The Honorable A. Henderson Scott, Commissioner shares his thoughts about Gray Taxidermy and the services provided.

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

White Marlin and a Thresher Shark were caught this week will be mounted by Gray's Taxidermy

Fishing Fort Lauderdale this week has been excellent; all species of fish including a White Marlin and a Thresher Shark were caught this week. 

Allison and Tyler Fawber from Virginia stopped by the charter boat Happy Day Today to get some information about a fishing charter.  After boarding the boat and being pleased with what they saw, they decided right then to charter the Happy Day Today along with the Topshotfishing team for a deep sea sport fishing charter. With time on their hands, I suggested they visit the Holiday Park off of Route 27, 20 minutes from the boat, for air boat rides and to check out the alligators.  The following morning with blue skies, winds out of the east, southeast 7-10 mph, temperatures in the mid 80’s, we left the dock and 20 minutes later we had lines in the water at the sea buoy which sits at the drop off in 120 ft. of water off of Fort Lauderdale FL.

Both Tyler and Allison spoke of their air boat rides the day before and seeing the beautiful everglades and the wild life, including alligators.  We had two plainers for deep lines down and four surface baits.  I headed towards our artificial wrecks, which always produces fish.  The bait fish congregate around these artificial wrecks and in return the predators are there feeding on them.  Allison and Tyler kept taking turns being the angler catching Kingfish and at times two fish on at once. 

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.