What a way to start out Febuary fishing aboard the Hooked Up
Capt. Taco Perez
February 9, 2009
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Today was kind an important fishing trip for Kevin from South Florida he has decided to get married this Saturday to Lisa. So one of Kevin's best friends Will gave me a call from New York and was asking me about taking him ,Kevin, Ed, Mark and Keith for their last fishing trip as a single man.
We started out with a little trolling down the reef in search of some kingfish or bonitos. At first we noticed that Kevin was quick to jump in the chair whenever we got a bite. He had reeled in a couple of kingfish when I noticed he was no longer drinking any beer and was not quite so aggressive to jump in the chair. So we just kept on trolling for a while giving the other guys a chance to reel in a couple of kingfish. After catching plenty of kings we decided to try our luck at some kite fishing with live baits. So we set out our kites with live baits suspended from them and the trap was set.
We were waiting for a bite for a good 30 minutes when I noticed that we had a nice slick behind the boat as if we had a chum bag hanging over the side to let out a cint. As it turned out there was no chum bag hanging over the side it was Kevin. I guess he was just trying to help our odds of catching a fish or maybe his nerves were a little shuck up in anticipation of the big day or maybe he just got a little SEA SICK (LOL).
Shortly after Kevin was so nice to put out this nice slick in the water for us up popped a sailfish on one of our kite baits. (Holy cow this slick thing works).
I can tell you that if there is one way to get rid of being sea sick is jump in a chair and fight a big fish. That is just what Kevin did. It took a good 20 min to finally get the big sailfish to the boat but well worth it. Way to go Kevin we got a few killer pictures of the fish and watched him swam away in great shape.
Wait we are not to the end of this fishing report yet. Once we got back to the dock one of the guys I think it was Keith asked if we would clean the king fish for him. Well we would be happy to Keith how many of them would you like we asked? All of them he replied. We told him that he was more than welcome to them but let him know that this kind of fish really does not freeze well. As it turned out he had no intentions of freezing these fish. These fish were going right into a smoker to make some fish dip for a cruse they were all going on after the big day.
You might be wondering why I bothered to mention all this about the kingfish and dip and so on. Well let me tell you I am in the fishing business and I am around all kinds of different fish recipes and different kinds of ways of cooking fish smoking fish and so on. Keith had brought along a bowl of his famous fish dip. (All I can say is WOW) this stuff was off the scale and if he sold this stuff he would make a mint. As Keith let us try his dip at the dock all the other Captains noticed something was going on and they all wanted to try some. Keith somehow your big bowl of dip came up missing sorry (LOL)
Kevin and Lisa best of luck and to the rest of you guys thanks a bunch if really was a ball fishing with you guys.
Good times here in Sunny South Florida so come on down and be a part of it all and leave the ice and snow behind.
Captain Taco (954)764-4344 or toll free at (877) SEA-4344
Feb 6
Today was kind of a special trip for me we got to take out a friend of ours Robert from Tenn. On this fishing trip Robert brought along his son Bobby and of course they can't go fishing with (The Neighbor) Robert also from Tenn.
We knew that there had been a few sailfish around but that was not what they were after. They wanted to catch some good eating fish.
They really did not care for king fish and the dolphin fish has few and far in between so we thought.
So we decided to hit some bottom spots. Captain Greg knew a few and I knew a few so we thought we would hit them all. The first spot we hit was producing some snappers so we hit them pretty good there. After hitting the bottom there for an hour or so we decided to try some other spots. We fished 4 different spots and ended up 4 miles from where we had started with no luck. We decided to go back to our first spot and try one more time there. We made the right choice we ended up catching more than enough. Before we knew it we had plenty of snappers and we also had a well full of live baits.
