Today we set out for a couple of hour of deep-sea fishing g aboard the Hooked up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale with Garry, Kerry, Joel and Layna, all from Neodesha Kansa City. We started out trolling the reef with everyone catching some bonitos.

Than we worked our way to a wreck and set out some live baits on the wreck with Kerry and Layna each catching nice barracudas.

Guy’s I want to thank you again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-434

What a great fun day of fishing aboard the Hooked up today!

We set out on a 4-hour fishing trip with Brain and Anglo from Davie Florida.

As it turned out these guys have lived next to each other for years and have become best of friends.

Now all I had to do was to produce some big game fish and some good eating fish for these guys.

(Easy enough right?) Well bearing in mind it ins a Saturday and the weather was beautiful and there are about 1,000,000 boats out here today this was going to be a chalange to say the least.

So I figured to start out with what would give us the best odds.

So out went the 2 planner boards along with 3 baits skipping across the surface.

With in 5 min of setting the baits out there Brain had hooked into a kingfish but as he was reeling him in it got tangled into 2 other lines. So while Brian and J.J. were getting the lines untangled I yelled down to Anglo to hand me up one of the rods to help keep it from getting tangled into the others.

All of a sudden we had a sailfish all over the rod I had in my hand. Truth being told I tried 6 times to hook this fish and I just kept missing him so I got frustrated and yelled down to J.J. (Hey You Give this A Shot).

Son of a gun J.J. hooked this fish and the fight was on. Nice going J.J.

After a good 15 min fight Anglo got his first sailfish ever to the boat. We got a couple quick photos and watched him swim away in great shape.

After some high fiving and some hand sharking we went right back to trolling.

Ok so the kings and bonitos were biting and before we knew it we had 4 nice kingfish in the box along with a bunch of bonitos and one sailfish.

Now while the kings are edible they really are not the greatest eating fish around.

We decided to try some live bait fishing with 4 live goggle eyes suspended from our kites.

Within 20 min of live baiting I saw this big cobia coming in fast on our left short kite bait and just like that we were Hooked Up again.

This time Brain jumped in the chair and the fight was on. Now for those of you who have never caught a cobia before let me tell you a little about how they fight.

Cobias really don’t fight that hard UNTILL YOU GAFF THEM that’s when all hell breaks lose and today was no exception.

J.J. sunk the gaff into this 35 to 38 pound cobia and all hell broke lose. Not to mention this fish broke the gaff. J.J. just turned and looked at me and said (He took it all man he took it all) (LOL) J.J. was left standing there with nothing but a stick with no hook on the other end. But with J.J. quick thinking he grabbed a second gaff and before you knew it he was in the boat raising all kinds of hell in the boat.

What a blast fishing with you guys.

Brain and Anglo looking forward to our next trip very much!!

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

Today I had my buddy Jeff from Jacksonville and his son Hennery aboard along with my uncle Albie and his grand son Jake from Raleigh North Carolina.

Today we were just out for a few hours for some fun in the sun and to see what we might trick into eating one of our baits.

We started out trolling the reef with Hennery coming on strong at first by landing three quarters of a 15-pound kingfish.

But trolling was on the slow side today so we brought in the trolling gear and set out 2 kites with 4 live baits suspended from the kites.

Here’s where Jake kicked it into gear. His first fish turned out to be a 45 inch barracuda that put on a great show for us jumping all over the place. Jake finally got his barracuda to the boat we got a couple of quick photos and released back into the sea to fight again another day.

No sooner than we release his first barracuda along comes another barracuda and this one even bigger.

This fish was in the air more then in the water. What a great show this 48-inch barracuda jumping all over the place.

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Now for those of you who follow my fishing reports you might remember a few months ago when I took my Uncle Teddy out fishing and he had some kind of a heat stroke or something and he had to be taken away in an ambulance.

Well I’ve got to say that when I seen Uncle Albie looking over the side of the boat and his lunch coming back up this trip was over!! (LOL)

Sorry guys I am going to get a bad reputation for trying to kill my family members.

