March 21
Today we fished with mom and dad Jordan and Valery and their # 1 son Trey and his 2 best friends Stewart and Hunter.
We picked up some live baits on our way out but still started out trolling dead baits on the reef. Turned out fishing was pretty good on the troll catching a half a dozen king fish a bonito and one small black fin tuna.
Ok now that the skunk was out of the box so in came all the trolling gear and out went our 2 kites with 2 live baits suspended from each kite.
Ok so now the trap was set and all we needed now was for some big fish to come along and take a bite. And that was just what happen.
We had a sailfish come in chasseing one of our live baits around for about 1 second and he had it down the hatch. J.J. locked up the reel the rod bent over and line started peeling off the reel. Trey jumped in the chair and the fight was on. At first this sail was dancing all over the surface than things got down and dirty when this sail just kept going down deeper and deeper. It was a back and forth tug a war but Trey hung in there and soon enough his sail came back to the surface and Trey finally got him to the side of the boat.
J.J. slid him into the boat for a couple of quick photos and a measurement to have a replica mount made of Trey's great catch. Then the sail was released to fight again another day. Way to go Trey.
Once all the baits were set back in place BAM a big splash by one of our baits and again line started peeling off the reel. This time Stewart jumped in the chair. And after a good 7 to 10 min fight up popped this big barracuda.
Way to go Stewart.
Guy's thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up and I'm looking forward to fishing with you on Wed.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344
March 22, 2011
What a banner day we had today. We had a couple aboard that I'm sure is going to be regular of our from now on the only problem with today's fishing trip is what do we do to follow up on today's catch?
We had Jennifer and Jason formally from Georgia now live down here in Boca Raton Florida.
We started out or day by picking up some live bait from the live bait boat.
Than Captain Greg decided to run about 7 mile to the south off the coast of Hallandale where their lies and ship wreck in about 110 feet of water.
We started out by slow trolling some little feathers and catching some small bonitos. Than Captain J.J. hooked these small bonitos with 3 trouble hooks and sent them right back out over the wreck as he got the first one out it Bam the water exploded a in about 1 second and J.J. had the second one in his hand that he had just hooked. As the first rod bent over with line screaming off the reel J.J. just through the second one out there to free up his hands. Little did he know that the second the second little bonito hit the water BAM it got crashed and we now were connected with a double header.
Jennifer jumped on one rod while Jason grabbed the other. Sorry to say within just a couple of min Jason's fish spit the hook but Jennifer was still tight with hers.
Captain Greg went ahead with the boat trying to get the fish away from the wreck so he could not get back down into the wreck and cut us off.
After a good 15 min back and forth tug a war Jennifer finally got her monster barracuda to the boat.
Holly Cow What a Way to start out the trip!!
Ok the fish were here and now it was time to get Jason Hooked Up.
So out went another little bait fish and sure enough BAM again the rod bent over and line was peeling off the reel.
This time we stayed on top of Jason's fish and within 10 min another monster barracuda was in the boat.
Well I've got to say that these little bonitos never stood a chance. It seemed within 3 to 5 seconds of slow trolling them around the rod bent over and line started screaming off the reel.
Ok time 4 plan B so out went the kites with 2 live goggle eyes suspended from each kite.
The trap was set and sure enough today was our day because soon enough up popped a big sailfish chasseing our bait for about a half a second and one again BAM we were Hooked Up. This time it was a big sailfish and Jason jumped in the chair.
This sail was jumping all over the place taking line at will but after about 5 to 7 min the fish settled down and the gain some line and lose some line fight was on. After a good 15 to 20 min Jason finally got his first sailfish to the boat.
J.J. slid him into the boat for quick photos and a measurement to have a replica mount made of Jason's first sail and then we released back into the open sea to fight again another day.
Holly Cow what was next it seemed today we could do no wrong everything we tried was working and we were loving it.
Ok so after some high fiving and some hand shaking back out went the kites and again the trap was set.
Once the baits were all back in place it wasn't long before yep you guessed it another sail popped up and now Jennifer was fighting her first sailfish.