We decided since we still had a good hour of day light we would set out our kites with live baits suspended from them have a few beers and hope for the best. And the best is just what we got. Once we got our live baits out there it was not long before we had a dolphin fish on and Booby jumped in the chair and we had him in the boat in no time. Right after that we had another bite and this time Robert (the neighbor) jumped in the chair and yes another dolphin fish. We had our kites up till the sun was down and now it was dark and time to reel them in. Just as we started to clear our lines Captain Greg yelled out hold on one second. I looked down at Greg because I could not see any of the baits and was wondering what he was up to. Much to my surprise Greg had one of the rods in his hand and looked as if he was feeding a fish. Then he yelled out for me to go ahead with the boat and up came a sail fish jumping. No sooner did the fish come up jumping that I heard Greg yell out a couple of words that I'll not repeat. (RATS) got away. About two seconds later I heard Greg yell out there is another one.
This time I went ahead with the boat hard and we were Hooked Up. Bobby waited no time jumping in the chair and the fight was on. This was a big sail fish and by this point we were fighting him in the dark. We managed to get all the other lines in so we could concentrate on the one fish and nothing ells. Finally we were gaining line on the sail fish and soon enough we had him close to the boat. Greg reached out and just touched the leader to make it official a catch. Than the fish pulled out about 20 to 30 more yards of line and Bobby was trying to get him back to the side of the boat for some quick pictures and a quick measurement for a replica trophy to make of his catch.
But just as Captain Greg was reaching out to grab the fish the line broke right at the sail fish mouth. While we never did get to get any good pictures of the fish it was a catch and we were pretty happy about that and besides we had plenty of snappers in the box.
To Robert, Bobby and the neighbor thanks so much and thanks for dinner and the drinks after the trip.
Looking forward to hunting with you guys up in Tenn. in Nov
For a better look at our catch go to photo gallery # 6
February is here fish are biting and better yet spring is right around the corner so give us a call and let's get you Hooked Up
Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 toll free (877) SEA-4344
Today was one of those days that make me feel good about being a charter Boat Captain in South Florida.
We had a morning trip with a family from Pittsburg Pa. Dan and his whole family were getting together to go on a 7 day cruise. But they got in town a day early so he decided to make the most of his day in Fort Lauderdale Florida and spend the morning fishing aboard the Hooked Up. Dan brought along his your son Nate his dad Rick and Gordon.
Weather conditions looked good for kite fishing so we started out by stopping at the live bait boat and loading up with some live bait so we would not waist a bunch of time trying to catch live bait.
After we got our bait we went out to 150 feet of water set out both our kites with four live baits suspended from them. The trap was set and we started waiting for our shot.
It was not long before we seen a big swirl by one of our kite baits. Nate was up stairs on the fly bridge bragging to me about this buck he had shot with antlers on one side of his head and none on the other so he was out of the cock pit and Greg had to hand the rod to Gordon who was right there next to Greg. Once Gordon got in the chair this big dolphin fish came jumping out of the water and the fight was on. It took Gordon a good 5 minutes to finally get his fish within gaffing distance for Greg. Once we got the fish in the boat and I got done giving Nate a hard time about bragging about this deer that he got and I've been trying to get for over eight years now he spent the rest of the trip down stairs next to Greg.
Good thing to because from there it was not long before we had a big king fish jumping over six feet in the air trying to eat one of our kite baits. We finally got a hook in this king but since we had monofilament leader we figured he would bite threw the leader and second now. But as Nate's luck would have it he was hooked in the corner of the mouth and we managed to get him in the boat. Talk about a lucky kid. (I hate you) (LOL)
After some hand shaking and high fiving we got the baits right back out there. Within 5 minutes we had another kingfish skyrocketing another one of our kite baits. This was a big kingfish and we knew that this one would for sure bite right threw the leader but once again we hooked him right in the corner of the mouth and this time Dan got in the chair and yes once again we got him.
(Talk about a lucky family)
While luck was on our side we still had not seen a sail fish and we knew that there were some around.
At this point we were out of time and we knew we had to get back in for our afternoon trip. We just started bringing in our kites when all of a sudden out of the blue popped up this monster sailfish. I could not believe the luck we were having. This one was for Dan's trophy room if we could just keep him on the hook long enough to get a measurement. We brought in the rest of the kites and all the other lines so we could devote all of our attention on Dan's fish. It took Dan a good 20 minutes to finally get his fish to the boat. By the time we got him to the boat the fish had settled down enough to hold him get a couple quick pictures and watched him swim away in great shape.
