Artificial wreck sits in 245 ft. of water off of Fort Lauderdale FL

Winds out of the east northeast, 12-15 mph and seas running 2-3 ft., with a slight current going to the north at the sea buoy in Fort Lauderdale FL, making it favorable for fishing over wrecks and bottom structures.

Bill Raina and Sherry from Texas, while visiting friends in Fort Lauderdale FL decided to do some deep sea fishing on the charter boat the Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing.  As we were pulling out of the slip from the Fort Lauderdale Bahia Mar Marina, Mitch, our mate, saw a school of Mullets and made a cast bringing in an excellent catch for life baiting for deep drop wreck fishing.  With a short ride from dock to fishing grounds of 20 minutes aboard our 46’ Hateras the Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing, we started off by fishing with our two plainers, one with a #3 ½ drone reflector spoon and the other with a #3 drone spoon.  For surface bait, we went with four Bonito strips.  As we trolled off of Fort Lauderdale FL from 80 ft to 170 ft. of water, Bill and Sherry took turns catching King Fish and Bonitos.

I then headed towards one of our artificial wrecks known as Bill Boyds artificial wreck which is a 185 ft. freighter sunk back in the late 80’s and named in honor of Bill Boyds who was the owner of a tackle store established back in the 60’s in Fort Lauderdale and is still a landmark tackle center.  We dropped our live bait on this artificial wreck that sits in 245 ft. of water off of Fort Lauderdale FL.  Sherry was our first angler up – the rod bent over, the line screamed out but the fish swam back into the wreck and escaped.  Bill, our second angler, went up and to his surprise, the same thing happened to his fish.  The third time was the charm because Sherry brought in a 15 lb. Grouper, which will make for an excellent dinner for them tonight.

With two happy anglers and a good catch of fish on the charter boat Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing, it was time to start heading back from our deep sea fishing in Fort Lauderdale FL to the dock at Bahia Mar.  This ends another successful and adventurous deep sea fishing charter on the Happy Day Today/Topshot Fishing with Captain Zsak.

For a successful and adventurous Fort Lauderdale FL fishing on the Happy Day Today, contact Captain Zsak.  - 954-439-8106 – www.topshotfishing.com

Anglers took turns catching King Fish, Black Fin Tunas, Bonitos

Winds out of the east northeast, at a rate of 8-12 mph, with a height of 2-3 ft. seas – blue and sunny skies in the forecast for Fort Lauderdale FL makes for a pleasant day for charter fishing aboard the Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing.

 Robert Weeks and friends, Michael and Jim, from Rhode Island came down to Fort Lauderdale FL to enjoy the weather and to do some deep sea fishing.  As we left the dock at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale FL – we have been in business at this same dock since 1971, making us one of the oldest deep sea charter fishing businesses in South Florida – we headed out to the sea buoy.  As we got to the sea buoy, I could see plenty of bait fish (small Bonitos) on the surface.  We put out two bug lines which consisted of four feathers on each to catch the small Bonitos (Bullets).  We caught half a dozen of the live bait to use later in our fishing charter.

We trolled around off of Fort Lauderdale FL, and the three anglers took turns catching King Fish, Black Fin Tunas, Bonitos and a couple of Barracudas.  Now it was time to use our live bait fish, so I headed out to one of Fort Lauderdale FL’s artificial wrecks that sit in 245 ft. of water, which is a tug boat that was sunk in 1989.  These artificial wrecks are home for numerous bait fish and in turn it is a perfect supermarket for the predators to feed on. Mitch, our mate, rigged up one of our live Bonitos, I positioned myself over the wreck and Mitch lowered the bait down to the bottom.  Robert was our first angler and within minutes the rod bent over to reel in a 40 lb Amberjack for picture taking of the fish and then to be released.  Michael was up and he caught a 45 lb. Amberjack.  Next up was Jim - with two missed hits, the third was our lucky one – as Jim reeled in an 18 lb. Mutton Snapper.

With three happy anglers and a good catch of fish on the charter boat Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing, it was time to start heading back from our deep sea fishing in Fort Lauderdale FL to the dock at Bahia Mar.  This ends another successful and adventurous deep sea fishing charter on the Happy Day Today/Topshot Fishing with Captain Zsak.

