Feeding Ladyfish to a Dolphin
Saltwater fishing is always an adventure. You never know what you are going to catch or see. When kayak fishing I do target trout, redfish, snook, but often I catch other fish. I have caught grouper, sharks, pompano, sheepshead, snapper, catfish, ladyfish, etc.
Many times while kayaking we see dolphins playing and feeding. The last few times out when we came across a school of ladyfish we also saw dolphins. This week my son and I saw something we have never seen before. My son, Sebastian, noticed when we threw the ladyfish back in the water the dolphins went after it. The next ladyfish he caught he held onto it until he saw a dolphin come close to his kayak, then he threw it up in the air, and a dolphin came out of the water and caught it before it hit the water. I wish I had my GoPro camera with me that day; we might not ever see that happen again.
Other times in the past when we have caught ladyfish we have seen schools of tarpon hanging around. Some fishermen call ladyfish “redfish candy” because they are an excellent bait for redfish. Cut them up into 1-2” chunks and fish them on the bottom near oyster bars. I caught my largest trout on a piece of ladyfish in 2 feet of water.
Besides the ladyfish, we caught trout and pompano. We kept one trout and the only pompano we caught for dinner that night.
For those of you new to Florida, the ladyfish are not good to eat. They are fun to catch and are a good bait for a variety of fish.
Ladyfish are sometimes called the “poor man’s tarpon” because they fight hard and are acrobatic. After they are hooked most of the time, they will jump in the air, and often throw the hook. They are caught with shrimp and almost any type of artificial lure. The faster you retrieve the lure, the more they like it. If you have a fish hit your lure several times while retrieving it back to the boat, it’s most likely a ladyfish. They will repeatedly go after your lure.