Well we caught a few fish and had some great belly busting laughs.

Thanks again Jeff, Albie, Jake and Hennery lets do it again soon.

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

Today we took out a family from Chicago for a few hours off deep-sea fishing off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

We had Dave, Dennis, Joyce, Andy, Jeff and Ellen.

We started out trolling the reef with 2-planner boards running about 45 to 50 feet deep along with 3 baits skipping across the surface.

Today it was the deeper lines that produced most of the fish with us boating a box full of bonitos and one nice kingfish.

Ok so now that the skunk was out of the box and everyone had caught some fish so we switching from trolling to big game fishing.

We set out our kites with some live baits and one big shark bait all suspended from the kites and two big shark baits down deep.

After a bit of waiting one of the shark rods bent over line started peeling off the reel and Andy jumped in the chair. Yahoo the fight was on.

After a 25 min back and forth tug a war Andy reeled in the 6-foot hammerhead shark.

Guys I am sorry we did not have our camera on board and we never did get any pictures so Andy if you got any please e mail them and we would love to post them.

Guy’s thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

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

Well here we are again in mid July and it is time for our annual East Penn Fishing trip to Bimini in the Bahamas.

Every year East Penn invites some of their best clients/ customers/friends for an all expenses paid 3 day fishing trip off the beautiful water of the Bahamas.

This year East Penn had brought a couple    of celebrities along word famous fresh water fisherman and T.V. celebrities Roland Martin and Jimmy Houston.

Truth being told some of us Captains kind of rolled our eyes about having these guys here to take pictures with and to have them autograph the photos. (MAN WAS I WRONG)

These guys were great to hang with and shoot the #%&* with. I think I was one of the first ones to get a picture taken with them and I hope some time soon our paths pass again.

These guys would start talking about all their fishing stories and things that had happened to them in the past filming and fishing and they would just have us in stitches laughing so much.

We arrived on a Friday and then we fished 3 days with a group that flew in, then another group flew in and we fished with them for 3 days, and once again a last group flew in and another 3 days of fishing.

Everyday the anglers on one boat got to fish on another boat the next day so we had a different group aboard the Hooked Up each day.

Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention there were three little tournaments which gave all of us incentive to kick some butt while we are out there fishing.

I must admit that the competition consisted of a few boats that like the Hooked Up that fish everyday and are quite good at this fishing thing.

This year we had Thomas Flyer, Sea Hawk and Wild Life all out of Miami, Florida and than we had the Hooked Up and the Local Knowledge out of Fort Lauderdale. Then we had the smaller but yet much faster boats that could run to find the fish the Sharkys Machine #1 and the Sharkys Machine #2 both out of Ft Lauderdale.

Aboard the Hooked Up we had so many different anglers from all over the world that I never did keep track of everyone’s name but I did keep track of a few that caught some amazing fish and FISHING WAS GOOD!!!

Our first day of fishing started out with a group from Mexico and fishing was going along pretty much how we expected it to go with us catching a few barracudas and mackerels on the reef and then off shore we went looking for some dolphin fish.

All of a sudden out of nowhere this 400 pound plus Blue Marlin darted up behind our right short bait  took off with our lure.

When I say line was screaming off the reel I mean it was smoking and within 20 seconds we were down to lees than a half a spool and we were using a big 80 wide reel with 100 pound test for line.

Then just as quick as it had started it was over and the fish was gone.

(RATS AND DOUBLE RATS)

As it turned out the line had broke. Now as fisherman we know fish are going to get away but that’s just not supposed to happen but it did and we just had to get over it and try again. All we could figure was there must have been a bad spot in the line.

The following day we decided to troll off shore and work our way down to the south.

Once again we were picking at the barracudas and mackerels on the reef as John and Jerry from San Antonio, Texas were having a few cold ones and just enjoying the day.

