Today was kind of a special day aboard the Hooked up we are heading out fishing for sail fish for a new TV show that will be airing on the discovery channel call Extreme Fishing.
We were joined by the host of the show Robson Green the director Jason Holmes, Camera Craig Herd, Sound Peter Prada, Associate Producer Findlay Mcrae and Location Producer Sarah Hunt all based out of Scotland.
We started out filming at the dock for over an hour talking about how we were going to target these sail fish and how the fishing kites actually work. After filming for a few min at the dock the crew asked me if I would mind working the cockpit so that I would actually be there with Robson during the fishing and hopefully the catching.
We headed out with a couple of things in our favor and a couple of things working against us. We had cool weather about 53 degrees which was good and we also knew that we had caught a few sails in the past few day. But once made the decision to run about 5 miles to the north we realized that not only did we have no current what so ever but we also had just barely enough wind to hold our kites up in the air. But here we were and we were going to make the best of the conditions we had.
Once Captain J.J. got the kites up in the air I started hooking our live goggles (bait) way in front end of the bait this way J.J. could keep bumping the boat forward to keep the kites flying and the baits would just be slowly trolled across the surface.
We struggled at this for well over 2 hours without a bite. (RATS)
Then J.J. yelled down from the fly bridge that he had been talking to a friend of his who was fishing about 11 miles south of us and that he had some north current down there and the he had caught a sailfish. Having said that everyone onboard grabbed a rod and we got all the baits in a quick as possible and we started our hour long journey down to the south.
As soon as we got there hopes were high and the water had a good blue color to it but the wind had let out even more so keeping the kites up became a real struggle.
We managed to keep our kites flying for about an hour but that was just not working out to well for us so we brought in the kites and set our baits out connected to the out riggers and started slow trolling them back and forth between 150 feet of water out to over 300 feet back and forth. All of a sudden out of nowhere popped up this dolphin fish and we were Hooked Up. As Robson was reeling his first fish of the day in we saw another dolphin fish swimming around than another and than even more dolphin. Ok so this was not the fish we were looking for but hell we had fish behind the boat and they were biting. When it was all said and done we had over a half a dozen dolphin in the box and we managed to get some great footage of these fish jumping and even some underwater shots of them and we all get to have a great dinner to boot.
I've got to admit it was a real let down to have never seen the sailfish we had worked so hard to catch but everyone seemed to have a great time all the same and they said that they did get some real good footage for their show. In fact they said that the chemistry onboard the Hooked Up was so good that they were going to give it another shot this coming Sunday if they struck out with this other boat they had already made reservations with.
As it turned out they had reserved Bouncer Smith out of Miami Florida and while the fishing was not red hot the following day either Bouncer did manage to pull a rabbit out of his hat and finally put them on a real big sail fish. (Way to go Bouncer)
To Robson and the rest of the crew at Extreme Fishing thanks again for a fun day of fishing and thanks again for the opportunity to be on your show. We are all looking forward to watching the show sometime this summer.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 12
Today the weather is in the 30s and I've got to say that we down here in Sunny South Florida are just not used to this weather BUT the sailfish sure do seem to turn on like no other time of the year as right now and today was no exception.
We started out our day with Tom and Steve from Main Toney from Baltimore, Louis from Texas and John from Alabama.
Once again we started out picking up some live baits from the live bait boat and went right to kite fishing. We set out our kites in 180 feet of water with our live baits suspended from the kites.
It didn't take long before we got our first bite and as we were trying to feed the first sail fish a bait another one popped up and than one more popped up. We ended up hooking 2 out of the 3 that had popped up.
We caught those 2 and set our baits right back out there. Once we got everything set back out there another one popped up and we hooked this one as well.
By the end of our 4 hour trip with about 2 hours and 45 min of actual fishing everyone on the boat had caught a sailfish.
Five sailfish in less than 3 hours of fishing now that's what we call RED HOT FISHING.
