Today we started out fishing with one of our repeat customers Buzz from Mass he brought along his good friends Muzzy, Bob and Porka also all from Mass.

We started out trolling the reef hoping to catch everyone a few fish but as it turned out trolling was slow yielding only a king fish for Buzz and a barracuda for Porka.

So in came the trolling baits and out went the kites and the shark baits.

The trap was set and we started waiting and waiting and waiting when finally at last our deep bait got a bite and we were Hooked Up Muzzy jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

After a few min Muzzy,s fish popped up and it turned out to be a nice amber jack.

Not the greatest fishing day but Muzzy caught a nice one and everyone had a ball and as far as our anglers were concerned it was a Fannastic day.

As we headed back to the dock we had Vaughn, Mike, Nico and Scott waiting to give their luck a shot at some deep sea fishing.

This time we wasted no time trolling but instead we set up in very deep water (450 feet) where there was a real nice blue edge in the water with a lot of current. We set out our kites and before we knew it there was a sail fish trying to eat our left long kite bait. As Captain Greg was trying to feed him two more sail fish came in on our right short kite bait and it seemed as if they were fighting over it.

Finally hooked one of them Vaughn jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It took him a good 25 min to finally get him along side of the boat. This fish was going nuts next to the boat and I did my best to get a picture of him but all I got was a lot of splashing.

We cut him loose pretty quickly before he hit the sided of the boat and hurt himself.

Once we got the baits set back out there we hooked into a dolphin fish and this time Nico got in the chair and brought home dinner for everyone.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today.

To all of our readers out there, keep an eye on our blogs because coming soon is the adventures of Carey the canoe guy who set his canoe in the water at Fort Lauderdale. He is rowing his way back to Canada with nothing but a canoe, a paddle, some water, a cell phone, some Roman noodles and a Canadian flag flying at the rear of his canoe. Watch how he tries to make it all the way to Canada with no money, just his charm, wits and a lot of help from people he’ll meet  along the way.

I know it sounds CRAZY, BUT what the hell, we all need something to laugh about nowadays, and we all need someone to root for.

He is going all the way up the intracoastal water way, and if any of our readers are north of him let us know so YOU can help out with a little water or some minimal supplies; anything you might be able to help with, is appreciated.

These will be open blogs, and if you want to write a comment or two feel free or if you run into the Canoe Man,

then please share your story with US!

Thanks and stay tuned.

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

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Today we had a shared charter going on with Amar from Shelby Town Michigan and his good friend Mike from Miami Florida. We also had Mike, Paul and Mai from Philly

We started out trolling the reef trying to catch everyone a fish or two. We knew that we were going to have to spend some time trying to catch a shark for Amar because that was what he really wanted to catch and I did tell him that we would devote some of the trip to shark fishing.

As we trolled the reef Mike caught a king fish and Mai caught a black fin tuna. Than Paul got to catch a black fin tuna and Amar just waited for his shot but that was coming up soon hopefully.

Than the time had come to switch over and try some shark fishing. We set out both kites with live and dead baits suspended from them and two more shark baits set at 150 down and one on the bottom 350 feet down.

Our shark bait set down 150 was connected to a balloon to act as a bobber and usually when this bait gets hit the balloon popped and goes down.

BUT this time J.J. yelled up to me and said that the balloon looked as if there was no weight on it at all. We figured that a fish had eaten the bait and was swimming up with it. So I went ahead with the boat and all of a sudden the rod bent over and line was peeling off the reel. I guess that was exactly what had happen but all the same we were Hooked Up and Amar was in the chair at the blink of an eye and the fight was on.

It took Amar a good 35 min to finally get his hammer head shark to the side of the boat. J.J. got a head rope around his head and we slid hi m in the tuna door for a quick photo and a measurement to have a replica mount made of his catch.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today and to the one Mike that never did catch a fish today we owe you one.

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

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Today we once again had the guys from the Appalachian Brewing Company on board the Hooked Up and on the local Knowledge.

Yesterday we had a good day of fishing in spite of all the rain but today blue skies and no rain in sight.

Today we went right to kite fishing and it turned out to be the right decision.

We went out to 350 feet of water and set out both kites with 3 live baits suspended from them and one dead bonito for a shark bait also suspended from the kite. We also set down shark bait about 150 feet down and a final shark bait set on the bottom.

