Deep Sea Fishing in Fort Lauderdale with Top Shot Fishing Team
Capt. David Zsak
May 8, 2026
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Trip 1:
Shawn and his wife booked us for a half day deep sea bottom fishing charter in Fort Lauderdale. He wanted to mix up the day with some bottom fishing and trolling so we set out with a mixed line up of fishing tackle and bait, some live and some dead. We started out bottom fishing over a natural reef structure capturing some Vermilion Snappers. Moving from spot to spot I always like to troll lures, and we got lucky nailing a couple of Tunas on the way to the next spot. Off to a great start with Tunas and Snappers, we were hitting our third spot. This area was in 285 feet of water, and we got a huge surprise. When dropping down our leader rigged for Snapper, a 40 pound King Mackerel picked up the bait. It was a super fun fight on light tackle and lucky too, King Mackerels have super sharp teeth, and this fish was hooked in the front of his jaw. Shortly after catching the King, the first mate spotted a floating log, and had Shawn cast out a live bait; moments later we had a Mahi Mahi on. Bringing the school closer to us, we then continued to catch another 4 Mahi Mahi. We had one more spot left to explore and ended up catching a nice Mutton Snapper to end the trip.
Trip 2:
Jeff, his wife and their three boys booked us for a morning 6 hour offshore Sailfishing charter in Fort Lauderdale. The wind was blowing and the sea was alive. The water color was electric blue, and the flying fish were showering all over the place with birds encircling the sky. Even to the untrained eye, one would know these were great conditions. So the first thing we did was deploy two kites with a spread of baits. The first action that came our way was a hungry Sailfish on the long kite bait. The Sailfish fed on the bait, swam off and when hooked came up jumping. What an awesome fight this fish put on with exciting jumps. After a successful catch and release, we had the spread of baits back out, and it didn't take long until we had another Sailfish up and feeding in the spread. Almost all Sailfish come out of the water jumping and put on an awesome air show, some jump more than others, but you are almost guaranteed to have some great action from Sailfish. We proceeded to have another Sailfish feeding in the spread, but he got off, pulling the hook, so we ended the day going 3 for 4 on Sailfish.
Trip 3:
Joe and another father brought their kids out for an exciting day of charter fishing in Fort Lauderdale. The wind was blowing so we decided to start out the day kite fishing with live baits. We set out two kites and four live baits with close management of the baits, keeping them right below the water line so the baits are splashing and creating some commotion. From a distance, we could see the neon green of the bull Mahi Mahi cutting in through the tops of the waves and zeroing in on the live bait - he fed mouth wide open engulfing the bait. The Mahi Mahi put on a great fight, and once the fish was in gaff range, was put in the boat. After high five's with the crew, we set back out the live baits. We had another exciting bite, and this time it was from a Sailfish. The Sail came up to the bait, and after aggressively feeding, swam off. Joe gave the Sail some line, and when reeling tight, hooked the fish. We had one more stop on the list. A sunken shipwreck was the spot, and the target was anything big and hungry swimming around the spot. We rigged up a live bait on a circle hook and sent the bait down to the wreck. The bait got nervous, the rod bent over and we had a huge strike. After a great fight, a giant Amberjack broke the surface, and we brought him in the boat to un hook and release the AJ.
Trip 4:
Sophie from Illinois, her husband, and two friends booked us for a deep sea fishing charter. Another beautiful day for fishing in Fort Lauderdale with the wind blowing out of the East, clean green water color and live baits showering the spread. We were fishing two kites with 4 baits and a bent butt 8/0 Shimmano Tiagra with a dead bait. We set up the spread of baits in 180' of water around a wreck structure. The kites were flying, the baits making noise and the bottom bait sending a current trail of blood and oils down the reef. It took about 45 minutes with no action until all of a sudden the Shimmano Tiagra started to pull drag. The rod bent over, and we had a big one on. Sophie's husband jumped on the rod and started fighting the shark. It was a huge battle of pulling back and forth - gaining some line and losing some. He was carefully working the Shark up through the water column. After a great fight, we were able to remove the hook and release the Shark.
Trip 5:
Christian and his son from New York booked us for a Fort Lauderdale fishing charter. We started the trip trolling the reef in 150 feet of water. It's a good way to get a feel for what the current is doing, how the water color looks, if there are any bait fish in the area and an overall assessment of the ocean and what fish might be biting. The first couple of fish we caught were Bonita. We trolled up the reef to a sunken shipwreck. This is where we dropped down a live bait on a circle hook rig. The boat was positioned up current of the structure, and when the first mate deployed the live bait, it didn't take long for the bait to get clobbered. After a solid fight, Christian reeled up a big Amberjack. Off in the distance, we could see Frigate birds diving down and flying all erratic over an area. We quickly got over to the area of Frigate birds, and then we started catching Mahi Mahi. There was a floating log where these fish were hanging around, and we made a number of passes. The wind was blowing from the southeasterly direction. We started to fish a kite with rubber flying fish. This method works great when the Black Fin Tunas are biting. We kite trolled and got lucky and hooked one really nice Tuna.
To book a deep sea fishing charter in Fort Lauderdale with the charter boat "Happy Day Today" 52' Hatteras and Top Shot Sportfishing Charters, contact Capt. Dave Zsak at (954) 439-8106 or visit Topshotfishing.com
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