April 2007

April brought a variety of fish to SE Florida, the Hooked Up crew found kingfish, barracudas, bonito’s, and mackerel’s trolling live baits in about 120’ of water on the reefs….dolphin fish and some wahoo’s were found by trolling ballyhoo and bonito strips offshore….the amberjacks were found by dropping live baits in front of some wrecks and we were also blessed with sailfish, blacktip sharks, bull sharks and golden hammerhead sharks.

The 1st was a little slow but the Hooked Up team came through for Michelle and Anthony from Peterborough, United Kingdom by trolling the reefs and them hooking up with a few kingfish.

The fishing really picked up on the 2nd and John from New Mexico had a great morning of sport fishing catching a couple dolphin fish, some kingfish, a barracuda and then he got serious and caught a hammerhead shark. Nice morning of fishing John! The pace slowed down on the afternoon trip but Stacee, Kelsey and Niki from Columbus, Ohio and New York landed a huge golden amberjack.

The 4th brought clear skies, calm seas and a big catch….Dwayne and Randy from Georgia and Ft. Lauderdale went out looking to catch something big, so we set our trap in about 300 feet of water and it paid off when they hauled in a nice size hammerhead shark.

The 5th brought Steven, Sophia and their 3 kids, from Long Island to the Hooked Up and although the fishing was a little slow they did catch kingfish and an amberjack. Fishing was still slow during the afternoon charter but Tracy, John and Frank from Pine Bush, New York did pull an amberjack from one of the deep wrecks.

The 6th through the 10th brought beautiful weather and a calm ocean to the Fort Lauderdale area and the Hooked Up was booked solid and a variety of fish were caught. Kevin, Joe, Jeff, Gabe and Jeff from Boston, Ma and Jackson, Ms joined the crew and landed an Amberjack and the elusive dolphin fish that everyone has been after. Cliff, Matt, Chris, John, John Jr., and Norm from Long Island joined us and caught a huge golden amberjack on the afternoon charter. The next morning Chad Owens and John Philbeck from Houston and Midland, Texas joined us and filled the box with kingfish. The kingfish were not biting in the afternoon but the amberjacks were and Ben, Jerry and Ben from Long Island pulled one up from one of the deep wrecks. On the 8th the fishermen were from Norway and they had a good trip catching Spanish mackerel off the reef and then a hammerhead shark when we did a deep drop. Stewart from the United Kingdom caught a jack crevelle the morning of the 9th and on the afternoon trip we had a birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Tubies…..he was joined by Jess, Marla and Gary and although the fishing was slow, 1 kingfish, they did have a great birthday celebration.

The weather turned bad on the 12th, it rained all day, but John and Gary from Plantation, Florida didn’t care and went out and caught several kingfish and an amberjack.

They say Friday the 13th is bad luck, but not for this family, Mark, Diane, Cassie and Danelle from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. They joined the Hooked Up team for a morning of deep sea fishing and landed 1 Big Ass Sailfish! Awesome catch! Friday is definitely a lucky day for your family! Eric from Fort Lauderdale and Dennis from Chicago, Illinois tried their luck next and although they were not as lucky they did bring some kingfish to the boat.


The 14th brought local fishermen Justin, Scott, John, Ed, Cameron and Danny on board and they did well catching kingfish, dolphin and 2 wahoo’s.

Well that brings us to the 15th of April (TAX DAY) and man was it rough. We had Dylan his daughter Kate and son Barry. I was afraid that the kids were not going to fare very well in the rough weather but I was wrong. They seem to make the kids pretty tough in Ireland they thought it was a blast. I think I head them say something about a rollercoaster ride. (LAL) It paid off with Barry and Kate each catching very big amberjacks, and Dad well, he had his hands full to catching a monster hammerhead shark. They also ended up with a couple big bonitos. Thanks for a great day that we will not soon forget.

Fishing was good on the 16th for Francis from Keansburg, NJ, Freddy from Fairfield, CT, and Michael and Low Forino from Hoboken, NJ. They all had a good time catching a cero mackerel, 4 kingfish and all the bonito’s they wanted.

The 17th brought good weather and big fish! Richard from Pennsylvania went out on the morning charter and wanted something big so we set him up for the catch and he was not disappointed, he landed a huge golden hammerhead shark….awesome catch Richard! Bill, Tom and Geoff from Rhode Island joined us for the afternoon trip and didn’t want to be outdone by Richard so they caught a nice sailfish!

The 18th brought out Matthew, Pat, Billy Bob, Eddie, Ryan and Joe and they had a great time deep sea fishing. We started off trolling the reef and they caught bonito’s, kingfish and 3 dolphins then we did some drops over a couple of wrecks and they caught and released 2 amberjacks. Way to Go!

The good weather continued on the 19th and Mark and Liz from Boston, MA. Joined us and caught Spanish mackerel on the reef and then a huge golden amberjack on a deep wreck.

After the 19th the weather took a turn and went from sunshine and calm seas to rain, a strong east wind and choppy seas but that did not bother the fish. Cindy and Dennis from Orlando were not deterred by the weather either and caught kingfish and barracudas while we trolled the reef. The fishing was great on the 23rd for Nancy and Stephen from Pennsylvania and Long Island. They joined the Hooked Up team for some serious sportfishing and were not disappointed; catching a sailfish and a golden hammerhead shark! Awesome morning of fishing! Shawn and David from Elk River, Minnesota came aboard for the afternoon charter and did great too…..they warmed up by bringing in some bluerunners and then got serious and caught a blacktip shark! Great trip guys!

On the 25th the amberjacks were biting and Bill and Bill from NJ caught 2 of them, then Jason, Jake and Beth Foran from Monticello, Illinois landed 2 huge golden amberjacks on the afternoon trip along with some kingfish and a dolphin.
he ever wanted and then he brought in 2 hammerhead sharks….our last customer of the month was Bill from North Carolina and he finished the month off by catching a bull shark!

The crew of the Hooked Up wants to say Welcome and Thank You to all the servicemen and servicewomen who joined us here in Ft. Lauderdale for Fleet Week! We also send a big THANK YOU to all the military personnel and their families who make sacrifices everyday so we can all enjoy the freedom that we have-----You Make It All Possible For All Of US---------

May looks good for fishing so come on down and join us on the Hooked Up—Capt. Taco

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