Again at first a lot of jumping all over the surface but once her fish settled down he just started digging down deep and the slow back and forth gain a little and lose a little fight was on. But Jennifer being the Georgia Peach that she is there was no quitting in her mind and soon enough up popped her sailfish next to the boat.
Can you say lets play the Lotto today?
Well at this point we were about 7 miles south of Port Everglades so we decided to troll our way back. Well you didn't think we were going to troll all the way back without another fish did you??
Yep we ended up catching a little dinner ( dolphin fish)for the couple and that's all I've got to say about this trip. (LOL)
Jennifer and Jason WHAT A BALL just please remember this kind of trip does not happen every time so we are looking forward to fishing with you guys again in April and you never know what might happen BUT this trip was a hard act to follow.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
March 23
Today once again we had Rob and his son Trey and Trey's friends Hunter and Stuart from Atlanta Georgia and from Alabama.
These guys had fished with us 2 days ago and ended up having a banner day so this was going to be a hard act to follow.
We started out trolling the reef catching king fish one after another along with a black fin tuna and a couple bonitos.
Ok now that we had a box full of fish we decided to see if we could rustle up a shark.
As it turned out no sharks or sails showed up for us today but we still had a box full of kings and everyone had a ball.
Rob and Valery thanks again for fishing with us the last couple of days and Valery best of luck with your project. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out.
As we got back to the dock we had our afternoon trip waiting on us. We had mom Karen dad Jimmy and their son 9 year old Connor all from Indiana waiting and eager to give their luck a shot aboard the Hooked Up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.
Once again we went right to trolling on the reef with 2-planner board running about 45 feet deep along with 3 baits skipping across the surface. And once again the reef was producing fish.
We started catching kings again and everything was going right according to plan when all of a sudden we got a bite on one of our deep lines but this fish was fighting different than the kings had been.
Once again Connor wasted no time jumping at the chance to reel in another fish and the fight was on.
Min later up popped this silky shark. That's right a silky shark caught while trolling a bonito strip. Now that's a first for us aboard the Hooked Up. While yes we have caught silky sharks before this was the first time we've caught one while trolling.
J.J. got him into the boat for a quick measurement and a couple of photos to have a replica trophy made of Connor's catch and then we released him back into the open sea to fight again another day.
Thanks again to all of our anglers today we truly appreciate you choosing to fish with us aboard the Hooked Up
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344
March 24
Ok so today we had one of our regular customers/friends Steve from Alaska along with his daughter Paula and her boy friend John out of St George Utah.
We started out trolling to the south with our 2-planner board running 45 feet down along with 3 surface baits skipping across the top.
Trolling was red hot today catching king fish all the way down toward the south.
Once we got about 7 miles south of our inlet we got to a wreck called the Tenneco wreck witch is 3 different pieces of an old oilrig that was sunk to make an artificial reef.
We got there only to find there were already 3 other charter boats fishing the wreck so we knew we had our work cut out for us.
We started out trolling a couple of little feathers around trying to catch some small bonitos so we could put them right back out as bait.
Once we caught a few bonitos J.J. set 3 trouble hooks in them and sent them right back out as I slow trolled them all around the wrecks.
We got our first bite after about 5 min of trolling them around but RATS the fish took off and went right back into the wreck and cut us off.
Ok here we go again and once again J.J. set the baits back out but this time I worked our way out to the deeper piece of the wreck that was in 186 feet of water.
As soon as I got over the wreck BAM the rod bent over and line was peeling off the reel. I went ahead with the boat and managed to drag the fish far enough away so it could not get us back into the wreck.
Ok so now we had Paula hanging on to the rod and the fight was on but there was one problem we were trying to catch a barracuda on a spinner rod with 20 pound test line on it but this fish was no barracuda because it just kept taking line and going down deeper and deeper. We had our hands full to say the least.
After the first 15 min I knew that this was not the first time that Paula had been fishing. She was doing a great job and this fight was going to be about finesse not strength. Paula was on it and after a good 30 min back and forth tug a war up popped this big Greater Golden Amber Jack.
WAT TO GO PAULA
Now I've got to back up in this fishing report to the last time Steve had fished with us and tell you about this little snack he had brought along and shared with us.
