| Jan 1
Finally here we are in a new year. Not that 2009 was all bad but let’s face it we are all ready for a better year than last year was. And the same goes for fishing the last few days have been a bit slow out here and we are all excited about January finally being here. January has always been one of the best mounts for SAIL FISH and all of us fisherman down here in Sunny South Florida are looking forward to some cold fronts witch intern push’s down the sail fish.
We started out the New Year with Tina, Jason, Damon, Tiger and Tyler all down for the Orange bowl rooting for their Huck eyes from Iowa.
We stopped by the live bait boat to pick up some live goggle eyes for live bait and headed right out to about 150 feet of water. We set out both our kites with live baits suspended from them and the trap was set.
After some waiting we seen a big swirl in the water around our left long kite bait and then our line started slowly creeping away. As we were letting the line go it was starting to pick up speed faster and faster and then BAM out came this beautiful sail fish dancing all over the surface of the water putting a great show for us and letting us know that yes January is finally here.
We all decided that ladies go first so Tina jumped at the chance to do battle with a sail fish. Tina was having a ball and it was a big back and forth tug a war for over 30 min and one point we thought we had him coming to the boat real good but once the fish got a good look at the boat out went half the spool of line again. Ok time for a little team effort now so Jason jumped in the chair to give Tina a little break.
After another good 10 min Jason finally got this beautiful 87 inch sail fish to the boat.
Way to go guys and to make their trip even better their foot ball team the Hawk Eyes WON
Thanks again guys hope your Hawk eyes can do it again next year so we can see you down here same time next year.
It is January down here in South Florida and the Sail Fish are starting to show up real good so give us a call and let’s get you HOOKED UP
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 2
Today we started out fishing with Tim, Alicia, Greg, Terry, James and Kim all from Los Angles California. Once again we made our stop at the live bait boat to pick up some goggle eyes for live bait and went right to kite fishing. Once we got both kites set with live baits suspended from the kites.
We had a couple of chop offs from smaller king fish but still no sail fish. Then all of a sudden this monster sail fish popped up on our right short kite bait and before we knew it we were Hooked Up. Tim jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a great fight for over 20 min but at last we got his great sail fish to the boat. We got a quick measurement and a quick picture and released him in great shape to fight again another day.
Thanks again guys it was a blast.
As we got back to the dock we had Patrick, Sylvvin and Jessie eager to give luck a shot at some deep sea fishing. We went right back to where we had been fishing earlier today and once again set out both kites and from there it didn’t take long before BAM another sail fish popped up and once again the Hooked Up was Hooked Up. This fish took us a good 30 min to finally get him to the side of the boat and once again he swam away in great shape.
Thanks again to all of our anglers today and we are looking forward to fishing you guys again soon.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 5
Today we had Todd and Hope from Illinois out for some deep sea fishing. We started out by getting some live baits and then set our kites out in about 170 feet of water with the live baits suspended from the kites.
Ok so the trap was set and the wait begins. We had gotten a few short bites that we missed but we did manage to hook a couple of king fish and one nice barracuda but still not the fish we were looking for. All of a sudden our luck changed a monster sail fish was chasseing our right long kite bait all over the place and he was not going to leave till he got his meal. Soon enough he did catch his little meal and before he knew what was up he found himself in this game we call Sport fishing. This sail put on a great show dancing all over the surface of the ocean then going deep and just digging down. What a great back and forth tug a war for over 30 min but at last we got this BIG sail fish to the boat for a measurement and a quick photo to have a replica trophy made of this MONSTER SAIL FISH
Thanks again guys for a fun day of fishing and hope to see you again next year.
Captain Taco (9540 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 6
Today we had Roy from Miami, Melissa from Colorado, Nancy from Georgia and Brit from Baltimore out for a morning of deep sea fishing.
We knew that there has been a few sail fish around so we went right to kite fishing with our live baits suspended from the kites. But since there had been a few Wahoo’s around we decided to put about 8 inches of # 6 wire on the end of our leaders just in case we got a shot at a Wahoo he would not bite threw our monofilament leaders. But what happen next we never expected.
As we were watching our kite baits we seen a big fin closing in fast on one of our little live baits that was suspended from the kite. Captain J.J. knew that the odds of catching such a big shark on such light tackle would be almost imposable so he tried reeling the bait up in the air so this big shark couldn’t get to it. But this time the fish was quicker than J.J. and got to the bait before J.J. could get it up and out of the water.
Ok so now we were Hooked Up with this monster shark that was just screaming the line off the reel like a freight train and it looked as if we were never going to turn him around. But we were connected and we were going to give it our best shot. Brit jumped up and said she was up for the fight.
So with Brit in the chair and a monster shark on the other end the fight began. Much to everyone’s surprise Brit was really putting it to this fish and I don’t know if she was wearing him down or if the shark just decided to turn around to see what this was tugging on him but he finally turned around and before we knew it he was close enough to the boat for J.J. to reach out and get a hold of him.
Needless to say the shark was not happy about this and went totally nuts at the boat but before he knew what was going on Captain Greg and J.J. slid him into the tuna door.
We got a quick measurement HOLY COW 98 inch Hammer Head Shark on 30 pound test with a very light leader. Now this is a catch anyone would be proud off. (WAY TO GO BRIT)
We got a quick picture opened up the tuna door and watched him swim away in great shape to fight again another day.
