Captain
Vinnie Sacks

Member since October 2017 Hollywood, United States
Background
Captain Vinnie operates the YB Normal out of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and has worked aboard other boats in the area all his life. He loves being out on the water and getting groups on awesome fish. His favorite fish to catch is Black Grouper, but a huge part of what makes fishing so fun for him is never knowing what is going to bite next. This is what makes bottom fishing so fun for him - you can never tell what will take your bait!
Techniques
Here in south Florida there are so many different species of fish to catch, some of my favorite things to do include trolling, wreck fishing, and live baiting. All three of these techniques are well known and do produce big fish and plenty of fish as well as different types of fish too. Trolling is a good way to start your day off beacause you are able to cover ground and find where the fish are, live baiting is a good way to fish for lots of trophy sized fish like sailfish and and giant king mackerel as well as big bull dolphin. Wreck fishing is a good way to switch it up if your other techniques are not working and still be able to land some large fish like amberjack and grouper, sometimes you can also have a surprise catch like cobia as well.

Hey, I'm Captain Vinnie Sacks

Hollywood, United States
Background
Captain Vinnie operates the YB Normal out of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and has worked aboard other boats in the area all his life. He loves being out on the water and getting groups on awesome fish. His favorite fish to catch is Black Grouper, but a huge part of what makes fishing so fun for him is never knowing what is going to bite next. This is what makes bottom fishing so fun for him - you can never tell what will take your bait!
Techniques
Here in south Florida there are so many different species of fish to catch, some of my favorite things to do include trolling, wreck fishing, and live baiting. All three of these techniques are well known and do produce big fish and plenty of fish as well as different types of fish too. Trolling is a good way to start your day off beacause you are able to cover ground and find where the fish are, live baiting is a good way to fish for lots of trophy sized fish like sailfish and and giant king mackerel as well as big bull dolphin. Wreck fishing is a good way to switch it up if your other techniques are not working and still be able to land some large fish like amberjack and grouper, sometimes you can also have a surprise catch like cobia as well.
Anglers Choice
Verified

My Charter Listing

Excellent
4.8 / 5
(417 reviews)
Angler's choice
Hollywood
 3 bookings in the past week.
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $600