Steve had brought some smoked salmon from Alaska and served it on a Ritz cracker along with a little cream cheese a dash of horseradish and a small slice of a sweet pickle all to be eaten in one BIG bite. Holly Cow talk about a flavor explosion it was great so on this trip I thought I would give him a little taste of a South Florida version of flavor explosion. After this long fight I thought this would be a great time to put fishing on hold for 10 min and have a little lunch so in celebration of Paula's catch I broke out a plate full of seared black fin tuna along with some soy sauce and a bit of wasabi. (Now that's some good eaten)
O and by the way both of these snacks need a cold beer to wash it down.
After lunch we all decided to end the trip trying for some kind of a sea monster so J.J. rigged up 3 big shark baits and we were also going to put out a couple of kites with live baits suspended from them. BUT jus as J.J. started to put out the first shark bait he had glanced in front of the boat and seen a big Hammerhead shark tailing down sea.
I slowly worked our way out side of this shark keeping my eyes on him the whole time than I slowly worked our way back inside keeping way south of the shark the whole time and waited for him to come to us.
All of a sudden you could see that the shark had gotten the sent and he lit up and darted toward our bait like a missal. J.J. locked up the reel I went ahead with the boat and we were Hooked Up.
This time Steve jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a back and forth tug a war for a good 25 min till at last Steve had his 83 inch hammer head shark to the boat. We got a quick measurement and a couple photos and released back to the ocean to fight again some other day.
Now what we had our sea monster we had a box full of kings and of course we had Paula's big amber jack but we still had a good hour or so left to fish.
We thought what the heck everything we had tried today seemed to work so we decided to go into shallow water about 110 feet of water and set out our kite in front of a ship that has been anchored up there for the last couple of weeks and had a lot of bait fish all around it.
We set out our kites just feet away from 4 other charter boats that were trying to catch bait in front of the ship when all of a sudden a kingfish or should I say a smoker king came sky rocketing out of the water and grabbed our left long kite bait and we were Hooked Up again. I don't recall who got in the chair but when it was al said and done we had a 44 that's right a 44-pound smoker king fish in the boat.
WHAT A WAY TO END A GREAT FISHING TRIP ABOARD THE HOOKED UP
Steve, Paula and John what can I say thanks soooo much. Some times I can't believe they pay me to have this much fun. See you guys again soon.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344
March 25
Today we had a shared charter with once again one of our regular customers/friend Fred from Manhattan Ney York and we also had Corey and Eddie from St Louis.
We started out trolling the reef with Fred landing a small black fin tuna and Corey and Eddie each landing a couple of kingfish.
Ok now that the skunk was out of the box time to go for the big ones.
We set out three shark baits with one on the surface one half way down and last but not least one 350 feet down on the bottom.
We kept trying to set out our kites to get a couple more live baits out there but due to the lack of wind it turned out to be what we call a kite mare.
But that was ok I had just told everyone that I had a good feeling and to hang in there I was sure that some big fish was going to swim up here any min now. No sooner than the words came out of my mouth Captain Greg yelled out here he comes! Sure enough there was this big Hammer Head Shark coming in fast on one of our baits. And just like that we were Hooked Up. By the way guys I really did not see Eddie jumped in the chair and the fight was on. And when I tell you the FIGHT was on I mean it this fish went nuts on Eddie. He would gain a little line and the shark would take twice as much back.
This Back and forth tug a war went on for what seemed forever and if you were to ask Eddie he would say it went on for 2 days.
I mean this fish was putting it to Eddie but he hung in there and finally got this big hammer head shark close enough for Greg to get a hold of the leader.
Than a whole new fight was on. We were trying to slide this shark in threw our tuna door to get a measurement of him so Eddie could have a replica trophy made of him but the shark had other ideas.
Finally after getting our butts kicked for about 3 to 5 min we managed to slide him into the boat.
After a couple of photos we slid him right back out to the sea to fight again another day.
While all this was going on we had Cory taking a Video so as soon as we get it we will be posting the video along with about 7 others we have saved here at the Hooked Up over the years and we will be posting them soon on http://www.tacohookedup.com so stay tuned.
Thanks again to our anglers today and Corey don't forget to send the video. (LOL)
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344
