Here we are the last day of June 2011 and what a great way to end the month.

We had Leonard and his wife Joy and their 3 sons Donald, Alex and Sammy all from San Antonio Texas.

We started out trolling the reef with 3 lines running 45 feet deep and 3 lines skipping across the surface. Today catching fish was not a problem we were catching bonitos one after anther and when it was all said and done I think we had about a million bonitos.

Bonitos are actually a false albacore and while it is not a good eating fish they do make great bait. We fillet them and we cut long diamond shaped strips out of them and we stock them up to last the rest of the year till they come back to South Florida.

They also make a great shark bait witch bring me to the next part of this fishing trip.

Once everyone had caught more than enough bonitos we brought in the trolling gear and out went the kites with 3 live baits suspended from them and one bonito also suspended from the kites.

We also sent a shark bait about 150 feet down and last shark bait 350 down on the bottom.

After a bit of waiting one of the shark rods bent over and line started peeling off the reel as if there was a fright train on the other end.

Donald jumped in the chair and the fight was on. At first Donald could do nothing but just hang on as this monster shark just kept taking line. Finally the fish slowed down and Donald started to gain a little line but wait again the shark took line.

And that’s how it went gain a little lose a little back and forth tug a war for a good 45 min till at last Donald had his monster Hammerhead shark to the boat.

We managed to get a good measurement and a few photos to have a replica trophy made of Donald’s big catch and we watched him swim away in good shape.

Guy’s thanks again for a fun action packed day of deep sea fishing aboard Hooked up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Well here we find our self’s back at June 29^th and every year we find the Hooked Up filled up with a bunch of girls celebrating my daughters B Day.

For those of you out there that read my fishing reports regularly you know that when my daughter Sam steps on a boat something crazy is going to happen!! This fishing trip was no exception!!

We set out to the open seas off the coast of South Florida this time with the Birthday Girl Sam and 3 of her good friends Dylan, Courtney and Laurel all from South Florida.

Today we even had a special Guest deck hand Max.

We were looking to just kick back do a little trolling and listen to some good music so I cranked up the radio as Max started setting out the baits. It took about 35 seconds till we had our first bite. We had a fish on one of our planner rods with a 60-foot leader behind the planner and we were all sure it was the start of us catching bonitos one after another.

Needless to say I was busting Max’s chops reel good as he stated wiring in this fish. ALL OF A SUDDEN I SEEN THE FISH and this was no bonitos it was a monster Wahoo and we had him hooked with a 60 pound monofilament leader and I knew it was just a matter of seconds till he shook his head and would be gone just like that.

But as it turned out I came racing from the fly bridge and reached way out their and managed to sink a gaff into this 50 plus Wahoo as the hooks just barely had him hooked in the lip.

Nice Going Courtney!!

We all just looked at each other and could not believe how this trip was starting out.

I just looked at everyone and said O YEA didn’t you guys know this sort of stuff always happens when Sam is aboard. (LOL)

We ended up catching 1,000.000.000 bonitos and one 52 and a half pound Wahoo.

Happy B Day Sam and we’ll see you again next year.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we fished with Mike and Patrick from Nashville Tenn. and Mike from New Mexico.

We trolled the reef with 2-planner boards running about 45 feet deep along with 3 baits skipping across the surface.

As soon as we got the baits all set all hell broke lose with bonitos attacking both the deep lines and the surface baits. It seemed we would catch 2 or 3 bonitos at a time and than 1 kingfish 3 more bonitos and than anther kingfish.

Talk about an action packed morning of deep-sea fishing off the coast of South Florida.

We ended up with a half a dozen kings and I don’t know how many bonitos.

Mike, Mike and Patrick thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we had Robert from Idaho, Lori, Tim and Cynthia from Ft Lauderdale Herbert and Frank from Ocala Florida.

We started trolling the reef with 2 planner boards running about 45 feet deep and 3 baits skipping across the surface.

We ended up with 2 nice kingfish and a half a dozen bonitos. Than we went trolling off shore and caught a few dolphin fish.

When it was all said and done we ended up with 3 dolphin fish, 6 bonitos 2 kingfish, couple barracudas and a boatload of good times.

Guy’s thanks again for a great time you were a ball to fish with.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 ob toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we had Richard and his son Richard his dad Richard and his son in law Gottii.

We started out trolling the reef catching more than enough bonitos but eating fish was really what we were looking for.

We tried some deep drops for snappers but due to the current holding the bottom was imposable. However we did manage to catch a couple snappers.

We headed off shore to troll our way back looking for some dolphin fish.

I like nothing more than writing fishing reports about lots of fish and great catches but there is a reason why they call it fishing and not catching.

Fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up does give you a big advantage because it is our back yard and we do fish these waters everyday so we do know where to go and what to do BUT not every fishing trip ins going to be a home run.

I hear it from the other fisherman all the time asking why do I post fishing reports about trips that were on the slow side. I tell them because that is fishing!

Richard thanks again and remember next time we will be staying longer and I will fish my heart out to catch you guys some good eating fish.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Ok today’s fishing story started about 20 years ago when the guy named Thomas from Norway used to come down to Fort Lauderdale when I was a mate aboard one of the boats on A dock at Bahia-Mar. Thomas had a 12 or 13 year old son Mats that he used to leave with me at the dock to ether go fishing ob to help me around the boat.

As years started going by Thomas’s son Mats continued to come to A dock and was now chartering what ever boat I was working on at the time.

Needless to say over the years we have become close friends and as luck would have it Mats and his wife had me over for a barbeque last night and Mats asked me to keep an eye on his son who was fishing off the sea wall while he ran upstairs to get something. I could not help but to thing how ironic as this crazy world in going threw some many changes today some things never seem to change.

Today happens to be Mats’ B Day and we went out for a few hours of deep-sea fishing with Mats, his son Sander and Mats good friend Matt to celebrate his B Day.

Mats said his son had a dream last night about catching a shark so that was what he wanted to try to catch.

However with Sander being only 4 years old and this being Matt’s first deep sea fishing trip I thought it would be best to start out trolling the reef trying to catch some kingfish and bonitos.

As we trolled the reef with 2 planner board running about 45 feet down and 3 baits skipping across the surface we ended up catching a half a dozen bonitos.

Ok time for the big one so in came the trolling gear and out went the kites with 3 live baits suspended from them along with one big shark bait also suspended from the kites. We also send a shark bait 350 feet down to the bottom and one last shark bait about half way down.

Ok the trap was set and within 25 min our bottom rod bent over and just like that we were Hooked Up.

We started out with Mats in the chair and his son on his lap.

But after about 10 min Mats had given us the word that he was having some neck pains due to an injury he had a couple of days ago.

Matt jumped at the chance to fight a big shark and wasted no time jumping in the chair. (Matt watch out what you wish for!!) At first Matt was having a tough time trying to reel in the biggest fish he had ever encountered but after listening to J.J. he started to get the hang of pull up and reel down and now he had a good rhythm going and before we knew it up popped this nice 7 foot hammerhead shark.

Nice going guys!!

We got a few photos and J.J. got 2 out of 3 hooks out of him and we watched him swim away in great shape.

Now things were looking good and we still had another 2 hours left to fish.

We ran off and started a little high speed trolling and ended up with 4 dolphin fish and one micro WeeHoo.

Mats Matt and little Sander thanks again and we’ll see you guys again in a couple of months.

As we got back to the dock we had Armand from Jersey Shore eager to get out on the open sea and give his luck a shot aboard the Hooked Up.

Thius time we went right to big game fishing! So out went the kites and down went the shark baits.

Once again the wait was not long till once again the deep rod bent over and BAM just like that we were Hooked Up again. 15 min later Armand had his 7 foot hammerhead shark next to the boat. After a few pictures we watched him swim away in great shape.

Ok the skunk was now out of the box and the preasure was off so off shore trolling we went and landed a couple more dolphin fish.

Armand, Mats, Sanders and Matt thanks again for spending some time fishing with us today aboard the Hooked Up.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we had Ankur, Morissa, Tyler, Mindy, Manuel and Sivlian all from parts unknown.

We started out trolling the reef catching some big bonitos and one nice 7 to 8 pound dolphin fish.

Once we worked our way to the south off the coast of Hallandale we set out one of these big bonitos with 3 big trouble hooks in him. Well this only took a couple of seconds till a big barracuda sunk his big teeth into him and started to eat what he thought was going to be a free lunch.

15 min later this big barracuda was next to the boat wishing he had left this big bonito along.

J.J. got all the hooks out of him and we all watched him swim away in good shape.

Thanks again guys for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 ob toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Ok so today we got to fish with Monty and Robin from Arizona.

Once again fishing was not red hot however Captains Greg and J.J. found a way to make thing happen.

They started out trolling the reef catching a few bonitos and kings but all in all the reef trolling was on the slow side.

Captain Greg wanted to try some kite fishing for some big game but with the lack of wind kite fishing was out of the question.

Ok so no kites but there’s more than one way to skin a cat. They set out one live bait way back along with some shark baits one on top one on bottom and one half way down.

