June 17
Ok
so we have been shut down for a much engine repair that has
been a long time coming but at last our engine is fixed and we
seem to still have the sword fish fever. So it just so happens
that our of our most regular customers Clark and his wife
Whitney are in town and we really wanted to show them a real
treat. They seem to always charter the boat for 4 hour trips
and we have never had the chance to try to get a big sword
fish with them so this time we are going for it.
Clark
and one of my Captains Greg also do a lot of fishing on the
west coast of Florida out of Everglades City and they have a
couple of guides that they use when they are over there. They
have been using Captain (In Sian Wayne) of Fish Hunt Charters
(239) 269-3602 and Captain Joe from Show and Tell Charters
(Don’t have his # however his web site is easy to find)
I
have fished on the west coast with these guys and I’ve got
to say that if you like fishing in shallow water for snook,
red fish, tarpon, Jew fish and just about anything else you
want to catch over there it truly can be a none stop action
place to fish. Just make sure you have a party of three
anglers or less or else you will need 2 boats. And remember to
bring a hat suntan lotion and plenty to drink and be ready for
what they call a full day and I do mean a full day both times
I fished with In Sian Wayne I had to tell him that’s enough
can we go in now? And if you are real nice to him he might
bring you back within 9 to 11 hours.
Ok
so enough about them let’s get back to our fishing trip that
Clark and Whitney invited Wayne and Joe and Joe’s son Connor
to join us on.
So
off we went trolling at 8 knots going 17 miles off shore. Once
we got to the sword fish spot in came all the trolling gear
and out went our squid and down she went all the way to the
bottom 1500 down.
Once
we got the bait down we threw out ballyhoo and just drifted it
way back behind the boat. After a good 10 min without a bite
we decided to bring it up just to make sure it got down
without getting tangled. While it did make it down without
getting tangled we did not even know it but someone down there
took a swat at it and the squid was cut in half. Ok no big
deal we knew we were in the right spot. So we picked up and
ran about a quarter mile to the south so we could try to get
the bait down in the same spot. So once again down went our
bait and out went the ballyhoo. Just about the same time we
hit bottom the rod bent just a bit and we were Hooked Up. As
we were reeling it up it seemed this fish could pull out drag
whenever he wanted to and then would just keep coming up with
us. All of a sudden the ballyhoo that we had forgotten about
at this point got hit and line started screaming off the reel.
Holy cow what to do? We seen this BIG dolphin fish about 35
pounds come up jumping and we knew we had a sword fish on our
deep line. This dolphin fish was just too big to just cut the
line and deal with what we had come out for in the first
place. So we figured since we had 5 guys on the boat that fish
for a living that we could somehow manhandle this dolphin at
the boat so as to not allow him to get tangle in our other
line with the sword fish was connected to. I’ve got to say
that I would not have wanted to be this dolphin behind this
boat today. It took about 2 seconds and this fish was out of
the water and in the fish box before he even knew he was
hooked. Connor nice job getting him to the boat so fast and
J.J. nice gaff job and as for Wayne nice job closing the lid
on him so fast.
Ok
so back to our sword fish up popped the lead and J.J. cut it
off it less than a second and just as Captain Greg graded the
leader he said that he had just felt one of the hooks pull and
1 second later he was gone (RATS)
We
never did get to see how big this one was because the leader
was straight down and it is over 120 feet long. What a heart
breaker but that fishing and we will be back.
Guys
thanks again for a great fun day of fishing and we will see
you guys again next week.
Summer
is here and so are some of the bigger dolphin fish so give us
a call and lets go fishing aboard the Hooked Up.
Captain
Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free at (877) SEA-4344
June
18
Today
we had a bunch of crazy nuts down here in South Florida to
celebrate there friend Jim getting married. Jim now lives down
here in South Florida along with his friends Jayson the EAR,
Steve, Mike and Eric the Long Beach Boomer who still lives in
New York.
We
started out trolling the reef with 2 lines down deep and three
on top and today it was the right choice to make. We were
picking at the bonitos and kingfish pretty good all morning
and before we knew it we had a box full of king fish. Once we
got way down to the South almost off the coast of Miami we
decided to try dropping a live bait down deep on a wreck just
to see if we could catch a big grouper or some other kind of
bottom dwelling sea creature.
