Fort Lauderdale Fishing with Top Shot Sportfishing Charter Boat and Capt. Zsak

Bobby and Kaitlen Barnes chartered the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team for a private deep sea charter boat sport fishing trip in Fort Lauderdale, FL

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. If you venture off another ¼ of a mile, you would find yourself in 500 ft. of water, which we exclusively have here in Fort Lauderdale, due to Fort Lauderdale’s extreme drop off. The further north you go, the further the drop off swings off shore.

We started the morning trolling to the south, and we caught a few Bonitas. Once we found the blue water with bait fish in 150 feet of water, we decided to live bait kite fish with 2 kites and sent out the first kite with two live Goggle Eyes. The second kite had a dead bait and a live bait. As soon as we got the baits in position, a Hammerhead Shark started eating the dead bait. We set the hook and had him on for a minute, and then the hook pulled out of his mouth. We reset the baits, and the Shark showed up again, circling around the baits. After a good show with his dorsal out of the water thrashing on the water, he finally tried us again, but this time the hook was set deep in his mouth and we had him on. The Shark gave a good fight, and after some time of fighting him, the angler got the Hammerhead Shark up along side the boat for a photo and got released.

We set back up with the same spread of baits. I looked out to the long bait and saw a dorsal fin and yelled down to the mate to get ready. It was a Sailfish, and he ate the Goggle Eye bait – hooked up! The Sailfish’s first run was heading towards the beach. He made some good jumps in the air pulling off lots of drag. After a good fight, we got him to the boat and released the Sailfish to fight another day.

It was now time to head back to the dock. The happy anglers retired into the a/c salon watching the plasma TV and enjoying the relaxing trip back to the dock at Bahia Bar Yachting Center, 801 Seabreeze Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33316.

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. - 954-309-7457 or email us at tzsak@bellsouth.net Website: www.topshotfishing.com.

THANKS BOB. BOAT IS SOLD .

Fort Lauderdale Fishing with Top Shot Sportfishing Charter Boat and Capt. Zsak

Jeff, JT, James and Tony, who are college friends down from Boston, chartered the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team for a private deep sea charter boat sport fishing trip in Fort Lauderdale, FL The seas were 2 to 3 foot with easterly winds with a light chop.

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. If you venture off another ¼ of a mile, you would find yourself in 500 ft. of water, which we exclusively have here in Fort Lauderdale, due to Fort Lauderdale’s extreme drop off. The further north you go, the further the drop off swings off shore.

We started the morning catching baits called Bonita at an anchored ship. The ship was anchored in 150 feet of water, and these baits will school around the front and bottom of the hull, which gives them structure. We were using smaller jigs and catching them close to the side of the ship. All the anglers took turns catching the fish, and we ended up catching 10 of them.

Next, we decided to kite fish. We used two kites, a left and a right kite, with 4 live baits, using a release kite clip so that when a fish strikes the line will fall from the kite. We also put a bait on the bottom with a 1 pound lead, and we were using a king head targeting larger fish. Then a Sailfish came up to feed on the long bait, and I yelled down to the guys – Sailfish! The angler, Jeff, set the hook, started reeling the tight line in. The Sailfish jumped multiple times and made some big runs going deep and back to the surface. After a good battle, the Sailfish came up alongside the boat, we got a measure, snapped a photo, removed the hook then released the Sailfish back into the ocean to be caught another day. The Sailfish swam away good and was in a healthy condition.

It was now time to head back to the dock. The happy anglers retired into the a/c salon watching the plasma TV and enjoying the relaxing trip back to the dock at Bahia Bar Yachting Center, 801 Seabreeze Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 33316.

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. - 954-309-7457 or email us at tzsak@bellsouth.net Website: www.topshotfishing.com.

UNDERSPINS:

Two new color patterns for Underspins from www.jigs4bass.com

* Available in weights: 3/8 and ½ oz.
* Mustad Ultra-point, black nickel, 5/0, 2X heavy wire, round bend hooks.
* #3.5 nickel plated, mirror finish nickel willow leaf blade.
*Crane roller swivel.
* Heads are powder painted and baked... very durable.
* Full 50 strand count, silicone skirts.(on skirted model).
* With trailer keeper.
*Copper wire tied to eliminate pull down and rotation.
*Quality components, hand crafted made when you order them.
*Weed guard.

