On February 1st we had a half day fishing charter with a group from Ohio who were down on vacation. They were looking to have some fun fishing with the Topshot Sportfishing team and target some edible fish. We had a nice morning with some scattered clouds, cool weather and departed off the dock at Bahia Mar located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
We have a new boat, a 52' Hatteras, which replaced our old 46' Hatteras. The 52' Hatteras is a newer, bigger and a more comfortable riding Hatteras, and has been a great addition to the fishing charter family. I started the engines, and we were off to do some bottom fishing. The reason I decided to bottom fish is because the pelagic bite has been a little slow fishing off Fort Lauderdale. The Mahi Mahi and Black Fin Tuna was pretty good until about two to three weeks ago.
The first mate started rigging bottom fishing tackle, and we used light wire 5/0 and 6/0 circle hooks with 50 to 60-pound monofilament. For bait we used fresh cut Bonita chunks, as well as cut Squid. When making the deep drop rigs or chicken rigs, we space the hooks a foot apart, and depending on how deep we are dropping, use either a one- or two-pound drop lead. I also had the mate rig up a shallow water long line Snapper rig which allows the lead to slide down the line. You'll get a better Mutton and Yellow Tail Snapper fish hook up verses the chicken rig.
We headed out to a sunken shipwreck in 150' of water targeting some Yellow Tail Snappers. We dropped the line, and the guys started having fun nailing some Yellow Tails. After we caught 5, the bite slowed down, so we moved off to a deep-water area that is in 350' of water. At this spot we normally catch Red or Vermillion Snappers. After we hit the bottom and worked the area with no bites, we moved to another spot located off Fort Lauderdale 4 miles up to the north – above a sunken barge which has two parts, a deeper and shallower structure, which attracts the fish. As soon as we dropped down the chicken rig with cut Bonita, the rod started hitting. Of course, this was a good start, and we brought up 3 Vermillion Snappers. The first mate hooked the Snappers and put them into the fish box. We reset the baits and sent the rig back down, catching another couple Red Snappers. We dropped the bait down again, and this time bought up a nice Yellow Eye Snapper. We continued fishing this area until it was time to head back to our marina.
We ended another great day fishing on board the Happy Day Today with the Top Shot Sportfishing team. For a successful and adventurous deep-sea fishing charter aboard the Happy Day Today with the Top Shot Sportfishing team in Fort Lauderdale FL for Sailfish, Shark, Bonito, Mackerel, Swordfish, Snapper, Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi Mahi and Grouper, contact Captain Zsak. - 954-439-8106 or email us at captdz@gmail.com Website:
www.topshotfishing.com.