Fishing Reports

Spring Has Sprung In Fort Lauderdale
Spring Has Sprung In Fort Lauderdale
Apr 26, 2025 Hollywood
Hello everyone Capt. Vinnie here, what a great report I have for you guys this week was more like catching then fishing anyways for the report this week we will start inshore which is where the action has been! This week inshore KINGFISH has been super hot right now anywhere from 80-120 feet right off the coast of Fort Lauderdale has been the sweet spot if your looking for kingfish. Trolling seems to be the most productive technique with planers to take the bait down under the surface. Fresh mullet strips have been our go to bait, bonito strips are a good second choice if you don't have any mullet available. Also pink has been the hot color. Alot of the kings we have been catching have been alot bigger then the normal size we catch trolling the average fish has been anywhere from 15-20lbs. Mixed in with the kingfish has been a few bonito as well. Moving deeper the blackfin tuna bite remains to be pretty strong in the early mornings and late afternoons. 160-220 feet of water seems to be best in the early mornings and in the later afternoons 220-350 has been best. Trolling size fish have been anywhere from 3-15lbs but if your are going to use live bait and target tuna the tunas have been much bigger averaging around 20lbs and as big as almost 30lbs. For the offshore report mahi is still the hot topic, we did well on the mahi earlier in the week on a color change/edge in around 500 feet with plenty of seaweed and lots of bird activity on it. Lots of mahis I mean lots but not many keepers, although it is early in the season for mahi in our area it is a nice sign to see them this early already it is a great sign to come. I would imagine very soon to come the mahi will be back but it seems they took a break from earlier in the week. There has been a heavy tide edge just offshore the last few days with Northern gulfstream water but no weed lined up like it was a few days prior, but thats fishing things change daily. This week please take a chance to check out some of the great photos of some recent catches that were caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters out of Fort Lauderdale and remember to give us a like and follow on social media platforms like facebook and instagram @Ybnormalsportfishing for daily fishing content. Coming up here somewhat busy but still plenty of availability for the month of May so if your coming down to Fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing we would love for you to come out fishing with us and show you a great time on the water. May is one of the most consistent months for deep sea fishing here so definitely don't want to miss it! Capt. Vinnie
Continue reading
Fishing Is Hot Right Now In Fort Lauderd
Fishing Is Hot Right Now In Fort Lauderd
Apr 17, 2025 Hollywood
Hello everyone, Capt Vinnie here. What a week of deep sea fishing it has been here in Fort Lauderdale, some excellent weather with calm seas as well as some great catches too. We will get right into the report, so for this week inshore is where majority of the action has been. Trolling as well as kite fishing have been the two best techniques right now to target pretty much anything and everything. Trolling the reef in the early mornings has been excellent for king mackeral, most of the kings have been biting best in depths around 100 feet, kingfish feed primarily under the surface so fishing with planers to take your bait down is going to be key. Pink has been the hot color this week as well as blue. There hasn't been many bonitos around just yet so we have been using alot of mullet strips. Average size on the kingfish have been around 10-15lbs with larger fish up to 40lbs coming on live bait. Moving just off the reef there has been a very good blackfin tuna bite in the early mornings and late evenings. Getting an early start is going to be key if your looking to catch some tuna, depths around 180-300 has been the sweet spot. Pink has been getting the most bites, tunas are fast fish so its important to increase your trolling speed to entice the bite. Average size on the tunas has been around 10lbs with a few close to 20lbs. Moving offshore mahi mahi has been the hot topic for a while and we are starting to see some make a showing, most are undersize right now but that can change at the drop of a hat, because mahi mahi are one of the fastest growing fish in the ocean. What you catch today and throw back because it is undersize in about a week will be a keeper. Weed lines have ben the go to specially if there is bird activity, surface baits have been getting the most action but we tend to catch some of the bigger ones occasionally on our deep lines. Average size on the mahi have been around 5-7lbs with a few in the 10b range. The mahi will begin to get bigger as we get towards the summer. Kite fishing has been super productive for larger fish like sailfish, days when we have a nice breeze we have been doing a little kite fishing catching mostly sailfish but also some bigger kingfish as well like the one we caught this week that was 38lbs (pictured). As well as a Giant jack crevelle that was 46lbs (pictured). Jack crevelle is and inshore fish that primarily is caught in the intercostal waters but every now and again we do catch them out on our deep sea fishing charters. Jacks may not be good food value but boy do they fight hard, in my opinion they are one of the hardest fighting fish in the ocean. This week please be sure to check out some of the great photos of some recent catches that were caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters in Fort Lauderdale and remember to give us a like a follow on social media platforms like facebook and instagram @Ybnormalsportfishing for daily fishing content. In final I would say right now the fishing is about as good as it gets every species is in play besides wahoo, we just don't see many in the spring time that is more of a species that we catch during full moons in the winter and late fall. Other then that mahi, kingfish, tuna and sailfish you name it there is a chance to catch it. As we approach May something to look forward to is grouper season opening, although we don't get many in this area if you ever wanted to get one the first few weeks of May are the best time to try. I would expect the bite to be somewhat consistent for. while now and hopefully some big mahi mahi start to move through as we get closer to summer. For the rest of April we have select availability but for the month of May we have a good amount of spots available so if your coming down to Fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing please look us up we would love to show you a great time on the water. more later.... Capt. Vinnie