We had little to no current so I really did not think
this was going to pan out for us but since we were all the way
down here what the heck. We dropped a couple of times with no
bites so it was time to decide what else to try. I thought
going off shore looking for dolphin fish might be our best bet
but Captain J.J. thought we might have a better shot at
catching a shark around all these wrecks. We were going to
make a $100 dollar bet but I did not feel right about taking
J.J.’s money and man am I glad we did not bet because I
would not have been taking J.J.’s money he would have been
taking mine. It took about 30 min of waiting but all at once
we seen our balloon with a shark bait on the other end go down
and we were Hooked Up It was Jim’s party so he jumped in the
chair and the fight was on. This fish was not coming to the
boat so easy in fact it took Jim over 30 min to finally get
him to the side of the boat. It turned out to be a 200 to 230
pound bull shark hooked in the side. Way to go Jim Buy the way
we got the fish next to the boat and using the gaff J.J. got
all the hooks out of the fish. If you look closely at this
picture the gaff is not in the fish he was using the gaff to
get all the hooks out of the fish. Nice job J.J.
Good
luck Jim and guys thanks again for a fun day of fishing.
Fishing
is getting better every day so give us a call and let’s get
you Hooked Up
Captain
Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free at (877) SEA-4344
June
19
Today
I had a couple of friends that I have been friends with since
the early 70s I had Peter from Ft Lauderdale and Barb who now
lives up by Daytona Beach Florida and she brought along her
boyfriend Kurt from Deland Florida.
The
fish we were looking for today would be dolphin fish so we
could all have a big fish fry. So we headed off shore trolling
5 lines on the surface a one down about 45 feet deep for any
Wahoo’s that we might run across.
Once
we got about 6 miles off shore I seen a big weed patch and
hopes were high. But as we were getting close to this weed
patch Captain Greg yelled out to me and asked if I could see
anything behind his left short bait. No sooner than the words
came out of his mouth up came this sail fish and he was not
leaving till he got something to eat. He made one last pass at
the bait and that was all that Greg was waiting for. We were
Hooked Up. We tried to get Barb to jump in the chair but she
said that there would be no chair for her. She was going to
fight this one standing up. (Way to Go Barb). The fish peeled
off half a spool of line and started dancing all over the
surface for us. What a show this fish seemed to be in the air
more than in the water. At
this point the boat had slid right into the middle of the weed
patch that we were heading for and Barb’s line had weed all
over her line between her and the fish. She finally got her
fish to the side of the boat. We got a couple of quick
pictures and watched her fish swim away in great shape.
We
went right back to dolphin hunting but never did find any so
we headed back into the reef to catch Kurt a king fish. We
later found out the reason we had caught Barb a sail fish was
because she brought her lucky marble along with her. Ok Barb
it was the Marble!! What Ever
(LOL)
Guys
thanks for bring back all the memories lov ya.
Captain
Taco (954) 764-4344 toll free (877) SEA-4344
June
20
Ok
the last couple of weeks have been filled with ups and downs
fishing and it seems like our luck has finally taking a turn
for the better. I’m sure that if Barb from yesterday’s
trip were writing this fishing report she would say that it
was her lucky marble that changed our luck but for whatever
reason I’m just glad that things have turned around for us.
Yesterday
things started looking a bit better but today we were on fire.
It seemed we could do no wrong and all this happen on a day
when fishing really was not all that great for any of the
other boats.
We
set out on our fishing trip with Brent and Debbie from
Leesburg Florida and their friends Tom and Laurie also from
Leesburg Florida.
We
were going to be out fishing all day so we knew we had plenty
of time to try a few different types of fishing. So we started
out trolling the reef with two lines down deep on planner
boards and three on the surface. For those of you that don’t
know how the planners boards work let me explain it a bit. We
attach the planner to a fishing rod with a long leader behind
it (about 60 feet long) so when our angler reels in their fish
they can only reel till the planner gets to the tip of the
rod. At this point the deck hand grabs the leader and hand
lines in the rest.( Not on the trip!!) Debbie would have no
part of that and she hand lined every fish that came in on the
planner and there was a bunch.
While
trolling we ended up catching a box full of kingfish and two
black fin tunas.