The polished nickel willow blade pulsates imitating a distressed bait fish and provides maximum flash. The under-belly premium blade is attached via a premium Crane roller swivel, for maximum flash with zero line twist. A unique addition of a weed guard makes this bait suitable for all cover types.
$4.49 each from: www.jigs4bass.com

Well all I can say is that it's tough having only two ramps on the entire lake, but we managed to overlap with the Sunday Morning crowd without any issues. It was light rain off and on to begin with but settled down to a nice afternoon with warm partly cloudy skies. The high water is something else right now! It pushes some folks out of the comfort zone and makes you work a little harder. Out of 17 boats this afternoon, only 7 boats brought fish to the scales. The totals are 30 folks brought 18 fish to the scales for a total of 30.6lbs with no largemouth bass (all spots).
Here's how the money paid out:
4th place was Rick and Danny with 3 fish for 4.29lbs for $24
3rd place went to Joe C. and Ken H. with 3 fish for 5.29lbs for $48, they also had Big Bass with a 2.32lb spot for $80
2nd place went to Stephen B. and Deron M with 3 fish for 5.96lbs for $72 (these guys got money in three tournaments this weekend! No wonder they are referred to as "Hammers"!)
1st place went to Wayne Isaac who brought 3 fish in for 6.53lbs and $96 for first and $170 for the Side Pot. Awesome job, Wayne!

Fort Lauderdale Fishing with Top Shot Sportfishing Charter Boat and Capt. Zsak


Jeff Barrack and his son, 10 year old Jack, along with Jeff’s father-in-law all from Pennsylvania chartered the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team for a private deep sea charter boat sport fishing trip in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

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. If you venture off another ¼ of a mile, you would find yourself in 500 ft. of water, which we exclusively have here in Fort Lauderdale due to Fort Lauderdale’s extreme drop off. The further north you go, the further the drop off swings off shore.

We started trolling the reef line drop off south of Fort Lauderdale with 2 planners down with sea witches in front of a double hooked Bonito strip. For surface baits we had four Bonito strips. As we trolled the reef, I headed towards one of our 34 artificial wrecks located in 145 ft. of water. With two swings and a misses, we kept trolling the area, but had no luck, so I decided to do some Shark fishing. We set up in 120 ft. of water close to one of the wrecks and put out two Shark baits, one on the bottom and one on the surface, and a live Goggle Eye from the rigger. As we waited for his arrival, the outrigger line snapped out, and a Sailfish appeared. With leaps and bounds and showing his spectacular neon colors, the Sailfish tail-walked away from the boat. After a short while, the Sailfish pulled the hook, however, we did enjoy watching the Sailfish do his acrobatic jumps.

All of a sudden the bottom rod bent over – hooked up – Shark on – as the father and son team enjoyed the fight with the father-in-law cheering them on. After a forty-five minute battle, Jack brought the Shark to the side of the boat. Rusty, our mate, wired in the Shark. Pictures were taken and the Shark was released to fight again. With a great accomplishment for a 10 year old angler and with shouts of congratulations, Jack had a big smile on his face.

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.

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. - 954-309-7457 or email us at tzsak@bellsouth.net Website: www.topshotfishing.com.

The Texas Rig, Reimagined for Redfish

Z-Man’s® free-swinging Texas Eye™ Jighead sheds snags, activates ElaZtech®

The possibilities make casting arms twitch with confidence: a snag-shedding jighead with built-in articulation and action. Z-Man Fishing, known for its patented ChatterBait® bladed jigs and next-generation ElaZtech softbaits, has in recent years also become a go-to source for smart, versatile jigheads. The new Texas Eye Jighead might be the progressive tackle company’s most innovative design to date. Melding a weedless Texas rig with a free-pivoting jighead, the Texas Eye gives anglers an unbeatable one-two punch..



“For fishing through thick grass, the Texas Eye is already the ultimate redfish jig,” says Mark Cowart, an exceptional Florida based angler who claimed 8th and 2nd place finishes at the final two IFA Redfish tournaments of the 2018 season. “The Texas Eye is the only jighead my son (Captain Michael Cowart) and I threw during the last two IFA events. Reasons are simple: the jig’s unbelievably weedless and gives our favorite Z-Man baits a ton of lifelike movement.”

At the 2016 ICAST show, the Cowarts met Ralph Phillips and Dave Fladd, jig-designing maestros of the original Eye Strike® Jig— a classic inshore jighead. “Mark and Michael explained to us exactly what they wanted in a weedless jighead,” recalls Fladd. “They gave us specific design suggestions that served as a blueprint for building the perfect tournament jigs. The Weedless Eye™ has become a staple in anglers’ arsenals. But the new Texas Eye might be even better.”