After a few laughs and a few fish later we decided to just go for broke and off shore we went in search of some dolphin fish or maybe a billfish.

We were trolling with 2 big 80 international reels filled with 100 pound test line with 2 big marlin lures real close to the boat.

We also set out 3 more lines with little bonito strips on them hoping to catch some dolphin fish for dinner. We had 2 20 internationals’ with 30 pound test out of the riggers and I had the same up on the fly bridge set way back.

And that’s when we got our second shot at a blue marlin only this time not on one of the big reels, we got him hooked on a little 20 international that was up on the bridge with me.

John jumped in the chair and the fight was on. We knew that the chances of us catching this fish on this light tackle were slim to none but all the same, at this point we were connected and we were going to give it our best shot.

After about 15 or 20 minutes I noticed that John was covered in sweat and was starting to reel a little slower. I also noticed that every time he would reel, the rod would turn back and forth. I knew the gimble had come loose on the bottom of the rod so we had that going for us!

15 or 20 minutes later J.J. and I heard John say something about some one else trying for a while

That’s when these words just came out of my mouth and right into John’s ears.

(Come on you pale white softy, you can do it) Don’t know for sure what it was about calling him a pale white softy that did it but he let out a big laugh and seem to have gotten his second wind.

Another 20 minutes later John had his first blue marlin to the boat, in fact we found out it was the first time John had ever gone fishing in his life!

We slid John’s 180 to 200 pound marlin into the boat for a quick measurement to have a replica trophy made of Johns first fish ever, then we just slid him right back out the door to fight again another day.

After some hand shaking and some high fiving we proceeded to use a bunch of 4 letter words explaining to John how people fish their whole lives trying to catch a blue marlin not to mention of such light tackle.

The cold ones were flowing well that night while we were celebrating first place but we still had one more day to hold on to it.

The following day we had a bunch from Mexico.  While I did not get all their names I did a couple and I’ll get to that in a minute.

Well as you cam imagine after losing a blue marlin a couple of days ago and catching one yesterday well I guess you can say that all of the boats started getting blue marlin fever.

So today we headed right off shore with the exact same spread of baits that seemed to work for us the last couple of days.

As you can imagine there was a lot of chitter chatter on the radio and yes I had to put my 2 cents in about the blue marlin so at this point everyone was busting my chops about using up all my luck and so on.

That’s when it happened, another blue marlin on my high line again and just like that we were Hooked Up. Enrique jumped in the chair and I jumped on the radio.

At first this blue marlin was taking some line and at the same time no one on the radio believed we were Hooked Up again. Then Enrique started gaining line and one of the other boats saw us spinning around trying to ease another blue marlin on light tackle to the boat.

J.J. reached out and grabbed the leader and YES we now were holding on to first and second place. While it was only about a 100 pounder it was a blue marlin all the same on light tackle.

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Then we ran to a deep drop off on what we call the ledge and hooked into a big bottom fish. Carlo jumped in the chair and the fight was on. 10 minutes later up popped this big 36-pound amber jack.

Captain Mike aboard the Local Knowledge said he was going to stab me in the heart with a bill from a fish and Captain Brian on the Sharkys Machine 2 said it was all due to J.J. And that was how the bantering went on the radio for the rest of the day.

The saying on the dock was (Thank God For J.J.) I just don’t get any respect but that’s ok I put us all on  these fish and those jealous Captains can’t take that from me. (LOL)

Then we heard on the radio that the Wild Life was hooked up into nice blue marlin and they had hooked the fish with a 50 international reel so these guys had a good shot at landing this fish and that would for sure knock us out of first place.

But as it tuned out Jimmy Houston and Roland Martin were filming right next to where the wild life had hooked up so they passed the rod over to be caught aboard Roland’s boat where the film crew was. They ended up finally getting this 250 plus blue marlin to the boat. Way to go guys!!!

We don’t know for sure what was going on off Bimini but all of us were just glad to be here while the bite was on.