Continue reading
Mid April Deep Sea Fishing In Fort Laude
Mid April Deep Sea Fishing In Fort Laude
Apr 10, 2025 Hollywood
Hello everyone Capt. Vinnie here, this week has been a busy one lots of fishing and some catching too, for the report this week starting offshore there has been a pretty good showing of mahi mahi. It is a little early in the season for mahi here but they have showed up, now as far as size thats a different story most have been undersize but if you weed through the smaller ones you will find some keeper size. There has been a wicked color change offshore with big mats of seagrass, some days there are frigate birds on the color chance too if you find it when the birds are there your guaranteed to get bites. Also while offshore on a current edge its smart to troll a bait under the surface incase of wahoo. Moving inshore kite fishing with live bait has yielded the best results, it has been windy and rough pretty much everyday last week so bottom fishing and trolling have been out. Kite fishing with live bait like goggle eyes and mullet have been producing some sailfish as well as some smoker kings. The best bite in my opinion was shallow around 120 feet of water. Trolling has been pretty consistent right now on the days its calmer for fish like kingfish and tuna. Most of the kingfish have been shallow in depths around 100 feet and our deeper lines fished with planers have been getting the most bites. The tunas bite has been some what decent this week as well. The mornings have been producing less bites on the tuna but bigger size and the afternoons have been producing more bites but smaller fish. This week please be sure to check out some of the great photos of some recent catches that were caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters out of Fort Lauderdale and remember to give us a like and follow on social media platforms like facebook and instagram @Ybnormalsportfishing for daily fishing content. Coming up for this week looks like some great weather on the horizon, fishing has been pretty steady as well, obviously its fishing and nothing is guaranteed, but for the most part we have been making something happen. Having a showing of mahi this early in the season I believe is a great sign of things to come hopefully in about another month majority will be keeper size. Kingfish should start to make there way and be very abundant as well. We also should start to see our larger blackfin tunas making there way to us too. For the rest of the month of April we have some availability so if your coming down to Fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing we would love to show you great time on the water. more later...... Capt. Vinnie
Continue reading
April Fools Deep Sea Fishing In Fort Lau
April Fools Deep Sea Fishing In Fort Lau
Mar 31, 2025 Hollywood
Hello everyone Capt. Vinnie here, its been a busy week this week for us here in Fort Lauderdale, lots of fishing going on right now some good and some mediocre but I would say for the most part we have been able to make something happen. The report this week we will start inshore with some bottom fishing, bottom fishing this week has been pretty good when the current has been light, we have been doing best on some of the shallower bottom fishing spots like around 150 to 180 feet. We have been catching some really nice porgy right now which in my personal opinion is one of the best if not the best fish to eat in the ocean. Porgies have very clean white almost translucent flesh and have a very very mild taste. Other then porgies we have been doing well on some good size vermillion snappers as well as some lane snappers too. When the current is super strong it seems the fish will move inshore to shallower structure to get out of the tide. Moving to our inshore trolling bite seems that kingfish have been getting more and more prevalent, anywhere from 100 to 150 feet of water has been the most productive bite. Pink and blue as well as pink and white have been the most productive colors for us at this time, also fresh mullet strips have been the bait of choice. Also on the reef the sailfish bite has been pretty consistent, if your looking to catch a sailfish and you fish for them specifically it seems that you can get a few shots if you stick it out long enough, live bait is always going to be best for sailfish and kite fishing is the preferred technique but we did get a few trolling this week as well. Moving offshore there has been some wahoo around in depths around 170-400 feet. If your looking to target wahoo specially early mornings have been giving the best results, getting out right as the sun comes up and trolling over wrecks in the 200 foot is going to give you the best chance. As the next full moon approaches I would imagine for them to make a better showing. The hot bite of the week has been the afternoon tuna bite from around 3pm till sundown. That seems to be the most consistent thing going right now. The tunas have been biting best in 160-250 feet. Smaller lures have been best because it matches what the tuna are feeding on, the small spoon is still my go to for maximum bites but they have been eating some small squid skirts with mylar fished on the surface pretty well. Remember with tuna that they are sensitive to light as well as boats and the sounds they make so if you can fish your baits further behind the boat and with lighter line your going to get more bites. This week please be sure to check out some of the great photos of some recent caches that were caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters in Fort Lauderdale and remember to give us a like and follow on social media platforms like facebook and instagram @Ybnormalsportfishing for daily fishing content. Coming up for the month of April, fishing is usually pretty hot, the spring time pattern is in full effect and we should start to see some larger tunas as well as plenty of kingfish in our area. April is a great time to target some of the larger game sharks that are coming through as well. Lots of options of different things to catch. For the month of April we still have plenty of availability so if your coming down to Fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing we would love to show you a great time on the water. more later... Capt. Vinnie
