Today we fished with Eddo and Anna from the Netherlands and Rick and his son Nick from Coral Springs Florida.

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

Truth being told here trolling the reef was just plan slow with Nick landing the only kingfish we caught so we switched to deep dropping with a chicken rig witch consists of 5 hooks in a row with a lead at the bottom.

Finally a few fish biting.

We ended up with the 1 kingfish and a bunch of tilefish.

Guy’s thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free 2 (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today Sally chartered the boat for her husband Ian’s birthday and they brought along their daughter Megan and their good friends Kevin and his wife Ann all from down here in South Florida.

Today once again the water looked very bad once again due to all the rain we had earlier in the week. And yes once again the seaweed was everywhere with little to no current.

Ok out came the trolling gear with a couple planner board running down deep and 3 baits skipping across the surface.

Fishing was slow but we did manage to catch a couple of kingfish one of witch was too small to keep.

As we trolled our way to the south I did find a school of small bonitos so we played around a bit with them and caught a couple.

The big fish of the day came as unexpected as we were trolling the reef and our planner rod got hit and line started screaming off the reel. Megan jumped in the chair and the fight was on. After a good 10 to 15min Megan got her smoker kingfish to the boat. And get this the second Greg gaffed this fish the hook just fell out. While we never did weigh him I would say it was between 28 to 30 pounds. Talk about lucky.

All in all everyone had a good time except Sally as it turned out due to all the rain we had earlier in the week out radio stopped working and we had no music. (LOL)

Sorry Sally next time it will be working and if not I’ll just sing to you. (LOL)

Ian Happy Birth Day and we are looking forward to fishing with you guys again soon.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free 2 (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today Kevin and his wife Emily were down in Sunny South Florida from Houston Texas visiting Kevin’s dad Jim and Jim’s good friend John both from Jupiter Florida.

As it trends out Kevin and John both are avid anglers them selves with their own boats but today they were looking to see how we fish off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

We intended to do some kite fishing but due to the lack of wind we never got the shot at flying our kites. So we started out trolling the reef and truth being told here fishing was slow. I mean VERY Slow and this was just killing Captain Greg and I but we just kept trying all we could but all we were able to produce was a small black fin tuna that Jim reeled in.

Ok time to try something else.

Here was our problem we had little to no current and the water was a milky greenish brown from all the rain we had in the last couple of days. And to make matters worse there was seaweed spread out everywhere and with no wind to fly our kites we would have to slow troll our live baits through all this weed. (RATS)

So I kept looking around for a clear spot to troll our live baits around but all I could find was a small spot of water in real shallow that was half way clear of weeds.

So out went the goggle eyes (Live Baits) and the trap was set.

Than all of a sudden I seen this big kingfish skyrocket one of our live baits and BAM we were Hooked Up.

Kevin grabbed the rod and the fight was on. Once Kevin had this smoker king near the boat Captain Greg did all he could trying to get a gaff into him but this fish was like a rocket and it would dart from one side of the boat to the other. Talk about being on pins and needles! I was doing all I could to get Greg a shot at this fish and the way fishing was today we really needed to land this one.

Then all of a sudden the fish made a mistake and it was all over but the crying.

(IN THE BOX!!!)

Nice shot Greg and Kevin nice job on working this fish near the boat it was truly a team effort.

Ok so fishing was slow no I mean real slow but we had 2 things going for us today one was these guys were fisherman and they kept letting us know that they know it is fishing and not catching and the second good thing going for us is that we taking them out sword fishing this Sunday night so stay tuned for our next trip with Kevin from Texas and hopefully the big one that does not get away.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) Sea-4344  tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we fished with our friends from Finland Sven, Alexis, Matts, Eric and Roberto.

Once again we started out trolling the reef and once again the deep lines were catching all the fish. We ended up with a box full of kingfish on the deep lines while our surface baits only produced 1 black fin tuna.

Ok once again here we go trying for a big one so in comes the trolling rods and out went the shark rods.

After a bit of waiting BAM one of the shark rods got a bite and we were Hooked Up.

35 min later we had this 95-inch hammerhead shark to the side of the boat.

Talk about déjà vu today seemed just like the fishing trip we had just the other day. As a matter a fact once again we got no pictures due to the weather.

Guy’s thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we started out fishing with Sanizo, Saulo and Paulo from Brazil.

We started out trolling the reef with 2-planner board running about 45 feet down and 3 baits skipping across the surface.

Today it was all the deep lines with the planners catching 6 nice kingfish and the surface baits zero.

Ok skunk was out of the box and now it was time to try for a sea monster. In came the trolling rods and out went the big shark rods.

It took a bit of waiting but all at once the deep rod bent over and line was screaming off the reel. At first all these guys could do was to hang on to the rod as this sea monster was just taking line at will.

