Jim and Richard from Texas chartered the Happy Day Today last week out of Fort Lauderdale FL. We fished a half day charter with the guys, considering the past couple days have been slow, we were able to come back to the dock with a fair catch. Fishing can be red hot, average, and some days are slower.
The weather was absolutely perfect, clear skies, crystal blue water and the temperature was in the 70's. We started out fishing for Mahi-Mahi, King Mackerel and Barracuda by using Ballyhoo surface baits and two deep baits. We fished in 100' of water out to 200' of water until we finally found a nice rip off the reef line. Took over an hour before we caught our first fish which was a 12 pound Bonito, typically in Fort Lauderdale you would have three to four within the first hour, but this day was particular slow. We continued to troll and caught another Bonito which was about half the size of the first one. In the last hour of fishing, we trolled to a wreck which is located in 230 feet of water located off Sunrise Blvd out of Fort Lauderdale. Just before we arrived to the wreck, we caught a King Mackerel on a deep line which was a sea witch with a strip.
About three hours into the trip, we were on the wreck. The first bait dropped was a Blue Runner, with a 20/0 circle hook and 40 foot leader. When Jackson "our mate" hit the wreck, within five minutes a stud Amberjack jumped all over the bait. Jim fought the Amberjack for around 30 minutes and we got the fish in the boat by using a lip gaff, got the circle hook out and de pressured the Amberjack (because the fish fills with air as they raise up from 200+ feet down. The air was squeezed out of the fish, got some photos and we released the fish safety to swim away just fine to a Fort Lauderdale wreck.
If you would like to book a charter, contact the captain or mate and we can discuss the charter, the fish we are catching and your best opportunity to capture a Sailfish or Mahi out of Fort Lauderdale, give a call and we will happily give you all the charter details.
