This morning we started out fishing with Adam, Linsey, Mark (AKA the coach) Thomas and Donnie. They had all come down from Wilmington Ohio to watch their foot ball team the Hawk eyes kick some butt in the orange bowl game.

I’ve got to admit that fishing has been on the slow side due to what they call a blue moon but I just call it a week of a full moon and with having a full moon I believe that the fish feed all night and with little to no current the fish just haven’t been biting as well as they usually do when we have a cold front down here in sunny south Florida.

So having said all that we just wanted to make sure that everyone got to catch fish and also catch a good buzz.

We decided to just stick to trolling the reef first in reel shallow into about 70 feet of water and then back out to about 350 feet of water and just zig zaged our way down the reef.

It turned out to be the right move while we may not have filled the fish boxes everyone caught fish and we ended up with four nice king fish and two bummer bonitos.

Guys thanks again for a fun morning of fishing and good luck with your foot ball game.

As we made our way back to the dock we had Sam, Marcus, Lucas, Dave and Howard from Bristol Ct and from Lowell Ma waiting for us and eager to try their luck at some deep sea fishing.

Once again I’ve got to say that fishing truly was slow today and I know that J.J. had been busting his butt all day just trying to make something happen for all of our anglers today. So in lou of that I thought I would give J.J. a break and I ended up working the cock pit this afternoon and J.J. got to drive the boat and see if maybe he could find the fish.

To make a long story short we while we did end up catching a couple of fish we sure as heck did not fill the fish box. But I’ve got to say that it seemed to bother J.J. and I more than our customers today they all had a ball and are looking forward to their next fishing trip.

I guess a lot of people are just glad to be out on the ocean and away from their everyday work routine. To all of our anglers today Thanks so much and we are very much looking forward to fishing all of you again soon.

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

Today we got a last min call from Frankie down on vacation from Kansas with his mom Ivy and his girlfriend Roxanne.

It just so happened we were wide open this afternoon and things could not have worked out any better for everyone.

We got out to about 150 feet of water and set out both of our kites with live baits suspended from them and before we knew it BAM we got a monster hit on our left long kite bait.

Frankie wasted no time getting in the chair and the fight was on. It took Frankie a good 25 min till he finally got this monster sail fish to the side of the boat. We got a quick measurement to have a replace mount made of his catch and watched him swim away in great shape to fight again another day.

Well it’s almost the end of the year and the cold fronts are on their way down and with these cold fronts we get the sail fish moving threw so give us a call and let’s get you HOOKED UP

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

After a good week of no current we finally had some north current today and I’ve got to say what a difference a bit of current can make.

Today we had Josse, Daniel, Dennis and Rolande all from Montreal Canada out for a morning of deep sea fishing and today trolling the reef was red hat. The king fish started biting for us like mad dogs and before we knew it we had our limit of kings.

Thanks again guys for a fun morning of fishing.

Captain Taco 99540 764-4344 or toll free (877) Sea-4344

Today we had Elena from Greensboro North Carolina brought her two sons Alex and Nicholas and her parents Hans and Elena out for a morning of deep sea fishing aboard the Hooked Up.

Once again we had little to no current and once again fishing was on the slow side. But today we were determined to stick it out and somehow make something happen.

We set out both of our kites with live baits suspended from them and one shark bait just drifting from one of our out riggers.

It took a bit of patience but at last we got a bite on one of our kite baits and Alex wasted no time jumping in the chair. We had no idea what we had on at first but soon enough Alex reeled this nice black tip shark to the side of the boat. Ok not the biggest fish in the world but at least now we had the skunk out of the box. We got our baits set right back out there and began our wait once again.

After quite some time I yelled down at Captain Greg that I thought I had seen some kind of a swirl next to one of our kite baits. Greg picked up the rod and at first we were not sure if there was something on the other end but then we noticed that our bait was swimming right toward another one of our baits. Just as it got to the other bait we got our first look at this monster sailfish that had already eaten one of our baits and was now going after another. Greg locked up the reel and we went ahead with the boat and BAM we were Hooked Up. Nicholas jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a good 20 min till Nicholas finally got his fish next to the boat. We got a couple of pictures of him next to the boat and in fact I had gotten one shot of this sail fish doing cartwheels next to the boat.