The boys on the Thomas Flyer had spent the last few days running a good 40 to 45 miles to the north searching for tunas. While they had managed to catch a few they now seemed to get the blue marlin fever everyone else was getting.

And Captain Mike aboard the Local Knowledge managed to leave all of us captains scratching our heads as he hauled in monster grouper after monster grouper all in the 70-pound range.

While the Sea Hawk did a great job keeping all their anglers busy catching Big Barracudas, Mackerels along with a bunch of bottom fish.

Sharkys Machine 1 spent a lot of time fishing the bottom and producing lots of big amber jacks and yellow tail snappers. And last but not least Sharkys Machine #2 with Captain Brian at the helm spent his time running around off shore and it seemed that he was the only boat that found dolphin fish every day.

The following day we went off shore again.  That’s right, looking for anther shot at a blue but all we ended up with was some dolphin fish and a hand full of barracudas.

Again the next day off shore catching about 6 or 7 dolphin and once again more barracudas but at this point all of us Captains had about enough of Captain Mike throwing all these groupers on the dock.

So back to the drop off we went and down went a big hunk of barracuda and then all at once BAM the rod bent over Mike from Minnesota jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

About 10 min later up popped this 45 pound black grouper.

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Over the next few days we tried these drops again and again but only catching sharks and one big half of another black grouper.

On the next day we went back to trolling off shore and by this point it seemed all the boats were off shore trolling looking for that one bite that would put them in first place.

Right off the bat we got another bill fish bite and yes once again on the high line.

This time Big Al from New York jumped in the chair and it seemed it was only fitting that he got the shot because Doug, Gerald and Paul were all inside in the A.C. licking their wounds from the night before.(LOL)

It took Al about 5 minutes to have his nice big 175 pound sail fish to the boat. (Ok so maybe it did not weigh quite 175 pounds but that was what they were going with and if you’ve met anyone from Jamaica or Queens, New York you would not want to disagree with them either. Al said 175, I’m going with it.

When it was all said and done the Hooked Up ended up with 2 first places and one second place catching 2 out of 4 blue marlin, 1 out of 3 sails, 1 big 45 pound black grouper, and another half of a black that weighted 28 pounds along with 1,000,000 barracudas and mackerels and other reef fish.

I want to thanks Brian, Ken, Sally and about 20 other guys that work for East Penn for having us back again this year and we are looking so forward to fishing with the East Penn guys again.

I would also like to thank all the other captain and mates for making us feel like family.

And to all of our anglers from Canada, Mexico and the good old USA thanks again and we are looking forward to fishing with all you guys again next year.

And last but not least, Jimmy Houston and Roland Martin it was a real honor hanging out with you guys for the last week and best of luck with all your fishing and shows.

On a closing note to all of my readers out there, we are looking forward to fishing with you but if you find yourself in Miami and are looking to go fishing I’ve got a couple of boats and Captains down there that will show you nothing less than a great time on the water.

Thomas Flyer Captain Jimbo  (305) 374-4133

Wild Life Captain Pete

Sea Hawk Captain Al (305) 358-7632

Thanks again to everyone and tight lines.

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

Today we had Antonio, Chris, Paul and Andy from New York out for a little deep-sea fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale.

Once again we went right to trolling the reef and once again the bonitos were biting like mad dogs.

We ended up catching a box full of bonitos one nice kingfish and a black fin tuna.

Guys thanks again it was a ball fishing with all 4 of you and we hope to see you guys again some time this winter.

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

Today we had a 2 boat fishing charter with the boys Matt, Little Matt and Don all fishing aboard the Hooked Up and Candy, Katie, Amanda and Madison all fishing aboard the Local Knowledge.

So off we went fishing with the family from Chicago out for a little friendly completion.

At the end of the trip both boats landed about 1,000,000 bonitos. Aboard the Hooked Up we thought we had it won when Little Matt landed a big amber.

