Top Shot sportfishing, Fishing report Ft Lauderdale 1-22

[Fishing Report]

Fishing report out of Ft. Lauderdale


Deep Sea Sportfishing in South Florida Ft.Lauderdale on Happy Day Today/Capt. Zsak

It was a cold day in Sunny South Florida in Ft. Lauderdale. The temperature was 54 degrees this morning with the possibility of rising into the low 70’s by noon. Winds were out of the north, northwest 10-15 mph, seas 2-3 ft high – a little chilly out on the bridge, but today looks like a Sailfish day.

Mr. Dave Mittel and his three boys from Pennsylvania chartered the Happy Day Today to do some deep sea sport fishing in South Florida off of Ft. Lauderdale. The three boys, Michael, Sean and Zack, the youngest, were geared up to do so deep sea sport fishing. This was Mr. Mittlel’s 3rd charter with the Happy Day Today and me as the Captain in the past year, so he knew the operation we run.

We started off by flying two kites in 140 ft. of water on top of one of the artificial wrecks, a 210 ft. freighter, which was laid to rest here in 1963 off of Ft. Lauderdale. The artificial wreck holds bait fish and a variety of different species of fish, including the pelagic Sailfish. With the cold front that was pushing thru, we knew it would be good Sailfishing, so we purchased a dozen Goggle Eyes from Bud, the baitman.

The first hook up was a double header Sailfish, one eating the left long kite bait and the other eating the right long kite bait. Just my luck that the Sailfish decided to go on the opposite directions!! “Well, Mitch, which one is the closest to the boat,” I asked. Mitch looked at the amount of line left on the reel and decided that the one on the portside was the closest, so away we went, chasing down the fish on the portside. The two youngest boys, Sean and Zack, were the anglers. As Sean reeled in his Sailfish to the boat, I could see that there was not too much line left on Zack’s reel. We have to release this Sailfish quickly, so pictures were quickly taken in order to concentrate on bringing in Zack’s Sailfish. After releasing Sean’s Sailfish, we gave attention to Zach’s Sailfish, which he now was able to reel in. As he brought the Sailfish onto the boat, Mitch grabbed a hold of the bill and lifted the Sailfish out of the water. The Sailfish was like a movie star as all the cameras went flashing off, taking in the beautiful neon colors. As we released the Sailfish, he swam away like nothing happened.

As the morning progressed, with other fish being hooked up (Shark, Mahi Mahi, Bonitas), the next two hooked up Sailfish did not make it to the boat – both of them spit the hook out – but the show they put on was spectacular and the boys were amazed. We were almost out of time so I told Mitch to pull the trap door up and release a couple of more Sailfish . As the joking words left my mouth, two more Sailfish appeared and we hooked up another double header. After a twenty minute battle, one of them threw the hook but the other one was hooked up and reeled in by Michael. Again, cameras were flashing, and I was pleased that all three boys caught a Sailfish.

It was time to wrap up our deep sea sport fishing so Mitch brought in the rest of the tackle. We headed back from our 4 hour deep sea sport fishing charter trip to the dock at Bahia Mar, in South Florida, Fort Lauderdale. As we came into the dock, I took a picture of the three boys with the three Sailfish flags and the one Shark flag; the entire family was beaming.

This ends another successful and adventurous sport fishing excursion on the Happy Day Today with Captain Zsak. Join us and enjoy a once-in-a-life-time experience –


Thirty years fishing out of Fort Lauderdale


The charter boat "Happy Day Today" established in 1980 has been and continues to fish out of Fort Lauderdale, FL at the local fishing charter dock. My father Capt. Tommy tells great stories of some of the more shocking and unbelieveable things that can happen fishing 4 miles offshore or 25 miles offshore for Swordfish. Over 30 years any captain will have shocking and or amazing fishing stories (all true). At that point in your career, what purpose would one benefit not tell the truth, Capt Tommy Zsak has already proven over and over the ability to head offshore and catch fish. Taking into consideration the wind, current, wave direction, pressure, time of year, and many other variables that ultimately will be where the boat is heading. Many captains write books about this exact feeling and what indications make an area good. The fact is that until you have experienced the great, good, average and bad fishing days, it takes many many years to have a calculated idea of where, why and when the bite will happen.

This time of the year we are catching Sailfish and at a good clip. Averaging two to three fish a day fishing. Some days can reach 5 to 7 and some days maybe only a shot a one. The Sailfish are here and we are catching them, fun fish to angle, they have long runs, deep runs, jet off hard angles and its fun to watch dance on the water and we let most of our fish go, unless the charter would want to keep the fish.

Using live and dead bait to catch Sails. If the wind is blowing 12 knots, we fly a kite with kite clips with live baits, if the seas are flat calm, we will troll dead ballyhoo and cover areas that the Sails are feeding and migrating through, for example shallow as 70 feet of water and deep at 400 feet of water. This is where a good captain will be able to determine where to fish.

If interested in a charter fishing out of Ft. Lauderdale, Floirda, please contact myself or capt zsak. David Zsak and Tom at (954) 439-8106

website: check out the old photos going back 30 years.

Top Shot Sport Fishing
Capt. Zsak
Fort Lauderdale
954-439-8106
dzsak@bbftlaud.com
http://www.topshotfishing.com