Guys thanks again for a very exciting morning of deep sea fishing.
Captain Taco (9540 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 7
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 11 SAILFISH SNAP OFF
Today we started out on this very cold morning fishing with Rick and Kelly from Wyoming. The temp is in the low 40s and the current is flying to the north it is January and all of these conditions mean one thing SAILFISH.
We stopped by the live bait boat and picked up some live goggle eyes and set out both kites with two live baits suspended from each kite. The trap was set and now the wait begins holly cow no wait at all.
As soon as we got the kites out here comes our first sailfish and as we were fighting this one here comes another one eating another one of our kite baits. That was just how our day went one after another. Some of these fish were coming 2 or 3 at a time for just about the whole trip. We ended up catching 4 out of 9 fish. Every one of these fish were all big and really could not have asked for a better day of fishing.
Rick and Kelly thanks soooo much what a fun day and we are looking forward to fishing with you guys again soon.
Just as every bad story has a silver lining every great story had a bad side. The bad news was that our camera’s battery was dead and none of the pictures turned out. (RATS)
Guys if you are freezing up north get your butts down here in South Florida and let’s get you Hooked Up with some of this great sailfish action going on right now.
Thanks again to all of our readers on behalf of the Hooked Up fishing team.
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
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
Jan 23
Today we had Bill from Ohio and Trevor and Holly from Canada out for a few hours of deep sea fishing off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.
What an action packed day we had. We started out by getting some live goggle eyes (live bait) from the bait boat and went right out to 150 feet of water and set out both kites with 2 baits suspended from each kite.
The trap was set and from there it didn’t take long before our first bite. The first fish turned out to be a bonito and right after that another than anther. All of a sudden we got a bite that was a little different than the others and before we knew it out came this big sailfish dancing all of the surface of the waves.
Bill jumped in the chair and the fight was one. It took a good 30 min before Bill finally got his first sailfish to the boat. We got a few quick pictures and watched him swim away in great shape.
We ended up hooking a total of 4 sails but only managed to get one to the boat along with 7 bonitos and one nice skip jack.
Guys thanks again for a great day of fishing and we’re looking forward to seeing you again this spring.
Super bowl is right around the corner and fishing has just been red hot so give us a call and let,s get you HOOIKED UP.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 26
Today we came to work with no trips on the books but our luck soon changed and man do I mean our luck changed.
Out of nowhere came this car driving by and these guys were hoping that we might be available for a few hour fishing trip. As it turned out we were available but not for a few hour fishing trip but we were available for a few hour CATCHING TRIP.
Once we got Elyse, Nicolas and Joel from Montreal Canada aboard we headed right for the live bait boat and picked up a dozen live goggle eyes (live bait) and went right to kite fishing with 4 live baits suspended from the kites and the trap was set.
From there it wasn’t long till we got our first bite. A sailfish was all over our left long kite bait and before we knew it we were Hooked Up. Elyse jumped in the chair and the fight was on. After a good 20 min fight he got this monster sailfish to the sided of the boat. Once we released his sail we set the baits right back out and once again another sail popped up on one of our kite baits and yes once again we were Hooked Up. That was just the way our day was going we ended up catching Joel one sail, Nicolas one sail and Elyse ended up catching two sails.
Thanks again guys for a great morning of deep sea fishing aboard the Hooked up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.
If you find yourself reading our fishing reports and your somewhere up north freezing your butts off GET DOWN HERE in SUNNY SOUTH FLORIDA AND LETS GET YOU HOOKED UP.
Captain Taco (9540 764-4344 or toll free (8770 SEA-4344
Jan28
Fishing has been RED HOT off the coast of Ft Lauderdale and today was even HOTTER. WHAT A DAY WE HAD!!!
We started out with Dean, Brad and Les from South Carolina and Al and Tripp from North Carolina. Once we loaded up everyone we headed straight for the bait boat and picked up a bunch of live baits and went right to kite fishing with four live baits suspended from the kites. Once the trap was set the action started almost right away.
We had our baits out for less than 20 min when we spotted a sailfish chasing our left short kite bait while J.J. was feeding him 2 more popped up on the other kite baits. Before we knew what was going on we had 3 sails on at the same time. WAHOO what a way to start out our day. After catching all three of them we set our baits right back out there and BAM we got Hooked Up again. This went on for all morning till about 11:00 am than it just shut down as if someone hit a light switch.
But that was ok by the time the bite shut down we had caught 6 out of 9 shots and everyone caught fish and big ones to boot.
Thanks again guys and we.re looking forward to fishing you guys again soon.
Guys fishing is just about as good as it gets down here in Sunny South Florida so give us a call and let’s get you out of the cold and into the RED HOT BITE.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Jan 30
Today we fished with Greg, Steve, Anthony and Hannibal from New Jersey.
Once again we figured if it ant broken don’t fix it so we went right to kite fishing which had been producing all these sail fish for us all week. However today we had little to no current and I’ve got to say that the bite had slowed almost to a stop.
None of the boats were seeing much and after the great week of fishing we had this week we were all disappointed but all the same we hung in there and at last we got the bite and we made the most out of it. We ended up catching a big 90 plus inch sail fish. Well I guess if you’re not going to catch a lot then catch a big one and that was just what we did.
Thanks again guys and we’re looking forward to catching you guys more fish next time.
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Select another page || Go to Home Page
| 
