Tommy Zsak

Fort Lauderdale Fishing on Happy Day Today with Capt. Zsak

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 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.

With a smile on Brian's face and plenty of fish for dinner that night, it was time to head back to the dock at Bahia Mar 801 Seabreeze Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33316.

For a successful and adventurous deep sea fishing charter in Fort Lauderdale FL for Sailfish, Shark, Bonito, Mackerel, Swordfish, Snapper, Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi Mahi and Grouper contact Captain Zsak. - 954-309-7457 or email us at tzsak@bellshouth.net Website: www.topshotfishing.com.

Fish Species: Waho
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Tommy Zsak

About The Author: Captain Tommy Zsak

Company: South Florida Fishing Charters

Area Reporting: South Florida (Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami)

Bio: Established the charter business in 1980. The charter boat \"Happy Day Today\" 46\' Hatteras is fully equipped to target every species running. Since then have remained a full time and one of the best and hardest fishing charter boats out of South Florida.

(954) 309-7457
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Tommy Zsak