For a successful and adventurous Fort Lauderdale FL fishing on the Happy Day Today, contact Captain Zsak.  - 954-439-8106 – www.topshotfishing.com

Fort Lauderdale Fishing on Happy Day Today with Capt. Zsak

With the sun gleaming on the water, winds east, southeast, 8-12 mph, with 2-3 ft.  seas makes for a pleasant day of fishing aboard the charter boat Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing in Fort Lauderdale FL.

Jim Raymond and wife, Sara, from Maryland chartered the Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing in Fort Lauderdale FL to do some deep sea fishing. This vacation was a planned Honeymoon and fishing charter, as both Jim and Sara enjoyed fishing in their hometown. 

We left the dock in Fort Lauderdale to go to our fishing grounds, which is 1.8 miles from shore with an extreme drop off by the sea buoy in Fort Lauderdale FL that puts us in 120 ft. of water. It took a total of 20 minutes from dock to fishing grounds!!! |

We started off trolling with two plainers, our furthest plainer with a 3 ½ blue reflector drone spoon and our other plainer with a pink and blue sea witch in front of a double hook Bonito strip.  Our surface baits consisted of one blue and white ¼ ounce jap feather with two Ballyhoos and two Bonito strips.  With little current today, knowing the local wrecks is a plus.  Bait fish normally hang around the wrecks in Fort Lauderdale FL and in return you have your predators feeding on the bait fish.  With the two plainers down, the first strike came on our blue reflector drone spoon.  As Jim and Sara were deciding which one would be the angler, Sara won and fought the first fish, which was an 8 lb King Fish.  Now the contest began.  They went back and forth being the angler and kept track of who caught what and their sizes.  Bonitos were the most caught, followed by Black Fin Tunas, Kings and a couple of Barracudas, one that was in the 25 lb. range, putting Jim in the lead.  Mitch, our mate, and I wondered if this would be their first fight as to who caught the biggest fish.  With both running neck in neck, we called it a tie.  Mitch, filet one of the nice size King Fish for them to take back to their condo in Fort Lauderdale FL for their dinner that night.  Their next adventure was a cruise trip to the Caribbean.

With two happy anglers and a good catch of fish on the charter boat Happy Day Today Topshot Fishing, it was time to start heading back from our deep sea fishing in Fort Lauderdale FL to the dock at Bahia Mar.  This ends another successful and adventurous deep sea fishing charter on the Happy Day Today/Topshot Fishing with Captain Zsak.

For a successful and adventurous Fort Lauderdale FL fishing on the Happy Day Today, contact Captain Zsak.  - 954-439-8106 – www.topshotfishing.com

Gray Taxidermy created a Museum Quality 85" Tarpon Trophy

I want to take some time this morning to let all of you know at Gray Taxidermy how pleased I am, not only by my 85", 175 lb. Tarpon Trophy, but by your customer service department as well. From the artist to the salesman to the shipping company and the person who crated the mount, I was treated with the utmost respect and courtesy, treated, in fact, as if I were your only customer. And though I shopped pricing on this trophy with other taxidermy companies, and could have gotten the mount cheaper, I am glad that I did not go the cheaper route. Indeed, my friend, who also caught a trophy tarpon that day, allowed his taxidermy to be done by a Gray competitor, hoping to save some money. I saw his tarpon yesterday, and he saw mine, and we both agreed that a certainly person gets what he pays for. This is to say that if you select a "factory" taxidermist, you will get "factory" quality work. My trophy is realistic, life-like, colored to perfection, and could be hung in a museum; my friend's tarpon is more suited for the wall of a cheap inland seafood restaurant; the "factory"' tarpon has little coloring, no gills, and looks nothing like what he actually caught, while my tarpon looks just like it did when I pulled it from the water.

I am not new to taxidermy; in fact, I have a dedicated trophy room with over 50 fish and animals, and the tarpon is the center of attention when anyone enters the room, almost overshadowing a a full-mount standing brown bear... So, when I catch another trophy, even if it's a goliath tigerfish or a nile perch when I'm in Africa this October, it won't go to the nearest taxidermist some local recommends to me - it will go to Gray Taxidermy.