Thanks again guys for a fun filled morning of deep sea fishing and hope you guys have a great time on your cruise O and by the way Nate while you were bragging to me about your deer the dolphin fish that Gordon caught weighed 18 pounds (LOL)
Once we got back to the dock we had Buddy the post man and Bob and old rock and roll singer there waiting for us. They were both from New Jersey and they were glad to be out of the snow. We had taken Bob and Buddy fishing the day before on a shared charter and fishing was a little slow in the morning and they never got a chance to reel in a fish. So I had told them the day before that I had a shared charter going out today and if they wanted to come along I would cut the price down real low for them to try to make it up to them. As it turned out we waited for the other half of our shared charter to show up for an hour and they never did show up. They called and we had a bit of miss communication and they were coming another day. Talk about feeling stupid I did not know what to say but Bob decided he would pay a little more and get the boat for just him and his son-in-law.
NOW THE PREASURE WAS ON. I had to find these guys some nice fish.
Here is how our trip started out. Greg put bait on the hook than he threw the bait in the water and handed me his rod tip so I could connect the line to the kite to send it out. However when I got the line in my hand and tried to connect it to the kite I thought Greg was pulling on the line and I could not get it to the kite. All of a sodden Greg yelled let go of the line. We had a 15 pound dolphin fish eating the fish from right behind the boat. Buddy jumped in the fighting chair and we were Hooked Up.
It took Buddy about 3 minutes to get his dolphin within golfing range Greg reached out gaffed the fish threw him in the box and we had only been fishing for less than one minute.
I was starting to wonder if our morning charter was as lucky as I thought it might have been Greg and I that had all the luck today we could do no wrong.
At this point not all the pressure was off of me but some of it was and I was feeling LUCKY. We got all 4 of our live baits suspended from both of the kites and right after that here comes another dolphin fish and this one was even bigger than the first. This time Bob jumped in the chair and started fighting our second dolphin fish. After about 5 to 6 minutes Bob got his fish with in gaffing distance and Greg gaffed this one but this one did not go right in the box. He hit the deck and all hell broke loose. We let the fish ware himself down and we got him in the box.
Now I'm feeling good so good that I go ahead a call Buddy's wife on the phone and let her know that we made up for the day before. Now the beers were flowing and a great time was being had by all.
We got the baits right back out there and this time we did not see the bite but there was a big swirl by one of the baits. We came tight with the fish and Buddy got in the chair. After a few minutes Buddy reeled this one in a big bonito. Way to go and keep them coming I yelled down.
As if things could not get any better here comes this sailfish and he's trying to eat one of our kite baits. We went ahead with the boat and once again we were HOOKED UP
Now the old Rocker jumped in the chair the fight was on this fish pulled out a ton of line but Bob hung in there and about 25 minutes later we had his first sailfish next to the boat. We were letting the fish swam next to the boat so we could get some nice pictures of the fish when of all things we see a tag sticking out of the side of the sail fish. Someone had caught this fish before. Greg reached over and cut the tag out. What a LUCK filled day Once we mail the tag in and get the info back we'll let you know where the fish was last time he was caught.
We still had a bit of time left in our trip so we got the baits back out there cracked open some more beers. Greg had yelled up to me something about he had to go to the bath room.
Greg was gone for 2 seconds and that's right you guessed it we got another bite. So I ran down stairs grabbed the rod and got Buddy in the chair. At the same time Bob ran up stairs and started driving the boat. This was not planned or talked about he just thought it was the right thing to do. I had no idea Bob could drive. It turns out that Bob has a boat of his own in New Jersey. By this time Greg comes running out but he sees right away that we've got it under control so he just sits down and enjoys the show. It turned out to be another bonito. We only had 2 baits left on the boat by the end of the day.
Once again I want to thank all of you that fished with us today and I'm sure we will be seeing you guys again soon.
That's what we call a banner day and this time of the year we have lots of them so come on down out of the ice and snow and be a part of all this great fishing in Sunny South Florida.
Captain Taco (954)764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Forecast:
This January fishing was a little slower than in the past. That is good news for Febuary and spring time fishing i really think we are going to have a banner fishing season.
Captain Taco
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