A good sign that the predators are nearby says Gray Taxidermy Captain Zsak

Ray Miller from Dallas TX was here in Fort Lauderdale FL on a convention and friend  had some spare time before his flight back home, so he chartered the Happy Day Today along with the Topshotfishing team to do some deep sea sport fishing here in Ft. Lauderdale FL.  Mr. Miller, accustomed to traveling an hour to the fishing grounds in Texas, was pleased that in 20 minutes he was in Fort Lauderdale’s fishing grounds, 1.8 miles from shore in 120 ft. of water.  

With the migration of Mullets not too far away, small schools have been trickling down the beach, and all pelagic fish - Sailfish, Sharks, Tarpons, Snook – will be following the migration.

We left the dock and 20 minutes later lines were in the water.  We had one plainer down with a 3 ½ blue reflector drone spoon, two Ballyhoos and two Bonito strips for surface baits and a Ballyhoo dredge.  We started catching a mixture of Bonitos and Kingfish.  The Bonitos were in the range of 10-15 lbs with the Kingfish ranging from 6-20 lbs.  Ray was our only angler on the boat; he bounced back and forth from one fighting chair to the other, using all five of our fighting chairs.  After working the artificial wrecks catching these fish, I headed out to another artificial wreck that sits in 450 ft. of water off of Fort Lauderdale FL.  I got closer to the artificial wreck and I could see the birds feeding on the bait fish – a good sign that the predators are nearby.   As I made my first pass over the wreck, the left long rigger came down along with the plainer rod and the right short rigger – three fish on at the same time with one angler –one by one Ray brought in the three Tunas weighing from 12-22 lbs. 

South Florida and GrayTaxidermy glad Tropical Storm Isaac left the area

Before Tropical Storm Isaac left South Florida, it deposited between 12-20 inches of rain from Key West to Palm Beach with wind gusts up to 60 mph, leaving havoc and 24,000 residents without power for three days.  Brian Fitzgerald from Boston with friends, Mike and Jim, chartered the Happy Day Today along with the Topshotfishing team for some deep sea sport fishing here in Fort Lauderdale FL.  As we left the inlet, the color of the water was not typical – due to the storm, the waters were very murky.

We put two plainers down, one with a 3 ½ blue reflector drone spoon and the other with a black and purple sea witch in front of a double hook Bonito strip, and three Ballyhoos for surface baits.  As I arrived at the sea buoy that sits off of Fort Lauderdale, the murky water extended far out to the east.  I trolled over some of our artificial wrecks with no luck.  On the radio one Kingfish was reported being caught in 380 ft. of water, which is very unusual.  Normally, Kingfish are caught off of the reefs from 70-200 ft. of water.

 I headed off shore - two miles east of the sea buoy where I saw a color change in the water going from a greenish brown to a deep blue sitting in 675 ft. of water.  As we trolled down the color change, I could see birds in front of me working the edge.  Our first bite was a Bonito on one of our surface baits.  Finally, we ran across some wood debris floating – here we caught a couple of Mahi Mahi’s.   We caught a couple more Bonitos along with some Skip Jacks.  As we made a circle to come back on the floating debris, our two plainer rods bent over – immediately we knew what type of fish they were. The rod tips were bouncing up and down, as the fish made their initial run, which is a good indication that at the end of the line would be a Wahoo.   

The Wahoo, with their streamlined bodies from Gray Taxidermy and vertical stripes, are the fastest fish in the ocean clocked at 64 mph.  As the plainer came closer to the boat, we could see the colors of the fish – purple, silver and deep blue - and they shook their heads back and forth, causing the rod tip to go up and down.  Jackson, our mate, grabbed the leader to wire in the fish, the hook pulled off of the first Wahoo.  As the other plainer broke the surface, we could see the Wahoo – this one did not get away - Jackson gaffed this Wahoo and put it in the fish box. 