The trap was set and soon enough it paid off when their shark bait on top connected to a balloon took off and the fight was on. After a good 25 min back and forth tug a war Monty had his 6 and half to 7 foot hammerhead shark to the boat.

After a few quick photos J.J. got 2 out of the 3 hooks out and watched him swam away in great shape.

Robin and Monty thanks again and I am looking forward to fishing with you guys on Wed.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

On May 26 I flew my daughter Samantha, My mom Joy, Sister Dinorah her daughter Veronica., and my good friend Jeff and me Taco all flew over to Kona Hawaii to visit my son Luis who now works on a boat over there called Unbelievable.

We intended to get a little R and R and just hang around the pool and visit my son on his 21^st birthday However thing to a little turn on us.

When we first got there we found out the Luis’s boss was in town and he was doing a little fishing so Luis was going to be tied up on the first day so Luis suggested that we try a little deep sea fishing with his friends Tio and Ian aboard their boat the Miss Mojo.

So off we went Sam, Jeff, Dinorah, Luis’s friend Natasha and me.

At first thing started out on the slow side just high speed trolling lures down the coast but to tell you the truth we were all just as happy as could be drinking cold beers and checking out this beautiful coast line with the volcano’s towering up toward the sky and the music playing just about as load as Tio would let us play it.

After what seemed like 10 min but was really a couple of hours Tio and Ian let us know that we were going to try something a little different. We were going to catch small tunas and slow troll live baits. Sounded good to us. And with that being said in came all the lures and out went a couple small rods with some jigs on the other end and BAM we were catching what they call bait. (We call it dinner back home) Ian the mate was lighting fast and as soon as one fish would come over the covering boards he would get the hook out and put these tunas head first into these tubes that had a great flow of water right into the little tunas face. This was their way of keeping them all alive till we set them out with these big #12 hooks sowed to the front of their eyes.

Within 45 min we were done chasing the birds around and having a ball catching these small tunas on light tackle and we were back to BIG GAME HUNTING.

We slow trolled these live tunas for a good couple of hours without a bite when all of a sudden Tio yelled down at Ian to bring in the baits and to get the green stick ready because he had spotted a bunch of dolphin off shore chasseing big yellow fin tunas around.

Ok this green stick thing I am going to try to explain to those of you who have never heard of this kind of fishing. (Me being one who has never head of this)

Above their tuna tower they have this strong 15 to 20 foot fiberglass pole that stands straight up about 35 to 40 foot off the water with a thin rope set back about 300 yards with a big 2 foot wooden bird at the end and a medium sized polly ball in front of it. Every 25 to 30 feet they had these leaders hanging off the main line with rubber squids on the end and then there is another thin rope tied to the main line just behind the boat but way up to the main line and as we were trolling about 7 to 8 knots we would keep jerking on this to get the squids to keep jumping and skipping across the surface.

What we were trying to do was to make this big wooden bird and polly ball look like a dolphin chasing these squids and the plan was to get the yellow fin tunas try to take the squids before our fake dolphin got to them.

While we never did get the bite I’ve got to say it is a cleaver way of tricking a fish.

While we were all taking turns jerking this green stick thing around Ian popped up from down below with lunch for everyone.

WOW what a great surprise Ian came out with a huge plate of seared tuna and we could not get enough of it.

Lets take a quick look back at what was going on. Flat Calm Water, Ice Cold Beer, Loud Music, Great Lunch and fishing off the coast of Hawaii with some of the closest people in my life PRICELESS it just couldn’t get any better than this ob could it??

Back to lunch and fishing. Ian had one last trick up his sleeve he broke out this ice-cold pineapple and some kind of a pineapple quark screw he cut the top off the pineapple and with some kind of a Hawaiian ritual he had Samantha throw the top out into the open sea.

O and the pineapple was off the chain.

At this point we were back to trolling lures and everyone was on the fly bridge laughing and carrying on except Tio and me. We were in the cockpit exchanging old fishing stories when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I seen a fish coming up fast on our short right lure. By the time I got to the reel he had already knocked the line out of the outrigger. I reeled the lure up reel fast hopping to get this fish to take another shot at the lure when I seen him come up fast on the right long lure but this time I got to the rod before he got to the bait and at the same time he went for it I was already turning the handle.

This all happen in about a milasecond and line was screaming off the reel as if there was a fright train on the other end.

By the time I looked Up Tio was back on the wheel and Ian was yelling at me to get in the chair. I responded back to Ian that it only looked like a 400 pounder to me and that Sam should get in the chair. Unbeknownst to me Sam was already in the chair and waiting for the rod.  So I picked up the rod and set it in the gimble as Ian hooked her up to the harness.