We may not have caught a lot today but we sure as heck caught a couple of nice ones. Thanks again guys and try to keep warm up there in North Carolina.

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

As a fisherman and part time writer there’s nothing I love more than to catch nice fish for our customers and then writing a great stories about the catch.

 HOWEVER this is fishing and some days are a bit slower than others and I feel it is only right to report the good days along with some of the slow ones and that is just what we had today.

We started out with this guy I chose to call #1 because I just could not pronounce his name but he was Levent Bilginogullari from Argentina.
 By the way he spelled his name this is not a classic case of Taco not knowing how to spell it correctly. (LOL)

Anyway back to the fishing. We took #1 trolling down the reef and caught a king fish and a bonito. We tried a couple of drops on some deep wrecks but we had no current and we just could not get a bite on the wrecks.

I know fishing was slow today but it never seemed to bother #1 he had a ball all the same and we are going to get the chance to fish with him again in Jan so hopefully we can make it a better catching day.

Thanks again #1

Ok now for our afternoon trip we had Russ and Vicky from Arizona and David, Mickey, and Jonathan from Homewood Ill.

Once again we trolled the reef hopping to find some king fish or bonitos or just about anything that had fins. But I’m sorry to say that trolling was not paying off for us nor was deep drops we just had a tough day on the rip today.

But the funny part about this hole day was that the only people that seemed disappointed was J.J. and me the rest of the people all seemed to have a great time out on the water. All the same sorry guys for the slow fishing today but remember I owe you one and I hope to get the chance to fish you guys again.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344

Today we had Max, Matt and Ben all from Iowa out for a morning of deep sea fishing.

We started out trolling the reef with our two planners down deep and three baits skipping across the surface. Trolling was a bit slow today but we did manage to catch one king fish and a nice dolphin fish.

Since trolling was not producing many fish we decided to try our luck at some deep wreck fishing with live bait. As it turned out we made the right choice. We dropped a live bait down about 310 feet and once we got to the bottom (BAM) the rod bent over and we were Hooked Up. After a good 15 min of trying to get this sea monster off the bottom we ended up catching a monster amber jack.

As we headed back toward our port we stopped for just a few min and dragged a live bait along this nice drop off we’ve got just outside of our inlet. Once again we got lucky and hooked into this nice barracuda.

Guys thanks again for a fun morning of fishing and try not to freeze your butts off in Iowa (LOL)

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344

This morning we started out with a shared charter starting with Pascal from Canada and Matt and Paul from Portland Ma.

We started out trolling the reef hopping that the king fish had finally turned back on but sorry to say that the kings just haven’t seemed to be around. We did manage to catch one big bomber bonito but trolling just was not producing any fish so we decided to try our luck by fishing with live baits. It took a while but at last we got a nice bite and Pascal wasted no time jumping in the chair. All of a sudden out came this monster sail fish dancing all over the surface putting on this great show for us. It took Pascal a good 20 min to finally get his catch to the side of the boat. He was hooked pretty good so instead of trying to get the hook out of his mouth where the fish might have hurt himself we just cut the line right next to the hook and watched him swim away in great shape.

As we pulled back to the dock we had our afternoon trip waiting for us and eager to try their luck at some deep sea fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale.

We had the whole basket ball team from Milken University in Illinois that had chartered 4 of the boats off the dock for a little friendly competition.

We had on board the Hooked Up Amy, Morgan, Amanda, Brittany, Jason and Matt. And we ended up catching 2 nice black fin tunas and one nice dolphin fish.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today and hope to see you guys again soon.

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

Will I’ve got to say that it has been a tough week aboard the Hooked Up. Between bad weather and not a lot of business around just before Christmas we were a bit extra excited about going fishing today.