Once the baits were all set out of nowhere popped up this sail fish and he was all over our left long kite bait. From there it only took seconds and we were Hooked Up. Jack jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It took jack about 15 min to finally get his first sail fish to the side of the boat.

After some hand shaking and some high fiving we got the baits all set back in their place and once again the trap was set.

This time the shark rod bent over and line started peeling off the reel and YES we were Hooked Up again.

Shawn jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a good 45 min before Shawn got his fish close enough for J.J. to get a head rope around him. We slid him in the boat for a couple quick photos and a measurement to have a replica trophy made of this monster Hammer Head Shark.

We ended the day with some more trolling and caught a hand full of king fish and bonitos.

All in all we did catch more fish than the Local Knowledge but they did also manage to catch a Hammer Head shark and a sail also.

Way to go Captain Mike I guess what they say is true a blind squirrel does find an acorn now and then. (LOL)

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

Today fishing itself was going to be a challenge if our anglers decided they wanted to fish today. It was a black sky and rain rain rain and no end in sight.

But Shawn, Keith, Ernie, Jack and Frank all from the Appalachian Brewing Company was not going to let a little rain get in their way of their fishing trip. As a matter a fact the fish were already wet (LOL)

There were 6 other guys that went on our other boat the Local Knowledge but we’ll get to how they did in a bit.

Due to the rain there would be no kite fishing today so we trolled our way down the reef with three baits skipping across the surface and two baits running deep on planners.

As it turned out we did pretty good trolling we ended up with a box full of king fish and bonitos one of the kings being 51 and a half inches long caught by Ernie but his fish was beat out by Kith’s 52 inch barracuda.

Guys thanks for hanging in there and we are looking forward to fishing with you guys again tomorrow with hopefully no rain.

As for the crew on the Local knowledge they called it a day after just a few hours of fishing. I think they got a head start on the beer drinking. I’m not sure what they caught but I’m sure Captain Mike is posting his blogs and we can see what they caught. http://www.LacalKnowledge.com

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

Today we started out our day fishing with Ruben, Derrick, Dean, and Jorge all from right here in Fort Lauderdale Florida.

We started out trolling the reef catching a box full of bonitos’ and one dolphin fish.

 After everyone had caught some fish we switched out to kite fishing with a couple of shark baits down deep. From there it did not take long before one of our big shark rods bent over line started peeling off the reel and we were Hooked Up. Ruben jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

It was a big back and forth tug a war for over 40 min till at last Ruben got his big hammer head shark to the boat. We took a quick measurement and a couple quick photos and watched him swim away in good shape to fight again another day.

Guy’s thanks again for a fun morning of deep-sea fishing aboard the Hooked Up.

As we pulled back to the dock we had Justin and Kristine from Louisville Kentucky eager to give their luck a shot at some deep-sea fishing.

This time we went right to kite fishing with once again a couple of shark baits out there. Once again one of our shark rods bent over and once again we were Hooked Up with another big shark. Justin jumped in the chair and the battle was on.

This was one badass fish because it seemed he was never going to let up. Justin hung in there and when it was all said and done both Justin and this 98-inch hammer head WERE BEAT. Witch was a good thing because this shark came though the tuna door let us take a few pictures and then just swam away without giving us too much trouble at the boat.

Thanks again to all of our anglers today.

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

Friday April 23 Day 48

Left at 8:15 am.
Looked like a good day to cruise. Screwed up and missed the bridge to the ICW. Backtracked
up wind all the way back. The current was with me. Got back on course cruised
north a few miles and was worn out. Found oyster shell beach. And found a spot
big enough to pitch tent.

Reel windy but every
thing is ok.

Today we had Dorian from Las Angles out for a day of deep sea fishing aboard the Hooked Up.

The only problem with this trip was that Dorian has fished all over the world and has caught some world class fish. How the heck was I going to top some of the big Makos, Yellow fin Tunas Blue and Black Marlin ECT that he has caught in the past?

The only thing that I could have done to come close to a fish that he would have been really excited about was to go sword fishing. But at this point we did not have all the baits and rigs onboard to do it so I was just going to have to wing it and hope for the best.

We started out trolling the reef catching bonitos one after another. Than we tried something we never do and that was to set out our kite with some live baits suspended from them and we also set out a big shark bait on the surface another one about 150 feet down and a last one about 450 feet down but was different about this was that we usually do this in 350 feet of water today we set out all the baits in 750 feet of water and just crossed our fingers.

