A Practical Sailfish Spread for One or Two Anglers

Springtime in South Florida is one of the best times of the year to target sailfish, especially when a north wind has been blowing. Cooler water temperatures push these fish to migrate along Florida’s east coast. It can be tempting to fish like a full blown tournament team, but these teams usually have upwards of 8 to 9 people on board. Two kites with six baits and a mate on the bow with a flat line is one of the best ways to catch fish in numbers, but that approach is not always practical when you only have a team of one or two.

Sailfishing does not have to be complicated. When my sister and I kite fish by ourselves, we focus on keeping things simple, manageable, and efficient. We look for clean blue water anywhere from 100 to 400 feet deep and let the boat drift side sea. This frees up both of our hands and allows us to get baits in the water quicker. We prefer to put up a single kite with three baits, then add two flat lines. This setup allows us to stay organized while still presenting a solid spread that consistently raises fish.

Some anglers like to put out a sea anchor to slow the drift, but we usually skip this step. When a sailfish shows up or eats, things can happen fast. Having to bring in a sea anchor while managing multiple lines can quickly turn into a mess, especially with a small crew.

On the kite, we run three baits with specific roles. The long bait is typically a goggle eye. These baits are hardy, heavy, and excellent at staying in the water, even in windy conditions. The middle bait is either another goggle eye or a threadfin herring. If the wind is howling, the goggle eye tends to perform better, but if sailfish are keyed in on threadfins, we adjust accordingly. The short bait is almost always a threadfin herring.

For our flat lines, we usually fish two threadfins, one with a rubber core sinker and one without. Occasionally, we will use a goggle eye on a flat line, but because they are strong swimmers and like to dive under the boat, we always add a rubber core sinker a few feet above the hook to keep it in position.

If kite fishing is not your thing, you can skip the kite altogether and still be effective. Drifting four to five flat lines allows you to keep a simple spread in the water while covering the same area and staying manageable with a small crew. Just add rubber core sinkers to a few of the baits of varying weights so your baits swim at different depths. 

With only two people on board, six baits are more than enough to stay busy. If the bite is slow and conditions allow, we may add a sliding sinker rig to fish the bottom or switch things up with some slow pitch jigging. Keeping the spread simple allows us to stay relaxed, fish efficiently and enjoy what sailfishing is supposed to be all about: having fun!