This really all happen in less than 10 seconds.

Than the fish jumped (rutrow) this was no 400 hundred pound blue marlin this was a full grown fish and she was in for the fight of her life!!!

Once the fish settled down and T.O. was able to back down after the fish.

This was the first time I got to see what this boat could really do. I had heard that these G and S boats were made to back down like a rocket ship but I could not believe how the boat seemed to lift a good 18 to 20 inches up and almost plain off without a drop of water coming over the coving board. By far the best fishing platform I have ever been on.

(My hats off to the designers.)

Well let me cut through the chase one hour and 40 min later we boated Sam’s 703 pound blue marlin. That’s my girl!!! What can I say she did not stop reeling till the fish was at the boat and I don’t think she stopped drinking till she fell asleep later that night

I am not really in favor of killing these big fish but my kids have grown up fishing all over the world with me and well this was what I would call a catch of a lifetime. And as far as the fish not only did I watch them clean the fish after the cleaning was done they took a knife and actually scraped all the extra meat off the bones. This fish did not go to waist and I can only imagine how many people it fed.

Also we have made arrangements with the management at the Bahia-Mar Marina and with Gray Taxidermy and this fish will become a new city monument in front of all the charter boats located on A1A at the Bahia-Mar Marina In Fort Lauderdale.

The following day we finally got to fish with Luis my son aboard the boat he was working on. And we also had a surprise for Luis we had also flown in 2 of his buddies from Fort Lauderdale to help celebrate his big 21^st B Day with us. Andrew AKA Sheep Dog and Mike AKA Molgoggan.

Once again the water was flat calm and the beer was even colder than the day before. We all knew that yesterday was a hard act to follow but we were going to give it our best and for sure a good time was going to be had by all.

We trolled lures for the first half of the trip and when we least expected it Josh hooked a stripped marlin from the fly bridge and Jeff was in the chair. I don’t think this fish had any idea what hit him because everyone on the boat except for a couple do this fishing thing for a living and we had the fish to the boat in less than 2 min. It all happen so fast that while Sam got some great footage on the video camera no one took any still photos.

Later in the day Josh put us on some small tunas and once again we slow trolled them for big game but it just was not to be today but we will be back in Aug and we will give it another shot.

The following day was Luis’s Big B Day so Dinorah and I went shopping for food and presents while Luis, Jeff. Sheep Dog and Molgoggan went golfing. Now I don’t know anything about golfing but I do know a lot about having a good time and by the looks of the video Jeff took it was a wonder nobody ended up in jail or in the hospital. (LOL)

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @(877) SEA-4344

Today we had some repeat customers-friends that have made the hooked up their go to boat here in South Florida.

We had D.J. from Staten Island and his brother Jon from Alabama along with Sara from North Carolina and last but not least Cara also from Staten Island.

We started out trolling the reef catching a few bonitos and a black fin tuna.

After trolling the reef we caught some small bonitos and slow trolled them over a shipwreck and landed a couple of nice barracudas.

Guy’s thanks again for sticking with us aboard the Hooked up and we’re looking forward to our next fishing trip with you guys.

O Yea I am still waiting for the photos so I can post them. (LOL)

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 ob toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we had what you would call a fathers day fishing trip with Steve and his father in law Rudy and also Steve’s dad Jiancahlo all from New Jersey.

We started out trolling the reef catching bonitos one after another. We also caught a mackerel and one king fish while trolling the reef.

Once we trolled our way south off the coast of Hallandale we brought in the trolling gear and started hunting for small bonitos to set out over a shipwreck.

As luck would have it the seaweed was just everywhere and the small bonitos were tough to find.

Once we finally caught one we set him out over the shipwreck and BAM just like that he was gone. (RATS) We had the bite but pulled him off.

Ok back to trying to catch another one and the weed was still everywhere. What a pain so we decided to just fly our kites with 4 live baits suspended from them and send one shark bait down to the bottom.

Well as it turned out we made the right move because none of us were really paying action to the deep rod when al of a sudden it just bent over and line was just screaming off the reel..

Holly Cow we were Hooked Up with some kind of a fright train. I can’t remember who got in the fighting chair first but I do know that for the next hour everyone took turns reeling on this Sea Monster.

Finally we got a good look at this huge hammerhead shark.

But the fight was not over by any means we still were going to try to slide this monster in threw the tuna door so we could get a measurement in order to have a replica trophy made out of this family affair catch.

About the 4^th or 5^th time Captain Greg got a hold of the leader I came running down from the fly bridge and we managed to get a head rope around his head.

As we were sliding him into the door we noticed he was hooked in the side and the hooks came right out without hurting this monster at all.