Thanks again to all of our anglers today and once again we are so sorry about not having our camera fixed yet so we never got any pictures of the fish.
If any of our anglers today can e mail us some photos we would love to post them along side our reports.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 13
Today we had 3 guys Joe, J.R. and John from Chicago out for a few hours of deep sea fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale aboard the Hooked Up.
We started out picking up some live baits and went right to kite fishing in about 200 feet of water. Once we got our baits all set out suspended from the kites the trap was set and we began our wait. Fishing started out a bit slow for us but after a bit of patience up popped our first sail fish of the day.J.R. wasted no time jumping in the chair and the fight was on. It was a big back and forth tug a war for a good 20 min before J.R. finally got his big sailfish along side of the boat. We got a quick measurement to have a replica trophy made of J.R., s catch and watched him swam away in good shape.
(Ok one down and 2 to go.) After getting all the baits reset out under the kites we started our waiting again and sure enough BAM we got another shot and this time Joe jumped in the chair and his fight was on. I've got to say that while all of this fishing was going on John was down stairs sleeping and he really either did not care much for deep sea fishing or maybe he was feeling a little under the weather but all the same with all the shouting going on we finally managed to wake him up and we also managed to get Joe's fish to the side of the boat. (Ok 2 down and 1 to go.)
Once again we got the baits back under the kites and once again the trap was set. All of a sudden we saw a big shark fin swimming around by our kite baits. J.J. kept reeling the bait up in the air every time the shark tried to eat it because we were using monofilament leaders and we knew the this shark would bite threw the leader as if it was hot butter. But some how J.J. turned his head for just one second and BAM we were Hooked Up to the big hammer head shark with a monofilament leader.We all decided it was time to put John (AKA sleepy head) in the chair. We knew that our odds of catching this shark with no wire leader were slim to none but all the same John went at it. After a good 10 min of fighting this shark John somehow had the fish turned around and heading toward the boat. BUT sorry to say we ended up breaking him off about 50 feet from the boat.
Guys thanks again for a fun morning of deep sea fishing
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free at (877) SEA-4344
Jan 15
Today we had some good friends of mine on board Jeff, Jim and Pam all came down from Jacksonville just because I had let them know that the sailfish bite was on. We were also joined by our old friend Captain Scott from Ft Lauderdale but he was just there to help us drink all the beer that Jim had brought along and also to help out in the cock pit.
Our day started out with loading up the boat with plenty of beer and vodka. Once we had the drinks loaded onboard we went right to getting some live baits just in case we decided to do any fishing (LOL)
The ocean was a bit on the rough side today I would say 4 to 6 foot seas so we knew that fishing was going to be a bit tough but we all felt we were up for the challenge.
Today we had Captain Greg driving the boat and yes yours truly was down in the cock pit. Once we got to about 150 feet of water Greg set out both kites and we suspended our little live goggles from the kites.
Everyone on board had caught sailfish in the past so we had preety good anglers ready for the fight. But we never expected a bite as fast as we got our first bite. I would say our baits were out there no more than 10 min till the first sail fish showed up on our right long kite bait. The sail grabbed the bait and started running with as if were never going to stop till will locked up the reel and set the hook. All of a sudden this fish went absolutely nuts dancing all over the surface of the water. Pam jumped in the chair and the fight was on. I really think this fish spent more time in the air than in the water.
Like I had said before all of our anglers had caught sail fish in the past and I've got to say Pam really put it to this fish. She got her sail next to the boat in 12 min and this was all during a pretty rough day. Once we got the fish near the boat it still was going nuts. Check out this shot!!
Ok one down and one to go. Jim was chomping at the bit to get his chance in the chair. We got the baits right back out there and it seemed like in no time BAM we were connected again and Jim was in the chair hooting and hollering. Jim's fish did not do quite as much jumping around as Pam's fish did but this thing just kept digging down deep and it was a reel bear to finally get next to the boat. Once we got it next to the boat I don't know if it was the beer or the vodka or if was just the size of this fish but Jim decided he really wanted a photo and a measurement of this monster 95 inch sail fish.