“The Weedless Eye remains the ideal jig for search-fishing around oyster beds and sparse marsh grass,” notes Cowart. “But for super-demanding presentations—spooky, selective redfish and heavier grass in places like the Louisiana marsh— we needed a tool that took things to the next level.”

Fladd, an optical engineer, acknowledges that the design goal of the Texas Eye was to build a fresh- and saltwater jig that married the snag-immunity of a Texas rig with the frenetic movements of a free-swinging jighead.

Phillips, a pioneering saltwater angler and one of the early inshore guides in the Charleston, South Carolina area, built his original jigs to maximize what he calls the “eye factor.” “I learned years ago while fishing offshore that the most productive lures, by far, were those sporting large accentuated eyes,” observed Phillips. “Predator fish of all kinds key on the eyes of their prey like no other anatomical feature.

“It’s why the Texas Eye Jighead starts with a set of oversized eyeballs.”


Seatrout, too!

From there, the team fleshed out the other critical details: an up-angled eyelet for heads-up bait posture during the retrieve; a flat-sided, planing head for stability and a spoon-like swimming motion; a tapered, streamlined angle to the eyelet for natural grass deflection. Rather than affixed permanently to the hook, the Texas Eye Jighead connects loosely to a free-swinging 3/0 VMC® hook for maximum movement of the trailing bait.

“Unlike other swing-heads,” says Fladd, “our line-tie is positioned above the centerline, presenting the jig’s oversized eyes horizontally and swimming the soft plastic trailer in a natural, heads-up position. At rest on bottom, buoyant ElaZtech baits rise, tail up—a totally natural posture.”

Molded to the hook, a streamlined “hangnail” bait-keeper pins ElaZtech and other softbaits to the base of the jighead. Fladd and Cowart built it to make rigging quick and easy. Moreover, the black nickel hook is sized to match most Z-Man ElaZtech profiles. Fladd suggests marrying the Texas Eye Jighead with a Swimmin’ Trout Trick, Trout Trick Jerk ShrimpZ, DieZel MinnowZ, 3” MinnowZ or 4” Scented Jerk ShadZ.



“The Texas Eye Jighead gives us the flexibility to reach redfish in some super tricky situations,” says Cowart. “We’ve all seen those super-selective redfish, tailing in shallow water. We take a Z-Man Big TRD, trim it down an inch, and put it on the Texas Eye hook. Throw it a few feet in front of a bull red, and just barely move it, deadstick it. The pivoting hook lets the buoyant TRD float tail-up off bottom while the jighead digs into the silt, just like a burrowing shrimp. Big redfish wolf it.”

The opposite of finesse, the Cowarts also rig a DieZel MinnowZ swimbait on a ¼-ounce Texas Eye jig with baitcasting gear and 60-pound braid, working right through the dense marsh grass. “The shimmying jighead and soft, buoyant bait swim hard and articulate beautifully, even when tied direct to the heavy braid. We’ve even done well punching the bait through holes in matted vegetation, letting it flutter to bottom where redfish race down and crush it. The hook’s stout enough to flip 6-pound redfish right into the boat. We’ve even caught tarpon on it.”

Matching a wide variety of ElaZtech and other traditional softbaits, new Z-Man Texas Eye Jigheads are available in 1/8-, 3/16- and ¼-ounce weights and five eye-catching colors. For more information visit www.zmanfishing.com.


Tournament angler Mark Cowart calls the Texas Eye his ultimate redfish jig.

About Z-Man Fishing Products: Z-Man Fishing Products

Conquering Lake Conroe




Navionics Pro Angler Edwin Evers is crushing it on the 2019 Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour. This past weekend he dominated the field on Lake Conroe, Texas, to bring home the 2019 MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage Two championship title.


Search mode

Evers used his Navionics HotMaps Platinum South map card, updating it right before the event kicked off to ensure he had the latest data available. During practice, he relied on Navionics maps to locate shallow, protected areas where he could escape the wind — and the crowd.

Evers describes the role of his electronics, "A couple things were key. With my Navionics mapping — I got it updated — you can really see the shallow areas, so you can differentiate between the bulkheads and the natural shoreline, which was really helpful. I was basically in search mode from the start."


Alone in the canal

Evers is no stranger to Lake Conroe, but even for a seasoned pro there’s always something new to discover. He scanned his maps and made his way to a canal that he’d never been to before. Oddly enough, he had the area all to himself. Sometimes a little luck goes a long way. Evers recounts, "I found out afterward that the area I fished was closed off due to dredging in practice and I didn't realize it because I didn't try to go in there in practice."