Gray Taxidermy expects a lot of Sailfish to be caught and mounted

The Sailfish season is around the corner; however, we are catching two to three Sailfish a week here in Fort Lauderdale FL, which held true again for one of our anglers, Richard Pontin from the UK.  Mr. Pontin along with friend, John Wesolowych, chartered the Happy Day Today along with the Topshotfishing team to do some deep sea sport fishing off of Fort Lauderdale FL.  Both being experience anglers, Richard told me stories about his fishing trips in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, where I have also fished a few times. 

We started fishing at the sea buoy in Fort Lauderdale FL with one plainer down, with a 3 ½ blue reflector drone spoon.  For surface baits we went with two Ballyhoos, three Bonito strips and a Ballyhoo dredge teaser.  We trolled around one of the 34 artificial wrecks we have here in Fort Lauderdale FL ranging from 35 ft. wrecks to 400 ft. wrecks in length and in 65 ft. of water out to 420 ft.  As I trolled over ten different wrecks within a two mile radius, we caught 1 Sailfish, 3 Tunas, 5 Kingfish, 13 Bonitos and 1 Barracuda.

Gray Taxidermy Captain says its a great day for fishing

A great day for a fishing trip here in Fort Lauderdale FL aboard the Happy Day Today Topshotfishing team under clear blue skies, winds out of the east at 5 mph, 1-2 ft. seas.  Mark D’Annolfo and son, Andrew, with family from Boston went on a deep sea fishing expedition.  In celebration of Andrew’s 13th birthday, the family gave him a fishing charter gift aboard the Happy Day Today out of Fort Lauderdale FL.  Andrew was eager and excited to get out and do some fishing.

Twenty minutes after leaving the dock, lines were in the water at the sea buoy that sits in 120 ft. of water off of Fort Lauderdale FL, which is our drop off.   The bottom here goes down very quickly - you will find yourself in 650 ft. of water a ¼ mile to the east of this sea buoy. 

We had two plainers down, both with Mullet strips and sea witches in front.  For surface baits, we had two Ballyhoos and two Bonito strips and a Ballyhoo daisy chain for a teaser.  The trap was set.  I trolled in and out over the drop off from 70 ft to 350 ft. of water heading to the north of Fort Lauderdale FL, and kept busy catching fish – Kingfish, Barracudas, Bonitos, Tunas.  My golden rule is you do not leave fish to find fish.  We wound up with a total of 18 fish in the four hour charter, with our largest one being a 24 lb. Kingfish, known in the fishing realm as an Anaconda.

A fish for Gray Taxidermy

Christian and Taryn Bergstrom from St. Petersburg, FL, who came over the east coast to do some fishing in Fort Lauderdale, chartered the Happy Day Today along with the Topshotfishing team. 

Christian was surprised when twenty minutes after we left the dock, I slowed the boat up to put the lines out in our drop off in 120 ft. of water off of Fort Lauderdale.  As he explained, it takes 45 miles out on the west coast of Florida before fishing lines are put in the water.  He was happy and impressed with the short amount of time it takes to get to the fishing grounds in Fort Lauderdale FL.

Our first strike was a double header – two fish on at the same time with just two anglers, Christian and wife Taryn – it made for a good competition.  Both fish were two Bonitos weighing in at the 15 lb. class.  Not too much longer the plainer rod bent over.  This one took out a good amount of line off of the reel.  At first I thought it was a Wahoo – the fastest swimming fish in the ocean clocked at 64 mph.  As Taryn brought the fish closer to the boat, Dave, our mate, grabbed a hold of the leader.  I could see the silver reflection in the water of an Anaconda (large Kingfish).  Taryn brought the Kingfish closer to the boat and Dave gaffed him with his mouth opening and shutting showing his razor sharp teeth and was put into the fish box – the Kingfish weighed 26 lbs.  So far, Taryn was winning the competition for the largest fish. A fish that he may turn to Gray Taxidermy to build a fish replica.  From there it was back and forth between Christian and Taryn bringing in the fish with a mixture of Kingfish and Bonitos. With a total of 10 Bonitos and 7 Kingfish, it was time to head back to the dock at Bahia Mar 801 Seabreeze Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33316.