I got a call a couple of days ago from a lady named Kim and she reserved the boat for her dad and her for an early Christmas present. She had mentioned to me that her dad Harold had fished with us before but I never put 2 and 2 together. As it turned out this was the same Harold from Mass that had fished with us last week.

So off we went a bit earlier than the other boats trying to take advantage of the waters that had not been fished much this past week. We went ahead and ran down to the south about 4 miles and set out both kites with live baits suspended from them.

We had our baits out no more than 20 min when I seen something dark around our left long kite bait but before I could say anything Captain Greg already had the rod in his hand and was feeding the bait to him. As we came tight on the line the rod just started to bend over and then went slack. (RATS) Once Greg reeled in the bait to switch it to a fresh and lively one he noticed the leader was all shafted up and the hook had turned around and buried the point back into the bait.

We had missed a sail fish but we had just gotten started so things were looking good. Greg got the baits set right back out there and the wait began. We waited for a good 45 min till we seen a dolphin fish eating one of our baits. Greg handed the rod to Kim and the fight was on. BUT all of a sudden the line went slack and the fish got away. (RATS AND DOUBLE RATS)

Then I noticed more dolphin swimming around our baits and before we knew it all three rods still out there had a dolphin on it. We managed to get all three in the boat. Thank god the skunk was out of the boat. Soon after that we had a double header bonito bite and both father and daughter were fighting fish at the same time again.

We got the baits out there again and Harold got a nice bite on one of the kite baits but no one seen what it was so for a good 5 min we were all wondering what we had on. It turned out to be a nice silky shark.

Kim and Harold thanks again we really enjoyed having you guys fishing with us and we hope to see you again soon.

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

Today was kind of a special day for me because I got to spend the day fishing with my son Luis. Not only do we get a very limited time to spend together but also he has been fishing since he was about 2 days old and he had a great trainer (LOL) never the less he truly is years ahead of a lot of other fisherman at the your age of 19.

We got to spend the day fishing with Matt, his sister Alicia and his girlfriend Carolyn all from Boston Mass. And as it turned out all three of our anglers had done a bit of fishing themselves. So we had a good team to start with.

Matt had told me days before that what they were really after was big game. So having said that we went right to the bait boat and loaded up with a well full of live goggle eyes and off we went. We went right out to about 150 feet of water and set out both our kites with live baits suspended from them.

Once we got our kites set out there it only took a few min till our first bite. It turned out to be a dolphin fish. From that point on it was pretty much none stop action one dolphin after another with a king fish thrown in here and there. In fact we were getting so many bites that I started to worry about running out of live baits.

All of a sudden I seen this big fin shooting right toward one of our precious few live baits that we had left. So I shouted reel the bait up in the air so this monster hammer head shark would not get it. Luis was quick with the rod and got this right long kite bait about 15 feet over the surface. Just as we cleared our live bait out of harm’s way Luis yelled up at me and handed me the rod with the dangling bait was connected to. Then I saw what Luis was up to so I reeled in the kite ever so carefully as to just let the live bait touch the water just enough to keep this shark interested in him. As soon as I got the kite to the first kite clip Luis handed me up his new rod he wanted to put in front of this monster. (It was the biggest rod on the boat)

Then I started letting the kite back out trying to get this shark to come after this bigger bait connected to a bigger rod.

It only took about 2 seconds in the water and BAM he was all over it. So now we were Hooked Up with a sea monster that at first showed no signs of slowing down. Alicia Jumped in the chair and now the big battle began. It was a back and forth battle for a good 35 min till Matt decided to give his sister a little break. Since Matt was fresh and rested he got the fish coming our way. Once the fish got close enough for Luis to grab the leader we thought we’ve got this one. But then out of nowhere this fish got another burst of energy and ripped the leader out of Luis’s hands and gray hounded away from the boat. Now I’ve got to say that in all my years of fishing I’ve never seen a hammer head shark jump.

We decided that Matt just made this fish even angrier so we got Alicia back in the chair. In the next 30 min we got the fish to the boat 3 different times and each time it would take off again.

