The raw areas can be caused by rough handling which removes the fish's protective slime, lowering it’s immune system. Put the well being of the future of this fishery over one’s ego -- PLEASE DO NOT PULL THESE FISH UP ON YOUR LAP FOR A PHOTO !  By keeping the fish in the water the entire time, the amount of slime removal is minimized -- greatly helping the fish recover, and preventing odds of death.   Take the time to peddle with the fish’s head submerged -- flushing water through the gills to help re-oxygenate and revive the fish before releasing. Responsible fishing today means better fishing for future generations -- Thanks.

yakhunter

Great advice on how to catch and release sailfish!

Slough

Awesome report and pics

Whelan

As a moderator, consider blocking threads which contain photographs of the sails pulled out of the water.  While some folks don't know, there are plenty of folks who have been doing this long enough to know.
Nice report!
  

jcanracer

Whelan said:

As a moderator, consider blocking threads which contain photographs of the sails pulled out of the water.  While some folks don't know, there are plenty of folks who have been doing this long enough to know.
Nice report!
  

You're not wrong about educating members about safe sailfish handling. We actually did an exercise a year or two ago to remove any pics of sailfish out of water from the member's gallery on this subforum.

andrewthe1

NICE!

John McKroid

jcanracer said:

Whelan said:

As a moderator, consider blocking threads which contain photographs of the sails pulled out of the water.  While some folks don't know, there are plenty of folks who have been doing this long enough to know.
Nice report!
  

You're not wrong about educating members about safe sailfish handling. We actually did an exercise a year or two ago to remove any pics of sailfish out of water from the member's gallery on this subforum.

Thanks for the compliments.  Glad to see there are other anglers in agreement.  It amazes me how many that know better yet continue to be short sighted.  Many learn by example.  If all the wrong examples are omitted, it minimizes chances of repeats.  Thanks.

stc1993

That's a nice one.  I hate it's hurt though.

People don't think sometimes, "Out of sight out of mind"