And that's how he had a spot to himself. With something special lurking in the freshly dredged waters.


Eight-pounder on the line

With 10 minutes left on the clock, the final stretch of the competition was about to get interesting for Evers. After consistently pulling in two-pounders throughout the day, he held out hope for a pre-spawn heavyweight and threw a dropshot, a setup he always has rigged and ready on the front deck. He shares the secret sauce:

4.75" Berkley bottom hopper (junebug), 1/0 straight shank hook, 1/4-oz BPS tungsten weight, 20-lb BPS XPS braid (yellow) to 10-lb XPS fluoro, 6' 9" M Johnny Morris Platinum Spinning Rod and Reel (size 3000) combo.

The stars aligned, and his strategy, location, and experience paid off — in a big, 8 lb., 1 oz. kind of way. Already at the top of the leaderboard, this final fish was enough to comfortably seal the deal with a 11-4 lead and a final total weight of 51-12.

We may be a bit biased about where Navionics fits in to the winning equation, but when asked Evers doesn’t hesitate, “Updating your maps is so important and I’ve proven that with this win.”

Learn more about daily updates and never miss out on the most current maps available. Own a Navionics card? Update your charts for only $49.99 USD through Feb. 28, 2019.

Fort Lauderdale Fishing with Top Shot Sportfishing Charter Boat and Capt. Zsak


Friends, Melissa, John and Dave, from Belgium chartered the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team for a private deep sea charter boat sport fishing trip in Fort Lauderdale, FL. They were vacationing in Fort Lauderdale and decided to go on the fishing trip with the Top Shot Sportfishing charter boat team.

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. If you venture off another ¼ of a mile, you would find yourself in 500 ft. of water, which we, exclusively, have here in Fort Lauderdale due to Fort Lauderdale’s extreme drop off. The further north you go, the further the drop off swings off shore. We started trolling the reef with 4 surface Ballyhoo baits and two deep planner lines – one #8 planner with a blue and pink sea witch in front of a double hooked Bonita strip. The other with a #6 planner with a blue and silver sea witch in front of a double hooked Bonita strip on spider line. We started off trolling the reef line north of Fort Lauderdale, ranging from 80 ft. of water out to 200 ft. With a couple of swings and misses, we caught a Barracuda and a Bonita.

From there I headed east of Fort Lauderdale and found a little rip with a color change in 400 ft. of water. We trolled to the south of Fort Lauderdale in search of some floating debris, but there was none to be found. Right planner rod! – as the planner tripped and line exited the reel. John was the angler and he reeled in a nice Wahoo. Our mate, Dave, gaffed the Wahoo and put it in the fish box. Nice going John! We reset and kept trolling the area south of Fort Lauderdale. The left planner rod tripped and the line exited the reel at a fast speed. The rod tip bounced up and down, which was a good indication that it was another Wahoo. The tug of war started – Dave was the angler and he reeled in the Wahoo. Our mate gaffed it, while being careful of the snapping sharp teeth, and put it in the fish box. .

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, our mate filet out the fish for the anglers to enjoy that night for dinner.

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. - 954-309-7457 or email us at tzsak@bellsouth.net Website: www.topshotfishing.com.

Well, obviously didn't have anyo0ne reading this today (and coming to the Porko Tournament). It was high blue bird skies, temps in the upper 50s and lower 60s and the wind was howling!! We fished Stamps this afternoon and that wind would come down through those hills swirling in all directions. Boat control was challenging at a minimum!! The lake is 845.17 as of this writing, that's five feet over summer pool, and 18' up from last weekend! It was fairly stained from Wilderness Camp pretty far back into Stamps, but it started clearing pretty well back past the Stamps Creek Camp ground. I can't really provide much detail for other parts of the lake but I heard there were some pretty dicey areas towards Kellogg Cr.
We had 18 paid entries with 28 anglers. There were only 22 fish weighed today with none of our limits breaking the four pound mark (avg of 1.3lbs per fish), Here's how the money spots paid out:
4th place went to Ken and I with 3 fish for 3.82lbs for $27
3rd place went to Nick T. with three fish for 3.86lbs and $54
2nd place went to Wayne I. with 3 fish for 3.92lbs for $81
1st place and side pot went to Rick D. and Jeff G. with 3 fish for 3.97lbs for $108 and side pot for $190
Big Bass was a 2.07lb spot caught by Albert and Darren for $90
I sure will be glad to see this lake settle down some and hopefully the weather will taper off a bit as well.
Come on out there and get ya some of it anyway! Be safe and we'll see you next weekend!