But than the Local knowledge backed in with lots of bonitos and three kingfish weighing about 9 to 10 pounds each and with their big king tipping the scales at 16 pounds.

The amberjack weighed more but the 3 kings weighed more than the 1 amberjack so we decided it was a draw and we all won with one hell of a fun time fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale

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

Today we had Jim and Lynda from Ft Lauderdale and their friends that were visiting from Atlanta Ga. Garrett, Veronica, Ernie and little 9-year-old Carter.

We started out trolling just outside of the reef catching yep you guessed it bonitos.

We also tried some deep drops with live bait and managed to pull out one nice amber jack.

Guy’s thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

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

Today we started out fishing with Mike, Shaq and Christina all from New York.

We went right to trolling just outside the reefs and once again the bonitos were biting like mad dogs.

We ended up with a box full of bonitos and 3 kingfish.

As we got back to the dock we had Jerry, Steve, Bob and Randy all from the warm state of Minnesota waiting and eager to give luck a shot at some deep sea fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale.

Once again we started out with the sure catch and yes once again the bonitos were biting good.

Once everyone had caught a good hand full of fish we brought in the trolling gear and set out some shark baits.

We had one bait on the surface one down about 150 feet attached to a balloon for a bobber and one down 350 feet on the bottom.

We waited and waited and than all at once the balloon took off the rod bent over line was screaming off the reel and we were Hooked Up.

Bob jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

After a good 30 min battle Bob finally got this monster hammerhead shark to the boat.  J.J. slid Bob’s fish in the boat in order to get a quick measurement to have a replica trophy made got all 3 hooks out and slid him right back into the sea to fight again anther day.

Guys sorry we did not have the camera aboard so Bob if you guys could e mail us the photos we would love to post them.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today for spending the day fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

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

Today we started out fishing with Charlie and his sons Kevin, Jack and Ryan. They also brought along his nephew Drew and a close friend of the family Jonny all from Cosaltos California.

We started out trolling just out side the reef with one wire line and 2 planner boards all running about 45 to 50 feet deep along with 2 baits skipping across the surface.

Once Captain Greg got all the baits set Greg had turned around to do something when we got a bite on one of our surface baits.

We figured for sure it was a bonito but since nether one of us seen the bite and one of the guys was saying that he had seen the fish jump.

Well we know that bonitos just don’t jump so we started paying a little more attention as Kevin jumped in the chair.

We never did see anything jump but as Kevin reeled his fish closer to the boat (I’ll be dammed it was a sailfish)

Captain Greg managed to slide Kevin’s sail into the boat for a quick measurement and a couple of quick photos to have a replica trophy made of Kevin’s first sailfish.

After some high fiving and some hand shaking we went right back to trolling. Now the bonitos were biting like mad dogs. I don’t know for sure how many we caught but I do know we caught more than enough.

We ended the trip with 3 big shark baits set out. One on the surface one down about 150 feet and one all the way down 350 to the bottom.

We waited and waited without a bite when all of a sudden we had a Hammerhead shark come in hard on our surface bait. He picked it up than it seemed as if he just let it go or so we thought.

As it turned out this shark had somehow managed to get this bonito away from 3 hooks without getting hooked.

RATS Ok back out with the baits but what we did not know was that when I went ahead with the boat some how the bottom bait got tangled into the middle bait.

About an hour later when it was time to go and we were reeling in the baits we seen right behind the boat the 2 baits tangled up.

That’s when all hell broke lose as Greg was trying to untangle these 2 baits here comes this hammerhead shark hot and after the baits.

At this point we had no choice but to try to slowly pull away and try to get the baits untangled.

As it turned out when I pulled ahead with the boat we spooked the shark and we never did see him again.

Charlie and the rest of the gang thanks again for a fun morning on the water and hope you guys have a ball on your cruse.

As we pulled back to the dock we had Chris and his 2 daughters Caitlyn and Abigail all from Huston Texas eager and ready to give their luck a shot at some deep sea fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale aboard the Hooked Up.

