Andy and his friends, all from Texas, chartered the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team to do some deep sea charter boat sport fishing in Fort Lauderdale, FL. As the guys boarded the boat, I asked them what type of fishing they wanted to do – their reply was that they wanted action and 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 trolling using a spoon on one deep plainer line and a sea witch on the 2nd deep plainer line. I worked the area from 100 ft. of water out to 200 ft. of water searching for a school of fish. As we headed offshore, our first big bite came from the deep plainer rod with the spoon. Andy was the angler, and he caught a 20 lb. Black Fin Tuna. Our mate, Dave, gaffed the Tuna and put it in the fish box on ice.
Next, the anglers took turns catching Kingfish on the plainer rods, each weighing approximately 10 lbs. The Kingfish were biting in shallower water along with the Bonitos. The anglers continued reeling in Kingfish and Bonitos.
I decided to try deeper waters around a wreck, so I headed out south of Fort Lauderdale trolling the area and got a nice fish on. The fish started jumping, and low and behold, we had a Sailfish on. Andy got the reel and started fighting the Sailfish. After a twenty minute battle, he got the Sailfish to the boat. Our mate grabbed a hold of the bill to remove the hook and for picture taking. The Sailfish was released and swam away to fight another day..
We reset the lines back in the water and tried fishing in even deeper waters. I found a nice weed line, and one of the anglers caught a Mahi Mahi.
With a total catch of 1 Black Fin Tuna, 5 Kingfish, 7 Bonitos, 1 Sailfish and 1 Mahi Mahi, it was now time to head back to the dock. The anglers retired into the a/c salon and enjoyed the relaxing trip back to the dock at Bahia Bar Yachting Center, 801 Seabreeze Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33316. At the dock, Dave, our mate, filet out the fish for the anglers to take home.