I wish I had some great happy ending to this fishing story but the fact was that we never did get a bite out there.

We decided to end the trip doing some deep drops on a wreck and at least we got to get him Hooked Up with a couple of big amber jack.

Dorian thanks again and we are looking forward to sword fishing with you soon.

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

Thur April 22 Day 47

Woke up at sunrise packed up the boat. Rolled a cigarette and enjoyed the morning. Ran into a guy named Andy in Jeff’s back yard. Invites me to do some fishing with him. He was scoring red fish left and right. Got a couple of keepers.

I believe I,ll stay another night.

Today we had our repeat customers Lynn and Jocelyn and they brought their good friends Diane and Michel all from Quebec Canada.

We started out trolling the reef working our way to the south toward Hallandale. We picked at the king fish and bonitos all the way down. I’m not sure how many bonitos we ended up with but I do know that we got our limit of king all between 7 and 12 pounds.

Once we got down to the wreck we dropped a live bait down 225 feet and the second it hit the bottom BAM we were Hooked Up. Michel jumped in the chair and the battle was on. I’ve got to take a second to say that threw out the year we do catch a lot of amber jacks but this fish was pulling like no other amber jack I’ve seen before. After a good 15 min I really was not too sure what we had on the other end but it was pulling straight down like an amber jack. Than it popped up yes it was an amber jack but this thing came straight out of Jurassic park. (What a monster). Once we got the big amber jack into the boat we took a couple of pictures got all the air out of his belly and tried to release him but I am sorry to say that this big fish fought his heart out and was just not going to make it. We don’t like killing these fish but every once in a while one just does not make it. Captain J.J. knew someone who smoked them and liked to eat them so at least it did not go to waste.

Once we got done with this sea monster we dropped live bait down on the wreck and once again BAM we were Hooked Up. This time Jocelyn jumped in the chair and once again the battle began. This one also turned out to be a nice amber jack but after the one we had already caught it just did not look so big. (LOL)

We ended up finishing up the day by dropping some chicken rigs and catching a bunch of snappers for dinner.

To my friends from Quebec thanks so much and I will do my best to have the same mate for you guys next year.

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

Wed April 21 Day 47

Took my time today packing up waiting for the tide so I can leave. Life is good today.    

Got on to the water and the wind blew up and the waves and then it begin to rain.

Turned around and went back to Jeff’s

Today we started out our day fishing with 5 young guys ranging from the age of 75 to 100 and if you had spent the morning fishing with them you never would have though any of them were over 27 years old. These guys just had a blast talking about old times and catching fish.

We will start out by introducing Sidney who not only fought for this country but he had laid his life on the line 3 different times by being shot down out of the sky fighting for our freedom. Thanks Sidney for putting it all on the line for our country. Next we had George, Leo, Sam and Fred all of these guys drove down from Boca Raton to spend the day together fishing aboard the Hooked Up.

Now these may have been nice enough guys but they knew just what they want to catch and dinner was what they had in mind. So we started out trolling the reef catching a box full of king fish and a couple black fin tunas. Than just to make sure everyone got a shot at eating a few different types of fish we stopped on a wreck and dropped down a chicken rig and caught them a box full of snappers.

Thanks again guys and hope you all enjoy dinner.

As we got back to the dock I had 5 of my close friends waiting and eager to try their luck at some fishing.

We had Jeff the owner of the world famous Treasure Trove

, Charles the trader who has moved to Pitt and now roots for the Stealers,

 Cat Fish our local musician who plays and sings in all the local bars,

 Pete the music man who sells cd and DVD

 and last but by no means least George the Man.

Now I’m not saying that what we catch was not important I’m just saying that everyone getting together was more important than the fish we caught.

Me knowing that it was all about the beer and good times I decided to just fish for what I thought we could catch that would bust everyone’s ass. So without telling them what I was up to we went right to wreck fishing and see if we could get a few of these guys to wrestle with a big amber jack.

As luck would have it not only were they biting but they were snapping.

Everyone got the butts kicked and every one of us had a ball.

Guy’s thanks and next year same bat station same bat channel

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

Tues April 20 Day 45

Good day today worked on Jeff’s boat than walked up to the pizza place up the street.

