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Sailfish are the great wanderers of the sea and are magnificent creatures. They will migrate in deep, warm waters, for great distances, but they're known to move near shore for feeding. Sailfish is a carnivore; eat squid, octopus, mackerel, mullet, flying fish, needlefish, and other small fish. Although they travel in deep water, they will usually feed in mid-depths, between 100 to 250 feet. Given the proper bait population, sailfish can exhibit the same group hunting characteristics as white marlin. On good days they can be spotted balling bait fish over reefs. "Balling" occurs when a number of predators herd a school of bait fish into a tight ball near the surface of the water. Two or three predator fish will keep the bait organized while the others feed from the ball. This is also a great sight to sea, as hundreds of small bait fish foam the water in their efforts not to be eaten. One of the biggest Sailfish ever to be sighted was 141 lbs in the Atlantic Ocean and 221 lbs and the Pacific Ocean.
There are several methods to catch Sailfish. Sailfish are unbelievable sprinters that can reach up to 68 miles per hours. When hooked, they will dump a lot of line and put on an impressive acrobatic show in their initial run. However they will lose stamina quickly. Throw out extra bait on heavy spinning gear whenever a sailfish is hooked. They tend to travel in packs ranging from three to 30, making chances for a double or triple hook-up very good. Sails are prime targets for medium-tackle bait-and-switch or fly fishing. Once incited, they will pursue a bait fish longer and more aggressively. Anglers commonly troll medium-sized lures and baits in mid depth waters for these fish. Sometime if they are hungry enough they will happily hit artificial lures. Other times you will need to run lures with fish belly strips added to provide that soft feeling and fish taste as they hit the lure first time. Sometimes if Sails are fickle, you can raise their attention with artificial lures but then need to slow the boat right down and switch them onto a freshly cast live bait. This gives anglers a good chance of luring a sailfish from a teaser to hooked drop back bait.
For the ultimate challenge and excitement, you need to try fly fishing for Sailfish. The boat will troll a pattern of teasers with fresh belly strips attached, but no hooks. Once a Sail is raised in the water, all members on the boat have to work as a team. All the spare lines have to be quickly taken away from the fish, as the boat is slowed down slowly; the rod which has the fish's attention is slow pulled just out of reach each time the Sail try's to hit it. As the Sail is drawn to the centre of the back of the boat, the angler casts the fly just to the side of the fish. As the fly popper is stripped past the fish, the crew whips the teaser bait out of the water. The Sail fish instinctively turns onto your fly and well the rest is just sure fun and hell.
Sailfishes are legendary and are objects of innumerable adventurous, angling stories woven around some of the most aggressive creatures on the earth. Catching sailfishes is one experience; an angler never tries to forget in his life time.
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