Fort Lauderdale blackfin tuna bite surges, 31-pounder tops the week

Capt. Vinnie Sacks found the kind of blackfin bite that makes a dockside phone ring fast. His May 9 Fort Lauderdale report put a 31-pound blackfin tuna on top of the week, and he said it was the largest blackfin ever caught on YB Normal.

The number matters because it says the fish are not just around, they are quality fish. Blackfin tuna are a year-round Fort Lauderdale target, and local charter listings say most run 2 to 20 pounds, with some topping 40. A 31-pound fish sits squarely in trophy territory for this port, even if it does not touch the 50-pound, 1-ounce benchmark Robert Kowalski landed in Miami in June 2024.

The bite was not wide open all day. Sacks said the blackfin were chewing best early in the morning and late in the afternoon, which is the kind of window anglers can actually plan around. Live bait was the best way to get the biggest fish, and that detail should matter more than the headline number. If you want the better class of tuna, that report points to bait-first tactics, not a lure-only shortcut.

The same trip also produced a pretty good showing of wahoo, which tells you the offshore picture is healthy enough to support more than one game fish at once. Earlier in the week, dolphin fishing was very good about 10 miles offshore on a weedline holding plenty of life, until a rare northwest wind broke the line apart and shut that bite down for the moment. That kind of shift is the real Fort Lauderdale story right now: when the water line is intact, multiple species are using it, and when weather scraps it, the pattern tightens up fast.

The reef added another angle. Sacks said kingfish were back on the reef when trolled with fresh bonito strips, so the box did not depend on a single presentation. Blackfin off the edges of the day, wahoo in the mix, kingfish on bonito strips, that is the kind of mixed offshore bite worth jumping on now if the weather cooperates. The window looks real, but it is a timing game, and the best shot is to fish it before the next wind takes another bite out of the weedline.