We started out the day with nice weather, wind blowing 10 mph out of the east with a couple feet chop. Our fishing group wanted to catch some edible fish and try some live bait wreck fishing, so the first thing we did was put a chum bag in the water and started catching live Blue Runners, which are also called hardtail jacks. When charter fishing out of Fort Lauderdale, there is a sea buoy in 115 ft. of water that is home to Blue Runners. With light spinning tackle, it’s fun to catch these active baits.
We set out two deep planner lines and four surface baits, and we trolled the reef heading towards a wreck. In Fort Lauderdale, we have a great many bottom structures to fish in and some are located where the reef drops off. Making turns over the reef, we started getting bites in 200 feet of water. The first few fish we caught were King Mackerel, and we hooked them on the deep lines. Once our anglers fought the fish, the first mate reached down with the gaff and put them into the fish box. We kept trolling out to deeper waters and found some floating debris with a few birds working overhead. I worked the area, and a couple of rigger lines came down producing a double header Mahi Mahi bite. The anglers did a great job fighting the Mahi’s, and again, the mate carefully reached down and gaffed them right into the fish box.
Our next stop was to head towards a wreck, so the guys cleared the trolling spread, and we got a live bait rig with a down rigger ball ready to send down towards the sunken ship. We positioned the boat to be up current of the wreck and set out a few live baits. It didn’t take long until a large Barracuda came crashing down, and we had fish on. The angler grabbed the rod and successfully fought and brought in the Cuda. We put the trolling gear back in the water, and I fished close to the drop off in 100 feet hoping to find a few more King Mackerel, and we did. The deep planner lines went off and we started catching Kings; the anglers did a great job fighting the fish.
It was now time to head back, ending 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 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.