Hoping to catch a Wahoo that I can let Gray Taxidermy build a trophy mount from

They wanted to catch eating fish, so in twenty minutes we were in the fishing ground, the drop off,  in 120 ft of water off of Fort Lauderdale FL.  We put two plainers down – a 3 ½ blue reflector drone spoon on one and a double hook Bonito strip with a blue and white sea witch in front in the other with four Bonito strip baits and a yellow jap feather for surface baits. 

 I worked the reefs in and out from 250 ft. of water into 70 ft. and back out again, catching Kingfish, Bonitos and Barracudas on the surface and plainer rods.  We had double and triple fish on at the same time – which made it very exciting in the cockpit – with one line going over and under the others.  From there I headed offshore and found a sargassum weed line in 600 ft. of water hoping for some Mahi Mahi’s to appear, but with no luck I headed towards one of our artificial wrecks that sits in 410 ft. of water north of Fort Lauderdale FL, hoping to find a Wahoo lurking out there.  Instead we caught a few Mahi Mahi’s. 

With a total of 17 Bonitos, 2 Mahi Mahi’s, 4 Kingfish and 4 Barracudas, we headed back to the dock in Fort Lauderdale FL.  As the action was hot and heavy for the majority of the trip, the birthday cake brought on board the boat was never touched, which I am sure will be eaten with the fish dinner tonight. Back to the dock at Bahia mar 801 Seabrezee Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33316

For the past two weeks, Shark action has been excellent

Our charter today out of Fort Lauderdale.  We had variable winds 5-7 mph, 2 ft. seas - a picturesque sunny day here in Ft. Lauderdale.  Rick’s goal was to catch a large fish, and I suggested we find some nice large Sharks off of Fort Lauderdale.  For the past two weeks, Shark action has been excellent here in Fort Lauderdale.

Off we went – twenty minutes after leaving the dock we were in 350 ft. of water north of the sea buoy off of Fort Lauderdale FL, close to one of my favorite artificial wreck, a 220 ft. freighter that was sunk back in 1981.  These wrecks hold various types of bait fish and in return the predators know where to feed.  These are the “supermarkets” of the seas.  We put out three Shark baits, one on the surface, one midrange down 150 ft. and a third bait sitting on the bottom.  I could see a dorsal fin approaching our surface bait; the fish was not aggressive at all.  It swam slowly to the bait but was not interested and swam past the bait to the south of Fort Lauderdale.  A few minutes later a fishing boat to the north of me called on the radio and said he saw a Shark heading my way – hopefully this one would feed.  As the Shark approached the surface bait, he was very aggressive, and he grabbed the Shark bait – the fight was on!!!!!  This Shark was a big one!!!  Rick jumped into the fighting chair, and we secured him and the rod down with safety lines.  The tug of war continued, and Rick was doing a fantastic job reeling in the Shark, while support was heard from the girls.  Finally the Shark appeared 50 ft. from the boat – a Golden Hammerhead, and all were amazed by its size.  The fight was a long one with losing and gaining lines, but finally Rick subdued him and brought the Shark to the boat.  We measured the Shark in the water, and it was 107” long and approximately 350 lbs.  Pictures were taken, the Shark was released and Rick decided to do a replica mount. Back to the dock at Bahia Mar 801 Seabrezee Blvd. 33316

With sweat and achy muscles, Rick accomplished his goal, and was ready to head back to the dock in Fort Lauderdale FL.  For a successful and adventurous deep sea fishing charter in South Florida forSailfish from Gray Taxidermy, Shark, Bonito, Mackerel, Swordfish, Snapper, Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi Mahi and Grouper contact Captain Zsak.