We had a group of guys on a bachelor party from Charlotte, North Carolina that chartered the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team to do some deep sea charter boat sport fishing in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We had hot summertime weather in the high 80's today, with calm seas and a light easterly wind. As the guys boarded the boat, they told us that they wanted to see action and catch some fish to put on the grill
Fifteen to twenty minutes after leaving the dock, lines were in 120 ft. of water at the sea buoy in Fort Lauderdale, 1.8 miles from shore. We started the morning charter trolling the reef in 120 ft. of water using a trolling spoon on one deep planner line and a sea witch on the second deep line. I worked the area from 100 ft. of water out to 200 ft. of water searching for the school of fish. We started getting action early on in the trip with the first bite on the sea witch. The first catch was a 30 lb. Wahoo - line screaming and pulling drag - Matt was the angler, and he did a good job bringing the fish to the side of the boat. The mate reached down, gagged the fish and put the Wahoo on ice. We continued trolling the reef catching Bonitos. They were weighing about 8 to 9 pounds each and getting bites on the spoon and surface rigger lines.
Next, we started catching Kingfish on the sea witch, and they were weighing about 10 pounds each. They were biting in shallower water along with the Bonitos. We continued catching Kingfish, Bonitos and four Barracudas for the better part of the morning. All of the Barracudas were released.
We decided to try deeper waters around a wreck, so we trolled the area and got a nice fish on, rigger line came down and line screaming off the reel. The fish started jumping and, low and behold, we had a Sailfish on. Scott got the reel and started fighting the Sailfish. We got some nice jumps out of the Sailfish, and after a good battle, Scott got the Sailfish to the side of the boat. Pictures were taken, the hook was removed and the Sailfish was released. Lines back in the water, and we went even deeper. I found a nice weed line, and caught a few more Barracudas.