Finally the fish came to the boat a lot more settled down. We got a rope around him and slid him in the tuna door. Got a few pictures and slid him back out the door and on his way. But of course the fish had to get the last word because as Luis sled him out he wacked Luis once across his foot. But it all turned out great Luis was OPK Alicia caught the fish of a life time and the fish was in great shape as he swam away.

We did manage to get Carolyn evolved with the sharks to. She ended up reeling in a big black tip shark. But it was nowhere near the 100 incher we had caught earlier.

Matt we looking forward to fish with you in Jan hope Alicia and Carolyn can make it with you.

That’s all for today just another day at the office aboard the HOOKE UP

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

Today we had Ryan from Winnipeg Canada and his new bride Jodi from Manit.ba Canada out for their first fishing trip off the coast of Ft laudable and they were joined by Harold from Mass.

The funny part about this combination of folks fishing with us today is that Harold just got off a crew ship and Ryan and Jodi are just leaving on one for their honeymoon. They are sailing on the newest and biggest crew ship in the world the Oasis which just so happens to be the same crew ship I went on last week. One thing is for sure they are going to have a great time.

As we cleared the inlet we knew that there had been a few sail fish around so we went right to kite fishing hopping to get our shot or two at some sails ourselves.

As it turned out we never did see any sails but Jodi caught a big black tip shark and Harold caught one nice dolphin fish.

I’ve got to say fishing was pretty slow today but with everyone having a good time it just didn’t seem like a slow day after all. Then I found out that whenever Jodi goes fishing no one catches much so I guess we’ll just put the blame on her (LOL)

All kidding aside Jodi, Ryan and Harold thanks so much we truly enjoyed having you guys fishing with us and we hope to get you guys out fishing again soon.

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

Today we started out our day fishing with Bill from Chattanooga Tenn., Bart from Dayton Ohio, Randy from Cachou Georgia, Josh from Atlanta Georgia, and Bruce and Aaron from Bentonville Arkansas.

We knew that we had a good north current and it is the perfect time of the year for catching some big fish and we knew that there had been some sail fish around so we went right to kite fishing. We set out both our kites with live baits suspended from them and began our wait.

While we were waiting I had heard on the radio of a couple of sail fish being seen in a bit shallower water than we had been fishing. So I slowly let us slide in a little tighter and it seemed that just as I got in to the depth I was trying to get to some had seen a couple of sail fish out a bit deeper in the same depth we were in about 15 min ago. So once again I decided to move the boat and we worked our way back out to where we were in the first place. Once we got back out to about 250 feet of water yep you guessed it some had a shot in tighter. You’ve heard the expression sometimes you get the elevator and sometimes you get the shaft well I think you can see where I’m going with this.

Ok at this point I had enough of listening to the radio and decided that we were right where we needed to be out in 250 feet of water and the only thing we were missing was shark bait out there along with the rest of our baits.

I mentioned this to Captain J.J. and with in 2 min we had our shark bait out in our spread.

From there it didn’t take long for our luck to change. J.J. had our shark bait not more than 20 yards from the boat just free floating without a weight on it.

Nobody seen any big shark swimming next to the boat but all of a sudden our big shark rod bent over and line was peeling off the reel as if was never going to stop.

The bite was slow today and we were running a bit short on time so everyone wanted Bill to get the shot at fight this sea monster so having said that Bill jumped in the chair and the battle was on.

This truly was a BIG back and forth tug a war for what seemed for ever but it took 55 min till Bill finally wore down his opponent and we got this 88 inch hammer head shark next to the boat.

We decided to slide the fish in the tuna door to get a quick measurement of him to have a replica trophy made of Bill’s catch and to get a couple of quick pictures.

As it turned out the long fight was a good thing because the shark stayed reel calm and we were able to slide him right back out the door when we were done and he swam away in great shape.

Guys I know we did not catch a lot but still if that is going to be the case than that was the fish to catch. Congratulations Bill and thanks again to everyone aboard the Hooked Up this morning.