Once again we started out trolling just outside the reef and catching all the bonitos we wanted.

Once everyone had caught plenty of bonitos we went right back to shark fishing in the same spot where we had lost the shark earlier.

This time it took quite a bit of waiting but than all of a sudden the shark rod bent over line was screaming off the reef and Chris jumped in the chair we were Hooked Up and the fight was on.

This turned out to be a good 35 to 40 min back and forth tug a war.

Finally Chris got this big Hammerhead shark to the boat. We got a measurement and once again a couple photos and watched him swim away in good shape.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today it truly was a special fun day of fishing for us today.

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

Today we started out fishing with Terry and Jennifer and their kids Dillon and Britt all from Tennessee.

We went right to trolling on the reef and once again the bonitos were chewing along with a few small kingfish.

We ended up with a box full of bonitos and 3 kings.

As we got back to the dock we got ready to take out Tim, Jeff, Greg and David all from Nebraska.

This afternoon we went right to big game fishing. We did not have enough wind to fly our kites but we did manage to set out a shark bait on top one about 150 feet down and a bait all the way down 350 feet to the bottom.

We got a bite on the surface by a nice hammerhead shark but somehow he managed to get the bait off the hooks and swam away with a free meal.

Ok so we missed him but at least we knew there were some around.

About a half an hour later our deep rod bent over and line started peeling off the reel Jeff jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

After a good 25 min of a back and forth tug a war Jeff got his hammerhead shark to the boat.

We got a quick measurement and a couple of photos and watched him swim away in great shape.

Ok now we were looking good and some of the pressure was off but just when we least expected it our balloon went down and this time Tim jumped in the chair and we were Hooked Up again.

After another 25 min we could see the bait hanging out of the mouth of something but we just could not make out what it was.

As it turned out we were fishing in purple water and this fish was also purple a Mako shark!!

Tim I don’t know if you really know what a rare catch that is down here in South Florida but I’ve got to say you must have a horseshoe stuck to you somewhere.

David ended up catching a good buzz and Greg well lets just say Greg got to lose some weight today. (LOL)

Guys all kidding aside it truly was a ball and we are looking forward to fishing with you guys again hopefully in Jan.

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

Today we started out fishing with Matt, Tom Randy AKA Little Cuba and I don’t feel so good Dan all from Conn.

We went right to trolling the reef and once again the bonitos were biting like mad dogs and we really lost count of how many we caught but except for the little barracuda that Little Cuba caught the rest of the fish box was filled with bonitos.

A thanks again guys you were a blast to fish with.

As we got back to the dock we a shared charter arranged consisting of Greg and his son Carter from Chicago along with Rami from Austin Texas and last but not least one of our regular anglers aboard the Hooked Up Greg from Baltimore.

Back to trolling the reef and catching bonitos one after another. We planned on fishing a shipwreck but just as we got to the wreck on of my engines just died and we just could not seem to get it started up.

As it turned out it would be 3 days before we could get parts to fix it. Just my luck break down on the 4^th of July weekend.

But we did mange to catch everyone fish and we got back to the dock safely.

Thanks again guys.

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

Today we started out the new moth fishing with Tiffany, Allie, David and Doug from Chattanooga Tennessee.

Once again we started put trolling on the reef and once again the bonitos were biting like mad dogs and everyone got to fight 4 ob 5 of these bulldogs of the Atlantic.

The bonitos were biting so well that at a couple different times everyone aboard was fighting a fish at the same time. Wahoo talk about a blast.

Ok so now the skunk was out of the box so in came the trolling gear and out went the big rods looking for that sea monster.

As it turned out before we knew it we were doing battle with a big 6 to 7 foot hammerhead shark.

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Not bad for a 4 hour none stop full of action fishing trip. We ended up with about 1,000,000, bonitos and 1 2 to 3 hundred pound hammerhead shark.

Thanks again guys.

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

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