Met the sweetest girl. Her name is Lisa. Italian girl from New York. She is real passionate about her son Lucas. Smart kid who was misdiagnosed with ADD to find out he only had a vision problem. She had a tear in her eyes. She told me the story.

She bought my lunch. And I bought beer. She gave me chips, and some packs of blue cheese. O got a picture of her as well

Went back and worked on the fishing reels that had gotten stiff from the salt water.

Today we had some repeat customers/friends from Boston out for a day of deep sea fishing.

We had Dad Lou his 2 daughters Melissa and Katelyn and his son Brain. We started out trolling our way down the reef headed for a ship wreck that lay on the bottom off the coast of Hallandale. On our way we caught some king fish.

Once we got down to the wreck we dropped a live bait down 225 feet and the second the bait hit bottom BAM we were Hooked Up. Brain jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It took brain a good 15 min to finally hoist up this monster amber jack.

Ok easy enough but now could we do it again? Once again we sent down a live bait and once again BAM we were Hooked Up. This time Lou got in the chair and once again up came a big amber jack.

Well if it worked 2 times why not try again? Well I’ll tell you why because just as Captain Greg was letting down a third live bait Brain yelled out what’s that over there?? As I looked in the direction he was pointing I see this big sharks dorsal fin sticking out of the water and about 7 feet behind his dorsal  fin I seen the tip of his tail sticking out of the water!!!

Not only was this a shark witch by the way was what Brain wanted in the first place but this was a reel monster. Captain Greg put together a shark bait and I got the boat in front of where he was headed hopping to cut him off at the pass.

We kept in front of him for over 10 min but he just was not interest in our bait. After quite some time he went down and that was the last we seen of him.  (4 NOW)

We had already had some shark baits ready so we figured what the heck let’s just set up for shark fishing for a while.

So we set out a few shark baits and then it happen. BAM one of the big rods bent over and all hell broke loose. We were Hooked Up with some kind of sea monster.

It only took Brain about 10 min till he got this shark close enough to the boat for us to realize that not only was this a sea monster but it had to be the same one we had seen earlier.

The only problem was that once we got a good look at him he got a good look at us and that was the last we were going to see of him for quite some time.

It was a big back and forth tug a war for over an hour. About the 4^th time Brain got him close to the boat we had decided to get a measurement of him to have a replica trophy made of Brain’s shark. The good news was that not only was Brain whipped but so was the shark.

As Greg lead the shark to the side of the boat I got a head rope around his head and we all helped pulling and we slid him part way in the door for a measurement and a couple quick photos.

Now the problem was that even though we only had him part way in the door a shark’s skin will only slide one way and we just could not back him right back out the door. (RATS)

So we had to grab his tail and turn him around in the boat than slide him out the door. Surprisingly enough the shark stayed calm during this whole affair and as we got his head out the door and into the water he just swam out pretty much on his own and in great shape.

This shark was nine feet 7 inches and we estimated him at around 500 pounds.

Holy Cow what a great catch but still we needed one more kind of fish for mama to complete our day.

We knew we were going to have to find some good eating fish for Mama to cook up for dinner. So off we went to another wreck and down went the chicken rigs with 5 hooks tied in a row. It seemed we could do no wrong today because the snappers were there and we caught enough of them for dinner.

Thanks Sooo much guys for a fun day of fishing.

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

Mon April 19 Day 44

Slept great last night Laid in the grass under tent for the first time quite conferrable. Pulled out all gear out of the canoe out of the water and cleaned it.

Went to store and got beer and butts.

Spent the afternoon coping 17 days of my logbook down for Jeff. Because his printer ran out of ink when he was scanning the pages.

I think he’s going to write the story for Taco’s Web page.

He asked me to clean his boat if I felt like it.

I think he was kidding but I’m going to do it anyway because it’s right to give back.

When someone takes care of you the way these lads had.

Maybe I can catch fish while I’m here.

Mon April 19 Day 44

Slept great last night Laid in the grass under tent for the first time quite conferrable. Pulled out all gear out of the canoe out of the water and cleaned it.

Went to store and got beer and butts.

Spent the afternoon coping 17 days of my logbook down for Jeff. Because his printer ran out of ink when he was scanning the pages.

I think he’s going to write the story for Taco’s Web page.

He asked me to clean his boat if I felt like it.

I think he was kidding but I’m going to do it anyway because it’s right to give back.

When someone takes care of you the way these lads had.

Maybe I can catch fish while I’m here.