As we pulled back to the dock we had most of the guys for our afternoon trip waiting on us.

We ended up with Rob and Sara from Michigan, Damien from Oklahoma and Les from North Carolina and his brother Steve from Georgia.

We went right back to where we had been fishing earlier this morning and set our kites right out there and of course we set out another shark bait.

And once again it was the shark bait that got the bite. This time Steve jumped at the chance of catching a big trophy fish. It took Steve about 20 min to get his 80 inch hammer head shark to the boat. Once again we got a couple of quick pictures and watched him swim away in good shape.

Once we caught the first fish and got the skunk out of the box things started going our way.

Once we got the baits back out there it didn’t take long before our next bite. This bite was a sail fish and he was after one of our kite baits. Once he got the bait Sara jumped in the chair and her fight was on. This fish had no intentions of getting caught and I’ve got to say he fought his butt off. But after a good 20 min fight Sara got her fish to the boat. And once again we got a few photos and watched him swim away in great shape.

Ok now we were starting to run short on time but we hung in there a few extra min and BAM here comes another sail fish. This time Damien got in the chair and his fight was on.

After a good 15 min of fighting his fish Damien got his sail fish to the sided of the boat.

              (WHAT A DAY THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OF OUR ANGLERS TODAY)

That’s all for today but by the looks of the way fishing had been stay tuned for tomorrow we are looking forward to some GREAT FISHING TRIPS COMING UP FOR THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS.

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

 Today we had a couple that just walked up to the boat and had a few hours they had to kill.

So we got Sandy and Dave from Bay City Michigan aboard and headed out for a 3 hour cruise.

                                                                     (No pun intended Gilligan)

We knew we were limited on time so we went right to it. We got out to 150 feet of water and set out our 2 kites with live bait suspended from them and began our wait. Surprisingly enough it did not take all that long till a big sail fish popped up on one of our kite baits and we were HOOKED UP. Dave wasted no time jumping in the chair and the fight was on. It took Dave a good 20 min to finally get his fish to the side of the boat. A perfect catch and release. Way to go Dave and thanks again for a fun few hours of fishing with you guys.

To any of you snow birds up to the north that might be freezing your butts off well give us a call and come on down and enjoy some of our GREAT weather and some of this GREAT sail fish action we got going on.

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

This morning we started out our day fishing with Randy, Steve, Pete and Tim from Boston.

We did some trolling on the reef hopping to catch a few king fish but they just were not biting for us today so we decided to switch up and do some live bait fishing for bigger game.

As it turned out we made the right move. We ended up catching a big black tip shark and a monster sail fish.

Thanks again guys for a fun morning of fishing.

As we pulled back to the dock we had our afternoon trip waiting on us and eager to try their luck.

We picked up Dave and Jeff from Maine and headed right back out to deeper water where we had caught the sail fish no even an hour ago.

We set out our kites with the live baits suspended from them and we also set out a dead king fish also suspended from the kite just in case any sharks might be around.

We had a west wind and I’ve got to say that after years of fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale if there is one thing I’ve learned is that when you have a west wind this time of the year the hammer head sharks like to cruse the surface.

And today was no exception.

We ended up catching not one but two big hammer head sharks.

Well guys you said you wanted to fight something that would fight back! Careful what you ask for because as you know now they don’t come to the boat easily.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today for fishing aboard the Hooked Up.

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

It is finally December and we are all looking forward to a great sail fish season.

We started out the new month fishing with Ryan and Devin from Montana and with Molly and Dan from Minnesota.

We started out trolling on the reef and everyone caught a fish we caught a few king fish and one nice dolphin fish.

Than we set out some live baits hopping to catch a sail fish. We waited for a good 45 min till he finally showed up. Dan wasted no time jumping in the chair and the fight was on. It was a tough back and forth tug a war for a good 20 min till Dan finally had him coming in good than just as we got him next to the boat the hooks pulled. (RATS)

All the same we all got a good look at him and it was a great fight.

Thanks again to all our anglers today and we are looking forward to fishing with you guys again soon.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344