At any rate, I just wanted to share my thoughts with you on how pleased I am with your work and customer service. As I said, a person gets what he pays for, and you are more than welcome to share my sentiments on your website or with anyone who questions the price of museum quality taxidermy.

Sincerely,

The Honorable A. Henderson Scott, Commissioner

Things to ask your taxidermist before making your decision to hire them?


Are your fish mounts handcrafted in-house, or purchased from a third party who mass produces their product?
Many companies in this industry are buying their models and then others simply paint them. However at Gray Taxidermy, specialists in each individual field handcrafts every fishmount. Fiberglass artists, detail finishers, paint artists and shipping and crating experts all contribute to the unmatched quality the company provides.

Do you have a full time expert molding department?
Gray employ handpicked molding experts that are on premises for ongoing quality control and mold making.

Do you have a full-time finishing department?
Currently there are 15 fulltime finishing experts on premises, all contributing with their individual expertise.

Do you have a full-time fiberglass department?
Gray Taxidermy's full-time staff includes a team of skilled fiberglass craftsman who ensure the quality and durability of each fish mount produced.

Do you have a full-time customer service department?
There is a team of friendly and knowledgeable customer service representatives that strive to provide you with excellent customer service everyday. We produce and deliver fishmounts across the globe and therefore our office is also multilingual. English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and Finnish are a few of the languages spoken here.
 
Do you have full-time staff of painters?
We have four full-time painters, each artist with their own individual expertise. One specializes in painting sharks and bill fish. Another excels in highly detailed fish patterns and one is handling all fresh and cold water fish. We believe we can provide the best product possible by having a few exceptional painters, each with their own specialty vs. having a group of painters who can provide only an OK job on any type of fish.
 
 

How is shipping and crating handled?
Our shipping and Crating staff are highly experienced and build each crate by hand. Skill and precision goes into each custom crate and is also inspected before being loaded on to a truck.
Is it possible to get invited to see the production at the facility itself?
A Virtual Tour will be available soon and if you are in the area just let us know that you are coming and we will make arrangements to give you a live tour.

Can we see photographs from each department?
At Gray our doors are open, or feel free to navigate our website to see images of our facility or production.

Why is the shipping and crating cost at times so high in relation to the cost of the mount?
Shipping and crating is an integral part of the overall production. In order to ensure that you will receive your trophy fish unharmed, careful planning and execution goes into each crate built and delivered. All fishmounts leaving our facility are fully insured to provide you peace-of-mind.

Why should I commission you to produce my fishmount?
When hiring Gray Taxidermy you can rest assured that you will receive a product that will last a lifetime. Experience and tradition goes a long way, even though you may find cheaper alternatives our craftsmanship, professionalism and quality of work unmatched by anyone in the world.

What kind of quality control do you provide?
There are currently seven individual inspection points through out the process. Unless a certain quality is met after every step in the production, the mount will not make it to the next step.

How long have you been in business?
Gray has been in business for more than 50 years and handcrafted over 500,000 top quality fish mounts.

As you can see, we can provide you with a clear answer to your question. as a matter-of-fact, we encourage you to ask us questions, or to come visit our world-class facility. Get to know our crew and learn about the entire process of marine taxidermy. As stated, a repeat customer is our greatest reward and we are here to help you.

Taco Hooked Up – Fort Lauderdale Sportfishing – Charter South Florida

Today we had Chris and Marge and their son Jack. They had just moved down from Long Island and now living in Coral Springs Florida.

Jack was starting a new school down here in South Florida and his parents wanted him to just have a good time fishing before he started his new life here in Florida.

We thought the best thing would be to start out trolling the reef just catching bonito’s or any thing we could get to bend the rod.

But as things turned out trolling was slow for everyone today and we just were not catching any fish.

Ok time for plan B.

We brought in all the trolling gear and set up for some deep drops for some GOOD EATING tilefish.

While the tilefish were not biting real well we did manage to catch plenty for dinner and we will be taking Jack out fishing again soon.

Chris sorry fishing was on the slow side today but we sure hope Jack enjoyed eating those tilefish and we’ll being seeing you guys again soon.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) Sea-4344