Continue reading
Spring Break Deep Sea Fishing In Fort La
Spring Break Deep Sea Fishing In Fort La
Mar 20, 2025 Hollywood
Hello everyone Capt. Vinnie here, what a busy week it has been for us here in Fort Lauderdale, plenty of fishing and that means I have a very accurate report for you guys. So this week we have had somewhat nice weather for the most part calmer seas and light winds which would be right on par for spring time fishing patterns. Anyways lets get to the report, this week fishing on the reef has for sure picked up from what it has been, but of course it is fishing and you are going to have slow days and great days. Right on the reef I would say the sailfish action has been on, I can confidently say that most days we have been living baiting specifically for sailfish we have been either catching one or getting a few shots. Kite fishing has been the best technique specially if the wind allows for it. Still the bait of choice would be goggle eyes if they are available but a close runner up would be live mullet. Anywhere from depths of 120 feet on out to 180 feet seems to be the sweet spot for sailfish right now. On days that there has been not enough wind to go kite fishing, taking the time to catch live ballyhoo has been paying off big time. Live ballyhoo are fragile baits and we fish them on super light tackle and they are a staple diet of most predator fish specially off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. Other then sailfish the blackfin tuna bite seems to be getting somewhat very consistent, some days we have been catching them in the early morning as well as the late afternoons too. The go to bait is a small squid lure fished on the surface with light leader and fished way I mean WAY behind the boat. Tuna are very wary of boats and the noise they make so the further back behind the boat your lures are the more bites you usually get. There has been a few bonito mixed in with the tuna as well. Bottom fishing has been good this week when the conditions allow for it, earlier in the week we were just coming off a full moon with super strong tide so we didn't bottom fish much, as we get further and further away from the moon the tides have been slowing down so we have been doing some more bottom fishing. As of late some nice vermillion snappers and a few jumbo lane snappers as well on most bottom fishing spots. 200 feet seems to be the sweet spot for now, average size on the snappers has been anywhere from 1-4lbs. This week please be sure to check out some of the great photos of some recent catches that were caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters out of Fort Lauderdale and remember to give us a like and follow on social media platforms like facebook and instagram @Ybnormalsportfishing for daily fishing content. Coming up looks like some pretty decent weather on the horizon and fishing has begun to change for the better. Im thinking here soon we will start to see some kingfish on the reef as well as some big game sharks cruising around on the surface. Soon the blackfin tunas will improve in size as well as a few wahoo in the mix too. Lots to look forward too! For the rest of the month of March we have a few spots left but for April we have plenty of availably so if your coming down to Fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing we would love to show you a good time on the water... Capt. Vinnie
Continue reading
Sailfish are Starting to Show in Fort La
Sailfish are Starting to Show in Fort La
Mar 3, 2025 Hollywood
Hello everyone Capt. Vinnie here, this week has been a busy one for us here lots of fishing. Some days fishing has been very good and other days been so tough. As for the report this week, Sailfish has been the topic for discussion. We recently had a nice cold front with some hard north east winds that brought a bunch of fish with it. The sailfish bite was red hot for a few days and kite fishing with live bait was the way to go. If you didn't have live bait you weren't getting many bites that for sure. Just on the outside of the reef in 130 feet seemed to be the sweet spot, kite fishing with 2 kites and 2 live baits on each kite is our go to spread when live baiting. We had a great day last week kite fishing where we went 3 for 5 on sailfish in a 6 hour morning trip as well as fighting a small hammerhead shark for quite some time. Most of the sailfish this week were anywhere from 50-80lbs. Other then sailfish there has been a few king mackeral as well but mostly on the live baits too, the king mackeral can be hard to hook on live bait because of the way they bite the bait, kings are a slashing fish so there trying to cut your bait in half in order to eat it. Sometimes you get the bites but don't always hook up. it can be very frustrating. Trolling has been producing a few kingfish as well as some larger bonitos. If your looking to troll the afternoon seems to be consistent with blackfin tuna the later in the afternoon the better, sea witches and bonito strips have been getting some bites as well as my go to small spoon. I would say right now anytime after 330pm has been when there tunas have been biting the best. Bottom fishing this week has been hit and miss as well, I can honestly say when the conditions are right we have been doing well and what I mean by right conditions is wind going with the current. Some of the days the wind has been into the current and that makes it almost impossible to set the boat up the correct way on some of the spots. On the days we have been doing well bottom fishing the catch has mostly been vermillion snappers anywhere from 2-4lbs. This week please check out some of the great photos of some recent catches that were caught while out on our deep sea fishing charters out of Fort Lauderdale and remember to give us a like and follow on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram @Ybnormalsportfishing for daily fishing content. Coming up here seems like we have another front approaching for the next few days with heavy winds, so I'm thinking we should get another run of sailfish here as well as some nicer king mackeral and possibly a few mahi so be on the look out for that in future reports. For the next few weeks into march we have some availability so if your coming down to fort Lauderdale and looking to do some deep sea fishing we would love for you to come out with us so we can show you a great time on the water. more later.... Capt. Vinnie
Continue reading

Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
4.8 / 5
out of 5 stars from 417 reviews
Boat
Excellent
4.8 / 5
Crew
Excellent
4.8 / 5
Experience
Excellent
4.8 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (702)
great trip, great catch, great crew
So much fun!
So much fun!
+699
Angler rating
361
32
14
6
3
Anglers claimed
Good experience
94%
Friendly captain
95%
Recommend this charter
94%
Appropriate for children
94%
Satisfied with the boat
99%
Caught fish
92%
Sort by:
Featured  
Showing:
5 of 417 reviews
Gage R.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

One of the best!

VERIFIED   NEW  5 Hour Trip (AM) on April 11, 2025
I booked 3 weeks in advance, messaged Captain Vinny and told him what we wanted to do. He was very truthful in his response,...
Gage R. recommends YB Normal
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
  Vinnie Sacks Captain replied

Bobby R.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Book A Full Day; You Won't Regret It

VERIFIED   8 Hour Trip on December 30, 2024
On the business front, Vinnie was easily reachable to talk about the trip I had in mind for my wifeโ€™s first time out in the...
Bobby R. recommends YB Normal
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
  Vinnie Sacks Captain replied

Jacob G.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Perfect Group Charter.

VERIFIED   6 Hour Trip (AM) on December 22, 2024
My group and I went out with Captain Vinnie on his boat YB Normal for 6 hours on 12/22/24. Our group arrived at the dock as...
Jacob G. recommends YB Normal
Mark review as helpful
1 person finds this review helpful
You and 1 other person found this review helpful
  Vinnie Sacks Captain replied

Jeffrey P.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Caught a few fish

VERIFIED   4 Hour Trip โ€“ Private (AM) on March 12, 2025
Vinny did great job trolling some fish up for us . It was little windy to setup A bottom fish . Him and John the mate hooked...
Jeffrey P. recommends YB Normal
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
  Vinnie Sacks Captain replied

Emile B.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

A Miraculous Day on the Water

VERIFIED   4 Hour Trip โ€“ Private (PM) on November 16, 2024
Our fishing expedition was nothing short of extraordinary! With an amazing captain and an agile crew leading the way, we were...
Emile B. recommends YB Normal
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
  Vinnie Sacks Captain replied