While we had him in the boat the shark actually wiggled his way around the fighting chair with a little help from us and than just swim right back out the door.

What a perfect way to release this huge Sea Monster to fight again another day.

It turned out to be a Great Gray Male Hammerhead Shark at 139 inches long now that’s a nice fish.

(We guessedtamated him to be between 450 and 500 pounds.) (WOW)

Steve, Rudy and Jiancarlo thanks again it was a blast.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 ob toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we spent the afternoon fishing with Mike the cop and his wife and soon to be mother Tammy along with their good friends Pat and his wife Dara.

We started out trolling the reef and watching Mike and Pat drink beers as if someone was going to take them from them if they did not drink them all quickly. (LOL)

They had all just gotten off a plane from Philly and needless to say they were just plain old glad to be down here in Sunny South Florida.

Let me start out by saying that Mike the Cop loves nothing more than spending the day out on a boat fishing. BUT he has this little problem. He gets sea sick but today the water were flat calm and Mike was just so glad to be out here fishing and not catching hell from his buddy Pat who always gives him a hard time about getting sick.

While trolling was a bit on the slow side today we did manage to catch Tammy a nice kingfish and then Dara also caught a nice king.

Ok time to bring in the trolling gear and set out the kites with some live bait suspended from them hopping to catch a big sailfish or a shark.

Once again fishing was a bit slow however Pat did manage to catch a nice 15-pound kingfish.

But all was well we still had some time left and now the only one who had not caught a fish was Mike.

Everything seemed ok but we did notice that Pat stopped busting Mike’s chops and we were just about to find out why!!

Sorry I promised Mike I would post this one

That’s right Pat got seasick when the waves were about 4 to 6 inches that is not feet. That’s right it was just about as calm as it can get but old Pat just could not seem to take it any more.

In retrospect I think Mike got just what he wanted and this time Pat got to hear Mike give him a REAL hard time about not feeling good.

Mike, Tammy, Dara and yes even Pat thanks again guys you guys are a ball to fish with and we hope to have you guys aboard again soon.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 ob toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we are finally back from the Bahamas and ready to start fishing Fort Lauderdale again.

We started out fishing with Jason, Chris, Frank and Sara all from St Louis.

We started out trolling the reef but today the reef was just not producing many fish for us we had caught only 2 big bonitos on the reef and by the sound of things on the VHF radio we might have been high hook.

All the same we decided to try a long shot so we went to a ledge and slow trolled a couple small bonitos and BAM we were Hooked Up.

We had hooked a spinner shark and this thing started out the fight by jumping all over the place but once he settled down it was a down and dirty fight. After a good 20 min we finally got this 5-foot spinner shark next to the boat. We got a hold of the leader and cut it as close to the shark as we safely could.

Thanks again guys I know fishing was on the slow side today but we will make it up to you next time.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

Today we left for Bimini in the Bahamas for a 10-day fishing trip.

We were invited to entertain clients for Car Quest and I’ve got to say this was a first class operation. All of our food, drinks, Bait and fuel were taken care of and as far as the clients you could not have asked for a better bunch of guys.

The way it worked was a plane would land with a bunch of guys and we would fish them for 3 days than another plane would land and pick the first bunch up and drop off another bunch of guys and so on.

So we would have the same guys breaking bread and drinking wine for 3 days at a time.

What a great time while fishing was just ok the weather was great and everyone there was just as happy as a clam just to be there us included.

The dolphin fish were hard to find the first few days but at last they showed up and we had more than enough. They were not big ones but they were the perfect size for the frying pan. We also did a lot of bottom fishing catching yellow tail snappers. a few groupers and some great eating yellow eye snappers and as far as trolling on the reef well there was as many or should I say too many barracudas and also a good hand full of mackerels.

All in all it truly was a great time and we would like to once again say thanks to Car Quest and all of the guys that came over and fishing with us. And we are all ready looking forward to fishing with all of you again next year.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 ob toll free @ (877) SEA-4344

June 14

To all of the folks that follow my fishing reports I am sorry that I’ve let the reports fall so far behind.

I was fishing in Kona Hawaii with my son aboard the Unbelievable witch is the boat my son works on.

This trip turned out to be one of the best vacations my family has ever had and my daughter even ended up catching this little fish.

Once I got back in town I had to jump on the Hooked Up and headed right over to Bimini in the Bahamas and fished for another 10 days so to say I’ve been a bit busy would be an understatement. However I am back and am going to catch up with all the reports as quick as possible.

Thanks again to all the people out there that follow my reports and now I going to get started on the reports and there will be a report on my daughter Samantha’s little fish.

Captain Taco