Luis Perez

Aug 19

Today the wind was blowing about 10 to 15 knots and we had a fishing trip with a family from New Mexico ready to go out for some deep sea fishing. We had Joe, Corey, Jessica and Kelly.

We started out on the reef doing some trolling for king fish and bonitos. Everything started out as planned we had caught a few kings and bonitos when I noticed that Joe was looking over the side of the boat. I guess he was trying to find some fish but I'm sorry to say that he was not looking for fish he was looking for land. It seemed the rocking off the boat got to him and he was not feeling the best he had ever felt. I got to give Joe credit he never once complained to anyone but after a good hour of watching him just not having any fun the dissension was made to good ahead and call it a day.

Just as we turned the boat back toward home and we were reeling up the lines we got a bite. Since Joe was in the chair right next to the rod we had the bite on we handed the rod to him. Next thing we knew this big sailfish came jumping out of the water and Joe was Hooked Up. Joe ended up reeling the sail fish just too where the leader was touching the rod tip and at that point the fish made one more jump and got away.

At least everyone got to see him and we were all glad that after Joe not feeling well for the last 3 hours at least he did get to fight a sail fish.

Thanks again guys and next time the Hooked Up owes you an extra hour on the house.

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

Aug 20

Today we had a shared charter by Daniel from Boca Raton who had is father Edd in town visiting from Israel and we had Jim and Misty from Bloomington Illinois. We started once again trolling the reef for kings and bonitos. Fishing was good on the reef and everyone had caught fish in no time so we decided since we had good north current and the water was as blue as it gets we wanted to try some kite fishing. We don't do as much kite fishing this time of the year but it looked so good and since we had not done any kite fishing in quite some time we gave it a shot. So in came all of the trolling gear and out went the kites with live baits suspended from them.

It seemed that just as we got done explaining to everyone how the kites worked we seen a big splash by one of our baits. All of a sudden one of the rods bent over and line was peeling off the reel. We decided lady's first so without any hesitation Misty jumped in the chair and the fight was on. We seen the fish thrashing all over the surface but at first we could not make out what kind of fish it was. But Misty hung in there and ended up landing a monster barracuda. Nice going Misty.

Captain J.J. got a new live bait set right back out there and then he went ahead and sent a dead bonito hooked onto a big rod down to the bottom. Usually when we send a shark bait out we are fishing in about 350 feet of water but today we were in 120 feet of water but what the heck maybe J.J. knew something I didn't.

Once J.J. got the live baits all set out there all of a sudden while everyone was watching the kite baits I yelled at J.J. watch out for your deep rod. No sooner did the words get out of my mouth when our BIG rod bent over and line was peeling off the reel as if it was connected to a freight train.

This time Jim was in the chair waiting for J.J. to hand him the rod but there was a little problem. The rod was bent over and line was screaming off the reel so hard that J.J. could not get the rod out of the rod holder. After a couple of min the fish settled down a bit and J.J. got the rod to Jim in the chair and now the fight was on. We had no idea what kind of fish it was on the other end all we knew for sure was that it was a shark but as far as what kind and how big well let's just say we knew it was going to be BIG.

We knew right away that this fight was going to take quite some time and Jim was doing all he could just to hold onto the rod when all of a sudden I seen a big splash out by one of our kite baits and now line was screaming off one of our kite rods. GREAT SCOTT now we are HOOKED UP with two big fish at the same time. Daniel wasted no time jumping in the chair and now this fight was on. Both anglers were doing their best to get their fish to the boat when J.J. seen that the two fish were about to cross over each other. So J.J. got them to stand up and Daniel went under Jim's rod and sat on the opposite side of the boat and the fish were both going in different directions. Ok now we had Daniels fish at the boat it turned out to be a nice barracuda. J.J. got Daniels fish in the boat got a couple quick pictures and watched him swam away in good shape. One down and one to go.

All of a sudden Jim's fish came to the surface right behind the boat a MONSTER Hammer Head Shark.

By the time we got Jim's shark to the side of the boat he was pretty tired I mean the shark and Jim (LOL)

J.J. opened the door in the back of the boat and we all helped sliding this 102 inch Hammer head shark into the boat. We got a quick measurement and a few quick pictures and J.J. managed to get not only all the hooks out of the sharks month but we also got another hook out of the side of his head that someone else had put there. Then we slid him out the door and watched him swim away in great shape.

Thanks to all of our anglers this morning we had a ball fishing with you guys and we are going to hold you to it and looking forward to fishing with you again soon.

Ok so back to the dock we headed for our afternoon trip. This afternoon we had Paul and Marlene from the Bronx in New York and we had a tough act to follow after all the luck we had on our morning trip.

We went right back to trolling the reef knowing that the kingfish and bonitos were biting. We had our limit of king fish in no time and the bonitos just kept biting like mad dogs. Than we got a bite that was a bit different than the others and sure enough it was a sailfish it came jumping out of the water and Marlene jumped in the chair and the fight was on.

It was a back and forth tug a war for over 15 min but at last Marlene got this nice sailfish to the side of the boat. J.J. tried to get the hook out of the fish's mouth but the fish was just a bit too frisky next to the boat and J.J. decided it was going to do more harm to the fish than just cutting the line close to the hook and just let the hook rust out.

What a great day of fishing and now we are hearing about more and more sailfish being seen so come on down to Sunny South Florida and be a part of some of this great fishing going on down here right now!!

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

Fish Species: Sharks, Sail fish king fish ECT
Bait Used: live and dead
Tackle Used: Rods and reels Kite and planners
Method Used: Trolling and deep drops
Water Depth: 150
Water Temperature: 79
Wind Direction: South East
Wind Speed: 5 to 15 knots
Fish in boat
Fish in boat

Fish swaiming away in great shape
Fish swaiming away in great shape


Do you want to leave a comment? Login or register now to leave a comment.


No comments so far

Luis Perez

About The Author: Captain Luis Perez

Company: Taco's Hooked Up Sportfishing

Area Reporting: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Bio: My name is Taco and I run the best Fort Lauderdale fishing charter in South Florida! Heck, you won't have a better time on any fishing boat from West Palm to Miami. Why, because you get a sport fishing captain who has fished the waters of Fort Lauderdale for over 20 years. I know where to fish and how to fish for sailfish, marlin, tuna, dolphin, barracuda and just about anything that has gills.

954-764-4344
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Luis Perez