After a quick picture we got this monster back in the water in great shape to fight again another day.
This is Jim and I getting him back in the water a quick as possible.
This is Jim trying to kiss me but I managed to run to the front of the boat and I can still say that I've never been kissed on the lips by a guy (LOL)
All in all it was simply a blast fishing today and to all of our readers out there if you're looking to fight a big fish the time is now. We should have these big sail fish and big sharks here right thru May so give us a call and let's get you Hooked Up but remember no kissing Taco at least not the guys.(LOL)
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 22
Today we had Frank and his son Zach from Wilton Manners in South Florida and Jeff and his son Joshua from St Petersburg Florida Dave from Houston Texas and also Dave from New Jersey.
The whole idea of this fishing trip was for the 3 doctors to relax and to catch the kids some fish but we had no idea what a great trip it would turn out to be.
We started out by stopping by the live bait boat and picking up a dozen live goggle eyes than we went right to kite fishing. We set out both kites with 4 of our live baits suspended from the kites.
Ok now the baits were all set out there and the trap was set.
After about 10 min of waiting we seen a sailfish jumping (we call it a flopper) just north of our long kite baits and he was heading south so we let the kites out just a little further hopping to get one of our baits right in front of him. But what we didn't notice was that while we were trying to get our baits out further Captain Greg seen another sailfish chasing our short right kite bait and before we knew what was going on Greg was feeding this sailfish a nice hearty goggle eye. Just like that BAM we were Hooked Up
11 year old Zach jumped at the chance to fight his first sailfish. He jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a great back and forth tug a war for over 15 min till Finally Zach got this nice 85 to 89 inch sailfish to the side of the boat. We got a couple of good pictures of Zach's first sailfish and watched him swim away in great shape. Nice going Zach.
While Zach was fighting his sail we also managed to keep all the other kite baits out there hopping to get in front of the flopper we had seen in the first place. While we never did get in front of the first sail we had seen we did manage to catch Zach's fish and it only took about 5 seconds to get the forth bait back in the spread. And once again the trap was set.
This time we waited a good 30 min and then all of a sudden BAM here comes another sailfish all over our short left kite bait. It took this sail no time at all to catch his meal and the fight was on with 7 year old Joshua in the chair. I'm not sure what was lit up more the sailfish or this 7 year old kid that was all over the sail fish fight. While Joshua was about 55 to 58 inches long this sail was at least 87 inches long and what a ball it was just to watch these two battle it out. At the end of this 32 min fight Joshua ended up being the victor. (Way To Go Joshua)
What a great day it seemed we could do no wrong today but wait once we got the baits back out there Greg yelled out that he thought he seen anther fish way out there by the left long kite bait. Once I got a look at what I thought was a shark Greg locked up the reel and came tight with the so called shark I thought I seen out there but much to my surprise out came this sailfish dancing all over the surface of the water and we were Hooked Up again with another sailfish.
This time Dave jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a 15 min back and forth tug a war but Dave got his fish to the boat and after a couple of quick pictures next to the boat we watched him swim away in good shape.
With only a few min left in the trip we got a bite on our right long bait only this time no one seen the bite but we figured with all the sails we were catching this just has to be another sail.
I think it was Frank that jumped in the chair but all the same whoever it was this fish never came up jumping and was coming in a bit too easy. As it turned out it was a skip jack tuna.
I've got to say what a fun day of fishing with pretty much none stop action and to top it off none of the other boats were seeing any sails so like they say every dog has his day and I guess today was ours.
Thanks again Frank and the rest of our anglers today.
Well we are way into January and the bite has been red hot so give us a call and let's get you HOOKED UP off the coast of SUNNY SOUTH FLORIDA
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