But after 10 min the fish settled down and the back and forth fight began.

Take a little then gain a little back and forth but 30 min later up popped this big 6 to 7 foot hammerhead shark.

Nice going guys and remember if you guys send me some of the pictures we will be happy to post them.

Sorry to say that due to the sloppy weather we never got a picture with the boat camera.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we fished with Vicky,Damian and his brother  Cosmas down visiting on vacation Good eating fish was what we were looking for.

We started out trolling the reef trying to catch a few kingfish and or maybe even a Wahoo but trolling the reef was slow and all we managed to catch while trolling was one kingfish.

Ok so trolling was slow time for plan B so in came all the trolling gear and out came our deep dropping rod.

We dropped down a chicken rig (Chicken rig is 5 hooks in a row with a lead at the bottom) while we did manage to catch a few snappers they were all small so time for plan C.

We dropped a live bait down 220 feet and finally a good bite. The rod bent over as Captain Greg went ahead with the boat to pull the fish away from the wreck so it could not get us back into it. Cosmas jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

After a good 10 min of back and forth tug a war up popped this big amber jack.

While fishing was on the slow side today I’ve got to give some credit to my crew for trying one technique after another till finally a nice fish in the box.

Carlos, Vicky and Roberto thanks again for spending the morning fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) Sea-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

WOW that’s all I think of about today’s fishing trip. No fishing was not the greatest but we did catch fish and it was all about the kids and they had a blast.

We had dads John and Todd both of them are mariners that travel on ships and they have over a generation of family friend ship between them. Both guys are from Boston but now that John is retired he lives down here in Boca Rotan and while Todd still does a lot of traveling aboard a ship between Organ and Anchorage Alaska he still makes time to travel down here to South Florida so his son Jake can hang out with John’s son Connor and keeping the family friendship alive for at lease another generation and it would not surprise me one bit if one day Connor and Jake bring their sons down to keep this family tradition going for generations to come.

All the same here we were looking for some good eating fish for this fish fry these guys had planed for tonight. BUT the little problem was we had a south current and zero wind and dirty green water in fact all the boats were complaining on the radio that nothing seemed to be biting.

Ok so we just thought out side the box and decided to head off shore and find some blue water and some north current.

So off we went trolling and trolling and yep still trolling without a bite.

Than I seen an open fisherman backing down on a fish next to a big patch of sea weed. Now the last thing I wanted to do was to move in on this guys fish so I headed toward him but stayed way to the south of where he was fighting a fish when all of a sudden BAM a rod came out of the rigger and we were Hooked Up.

Connor jumped on the rod and within 3 min Greg reached out and gaffed this nice Wahoo.

Ok fish was in the box and I started to circle the boat around to where we had just had a bite and BAM another bite and Jake wasted no time jumping on the rod and just like that a second Wahoo in the box.

I seen that this small boat had found a 12 to 15 foot long log floating and that was what he was catching his fish on but we were a good 300 yards south of him and as I did another circle around again BAM Hooked Up again. And once again Connor jumped on the rod and this time a nice Mahia Mahia in the box. Then I saw what was going on. I seen a 6-foot piece of wood floating that we did not even know was there and that was what these fish were under.

By the end of the trip we had 2 Wahoo and 2 nice Mahia Mahia in the box and 4 happy guys.

I know it was not the best catch in the world but everyone had a ball and we got plenty of fish for the fish fry.

Connor and Jake it truly was a blast fishing with you 2 young men and we hope to fish with you guys again some time soon. O yea and if you want I guess those 2 old guys (dads) can tag along if they want. (LOL)

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we went Sea Fishing Fort Lauderdale with Una and Oscar from Sweden out for a few hours of deep-sea fishing aboard the Hooked Up.

We went right out to 160 feet of water and set out our kites with 4 live baits suspended from them.

First fish was a big sailfish and Oscar jumped in the chair. After a good 20 min back and forth tug a war we finally had him to the side of the boat. Sorry to say our camera had a dead battery so we were unable to get any pictures.

Ok right back out went the baits and BAM another sailfish BUT after a couple of jumps he flipped us the fin spit the hook and just like that was gone. (RATS)

Ok once again right back out went the baits and BAM a nice Mahia Mahia in the box.

Not a bad way to spend a couple hours off the coast of South Florida!

Una and Oscar thanks again for fishing with us and we hope to see you again next year.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Not a bad wat to spend a day Sea Fishing Fort Lauderdale

Today we had Mr. Lucky Jim from Michigan out for a few hours of deep-sea fishing aboard the Hooked Up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

Now let me start out by telling you a little bit about Mr. lucky.