Ok
so now that we had plenty of fish in the box it was time to go
for the big one. We set out both our kites with live goggle
eyes suspended from them. We also set out a shark bait on a
balloon just under the surface and way back behind the boat.
We also set out one bait about 150 feet down and our last bait
was set down on the bottom 350 deep. So at this point we had
everything out there except the kitchen sink.
We
waited and waited and just as we were starting to lose hope
Captain Greg jumped up and said there he is on our balloon set
way back behind the boat. I went ahead with the boat the rod
bent over and we were Hooked Up.
Brent
jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a big back
and forth tug a war for over 25 min but at last Brent finally
wore down his fish and got him to the side of the boat. It was
a big hammer head shark. We Sid his catch into the boat to get
a quick measurement , a couple of quick pictures and even
managed to get all the hooks out of him before sliding him
back out the door and watched him swam away in great shape.
Nice Catch and perfect release.
Ok
at this point we found ourselves in about 450 feet of water
and we noticed a nice blue edge of blue water had moved in so
we decided to just slide our kites right back out and see what
might be cursing down this edge.
It
did not take long before we seen our right long kite bait
running for his life and sure enough we were hooked up again.
This time Tom jumped in the chair and ended up catching a big
barracuda.
Things
were looking good so we just stayed right there and then all
of a sudden without any warning a big sail fish popped up on
our short right kite bait and again we were Hooked Up.
Ok
now it was time to find out if Debbie really reeled like a
girl (LOL) she jumped in the chair and there was nothing girly
about the way she reeled her fish in. It took about 15 min but
she got her first sail fish to the boat. We got a couple of
pictures and watched him swim away in great shape.
Way
to go Debbie and what a way to end a great day of deep sea
fishing.
Brent,
Debbie, Tom and Laurie thanks soooo much for a great fun day
and we are looking forward to our next trip. Bear in mind this
is a tough one to top.
Summer
is here and so are the fish so give us a call and let’s have
a ball fishing aboard the Hooked Up.
Captain
Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344
June
21
Today
we had a boat full of people from Florida and they wanted
eating fish.
We
had Jordan, David, Taylor, Sheryl and Bob. They guys were
counting on a fish fry at the end of the day. So we started
out with king fishing on the reef and it paid off for us in a
big way. Before we knew it we had our limit of king fish. So
we knew that what they really wanted was some dolphin fish so
we ran off shore and started the hunt for a weed line or any
kind of debris we could find in the water. After a good hour
of trying to find dolphin on a Sunday with great weather we
knew that there had to be at least 100 other boats doing the
same thing and it was like trying to find a needle in a hay
stack.
We
threw in the towel on trying to find dolphin fish and decided
to hit some of the ship wrecks down deep.
Talk
about making the right choice we ended up catching 20
snappers, 5 jacks, 2 porgies, 5 trigger fish and a 20 pound
grouper to boot.
Guys
sorry about the dolphin fishing but I can tell you that I
would take a grouper over dolphin fish any day of the week.
Hope you guys had a great fish fry and we are looking forward
to our next trip.
Captain
Taco (9540 764-4344
June
22
Today
I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. The good news is
fishing was as good as it gets the bad news is we did not have
our camera aboard to take any pictures.
We
had Travis and Bob both who work for the sheriff’s dept out
for a few hours of fishing. We picked up some live baits from
the live bait boat and went out to 150 feet of water. We set
out both of our kites with live baits suspended from them and
started to wait for the bite.
I’ve
got to say that today there was not too much waiting going on
we had pretty much none stop action. We were catching king
fish and bonitos and plenty of them when all of a sudden a
sailfish popped up and we were Hooked up Travis jumped in the
chair and the fight was on. It took about 15 min to reel him
to the boat. Ok one down and one to go. We got our baits right
back out there and no sooner than we got the baits set back
out there here comes another sailfish. This sailfish spit the
hook and got away but soon after that here comes anther one
and this one was hooked up and now Bob jumped in the chair and
his fight began. It also took bob a good 15 min to get his
sail fish to the boat. What a day of fishing!!! You just
can’t ask for more than that in a 4 hour trip.
Guy’s
thanks again for a real fun morning of fishing and we’ll see
you again soon.
Captain
Taco (9540 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344