The first time Jim fished with me we went off shore to do some sword fishing about 15 miles off shore. So as we were working our way off shore we were high speed trolling some lures when all of a sudden we found ourselves Hooked Up with a big blue marlin. After a good hour of back and forth fighting this fish Jim finally got his first ever-blue marlin to the boat. While we never did catch any swordfish that day we saw a bunch of whales and a water spout that came down from the sky right behind the boat.

Since our first trip Jim has made a dozen or so other trips down to South Florida and has caught lots of sailfish, sharks a big 40-pound black fin tuna along with a host of other big game catches off our coast. So needless to say we call him Mr. Lucky as a matter a fact I asked Jim just this Saturday if he had ever gone fishing off the coast of Fort Lauderdale and NOT caught a billfish? He said he could not remember ever not catching a billfish while fishing down here. (Hate this guy) Talk about LUCKY.

Well today is a different day and this day was bound to happen.

As we got out we heard on the radio that the sails were biting (Figures)

So out went the kites with our live baits suspended from them and the trap was set. We kept hearing on the radio Hooked Up and then another boat Hooked Up one after another but none for us. Than at last I seen a sailfish heading right for our baits BUT he just kept going not even a glance at our baits! (RATS)

Finally a bite and we were Hooked Up!! 10 min later we were releasing our first sailfish and right back to it we went and again another sail just swam by then another and another! (RATS) What the heck was going on? They just stop eating. We had heard a few of the other boats saying that they also had sails popping up but not eating.

Finally we got another sail to eat and Jim had this one to the boat in less then 3 min but that was it 2 sails and 1 nice kingfish.

Now I’m not saying that it was a bad day because anytime you can catch a couple of sails it’s a good day BUT THIS WAS MR LUCKY!! (LOL)

Jim thanks again as always it is a blast fishing with you and I’m sure we’ll see you come walking down the dock unannounced and we’ll go right back out there and catch a bunch.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we spend the day with Matt, Ryan; Where’s the Bucket Tom (I’ll get to the bucket Tom later), Billy, Josh and Eric all from Winter Heaven Florida.

Good eating fish was what was on the menu so off shore we went. We trolled all the way out to 11 miles from the inlet.

While we were not setting the world on fire with our catches we did mange to catch a small Mahia Mahia here and another one there when all of a sudden my high line got hit and line started peeling off the reel. By the time I turned around this nice Mahia Mahia was already in the air jumping all over the place.

Ryan jumped in the chair and the fight was on. As Ryan was getting his fish closer to the boat we seen another big Mahia Mahia all over another one of our baits and BAM just like that we were Hooked Up with a double header. 10 min later we had our 4^th and 5^th Mahia Mahia in the box.

Ok back to trolling and hopping for more Mahia Mahia. So we trolled and trolled and yes still trolling with no bites.

I kind of knew these guys were going to get bored and were going to want to try something else so I started trolling our way back in toward the reef when all of a sudden we found a bucket floating and as we made our first pass by the bucket BAM another Mahia Mahia came out of the blue and all over one of our baits. Once again we were Hooked Up all the time we had Tom up in the tuna tower looking for anything we could find floating. As we were fighting this Mahia Mahia we were getting further and further away from this bucket so I kept yelling up at Tom to keep an eye on the bucket and don’t lose it! Just as we got the Mahia Mahia in the box I yelled up at Tom ok where’s the bucket? If looks could kill I would have been dead right there Tom never once took his eyes off the bucket BUT I can tell you he was about over me yelling up where’s that bucket!! (LOL)

Ok back to trolling and trolling and trolling till Greg and I just could not take it any more this trolling without catching was just driving us crazy.

At this point we only had about an hour left to fish and we could have just trolled around and wound down the clock but we are not out here to just kill time we like to catch fish so we asked the guys how about doing a little kite fishing for the last hour?

At this point I think they had enough of trolling too so in came the trolling gear and out went the kites with 4 live baits suspended from them.

I think it took about 2 min till our first sailfish popped up and Matt jumped in the chair. BAM we were Hooked Up and loving it!! 15 min later Matt had his fish next to the boat for a few pictures and then we released him to fight again another day.

Ok back to kite fishing and BAM another sail fish but after a couple of jumps he spit the hook and swam off.

Ok back to kite fishing and BAM a hammerhead shark all over one of our live baits out of the kite. We knew not to let this shark get a hold of the live bait on such light tackle and with a monofilament leader he would bite through the line as if it were hot butter. So every time he would get right up to the live bait Greg would reel the bait up in the air so he could not get to it. All the time Greg was setting out this big shark bait on the big rod. But as luck would have it this shark wanted live bait and nothing else would do.

But the whole last hour Greg and I kept saying what do you think guys should we go back to trolling??? (LOL)

Truth being told here guys off shore trolling for Mahia Mahia is the easiest thing for us as a crew to do. We set out the baits and troll around and hope for the best BUT we really don’t get the chance to show you guys our talent and knowledge till we get a bite and that is if we get the bite. So its not that we don’t like trolling off shore we just want to give you the most bang for your buck.

We’re here and we are pretty good at this so take advantage of our knowledge and skill WE WANT YOU TO.

Matt thanks again for bring all the guys down and we’re looking forward to taking your sons out soon. Thanks again to the rest of the gang too we had a blast fishing with you guys and Tom thanks for not losing the bucket.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we had Brett from South Africa and Juan and Carlos from Colombia.

We went right to trolling with 2-planner boards running about 45 feet deep and 3 baits skipping across the surface.

We ended up catching 3 black fin tunas, 1 mackerel and 2 kingfish.

Than the weather got bad and we decided to call it a day BUT as soon as we got inside the weather once again turned and the sun came out so we spent the next hour and a half cursing around the intercostals.

It turned out to be a great day aboard the Hooked Up.

Thanks again guys you were a blast to spend the day with and we are looking forward to fishing again soon.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we fished with Jason, Ken, Guy, Quanta and Balbo from New Jersey.

We started out trolling the reef looking for some kingfish or bonitos but they just were not biting.

So we ventured further off shore and BAM we found fish and the black fin tunas were coming aboard one after another. Don’t recall how many we caught but it was more than enough.

Guy’s thanks again for fishing with us aboard the Hooked up off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we spend the day fishing with Mom and Dad Mellissa and Fred and their kids Brain and Justin from California.

We did a little bit of everything today some off shore trolling also trolling on the reef followed up with some deep drops.

By the end of the trip we had one heck of a good catch including 11 kingfish, 20 tile fish, 2 big amber jacks and one nice black fin tuna.

Thanks again to our new friends from California for spending the day fishing with us aboard the Hooked Up.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com

Today we started out fishing with Maggie and David from New Jersey, Daniel from Holly Wood Florida, Mary from Ft Lauderdale, Carlos from Miami Florida and Mitchell from Conn.

We started out trolling with Mary starting things off with a nice Mahia Mahia followed up with Daniel catching a nice 45 to 50 inch barracuda.

Soon after that Maggie also landed a Mahia Mahia than Daniel once again landing another Mahia Mahia.

I believe we ended up with 4 Mahia Mahia for dinner and one nice barracuda.

Thanks again guys for taking the time to fish with us aboard the Hooked up.

As we got back to the dock we had a big surprise in store for this guy named Shane.

As it turned out it was his birthday and his girlfriend Julie had set up this surprise birthday fishing trip for him. They were down from Charlotte North Carolina to do a little celebrating.

BIG FISH that’s what Julie had told me and we knew it was going to be BIG or ZIP.

O right out to 350 feet of water we went with our kites flying with live and dead baits suspended from them along with a couple of shark baits down deep.

Ok the trap was set and the wait was on. We waited and waited and yes still waiting.

To be honest here I rally did not like the conditionings and I really did not think we were going to get the bite when all of a sudden here comes this nice 5 to 6 foot hammerhead shark all over one of our live baits. But we had the live bait connected to a small reel with 20 pound test so we knew the odds of catching this shark with a 8 inch peace of wire to 20 pound test was probably not going to happen.

So every time the shark would get right up to the bait Greg would reel the bait up in the air all the time we were trying to get a shark bait on a bigger rod to him.

BUT this shark would have nothing to do with it he wanted this little live bait and since we had not seen a fish yet we figured what the heck and just like that we were Hooked Up.

Shane jumped in the chair and we were in for what I figured would be a short fight thinking the shark’s tail would hit and break the line.

Thats the small rod to the left and he’s fighting with the big rod in photo.

But with a little couching from Greg Shane kept the line tight and we were fighting this shark for a good 20 min when out of the corner of my eye I seen a much bigger hammerhead shark heading right for the shark bait we had out there.

BAM we were now connected to 2 hammerhead sharks at the same time.

We just left the bigger shark that was on the right stuff in the rod holder while Shane continued to fight the one on the smaller rod. I be dammed 10 kin later Greg got a hold of the leader and Shane had caught this 5 to 6 foot shark on 20 pound test and was now ready for the second shark.

10 min later he had caught the second shark.

WOW what else can I say!! GREAT JOB Shane and Happy Birthday.

Julie and Shane thanks again you guys really were a blast to fish with and for the first couple hours without a bite you guys never once made us feel pressured and I really think that helped give us this great luck.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free @ (877) SEA-4344 tacohookedup@aol.com