November is here and it looks like we have put all of that bad weather from Tropical storm Noel behind us…Thank goodness. The Hooked Up team fished with Darlene, her husband Chris and her sister and her husband on the 2nd. They joined us for a 6 hour charter and said they wanted to catch something to eat first and then they wanted to take a shot at a sailfish. With this in mind we started out slow trolling live ballyhoo and filled their first request, they caught some dolphin for dinner. Next the sailfish, we continued to troll live ballyhoo and it took a little while but the bite came and everyone got into it but unfortunately the sailfish won, it jumped off and swam away to fight again.
We had 2 charter trips on the 3rd and it was a beautiful day, the weather was great and the ocean was nice and calm for our trip with Nate, Chris and Bob from Utah and New York. We started out trolling with live ballyhoo and this really worked; the guys ended up with 5 nice dolphin fish. Sheldon from New York, Troy from Pennsylvania and Bennie from Delaware joined us for the afternoon and we thought since we were successful with the trolling technique this morning we would try it again only this time we used dead ballyhoo, it worked again and the guys ended up with 3 nice size dolphin fish.
The Hooked Up did something a little different on the 6th, we were not so much looking to catch fish as we were showing our customers Tiger and his wife Kawko from Hawaii the different techniques we use to catch fish. Tiger owns a few charter boats of his own in Hawaii and he wanted to see how we do things here in South Florida. Our plan was to buy some goggle eyes (live bait) from the bait boat and fly the kites, he had heard of this kind of fishing but he had never done it. Unfortunately we had no wind at all and with no wind you just can't fly the kites; so we took a different approach; we went and caught some live ballyhoo and slow trolled them down the reef. We were hoping to catch him a sailfish, they don't catch sailfish back home so we thought that would be a special treat for him unfortunately the sailfish never did show up but we did manage to catch a real nice dolphin fish. Thanks for a fun morning of fishing and we are looking forward to fishing on your boat one day.
On the 7th Anders and Asa from Sweden fished on the Hooked Up and had a great day. We were trolling live ballyhoo and the dolphin fish were really biting. Anders was the main fisherman and he definitely had his hands full, he ended up catching 12 dolphin fish.
On the 9th the Hooked Up team was joined by Ed and his two sons Rob and Ron and family friend Jeff all from right here in Ft. Lauderdale and let me tell you fishing was great. We started trolling live ballyhoo down the reef and everyone got a chance with the rods bringing in bonito's, a king mackerel, a couple of blue runners, yes they hit the ballyhoo while trolling, 4 nice dolphin fish and then to end the trip they caught two sailfish, both in the 7 foot range. Nice fishing guys, see you again soon!
The morning of the 10th the Hooked Up team was joined by our good friend Pete who use to live here in Ft. Lauderdale but has relocated to Atlanta, Georgia; so it was great to see him. Now Pete has caught just about everything you can catch while fishing with us except for a sailfish, so today was all about getting him that sail and I am happy to say we were successful. Pete got the bite while we were trolling live ballyhoo and he put a whipping on the fish, bringing it to the boat in 15 minutes. After taking some pictures and making sure the fish was ok Pete did a release so someone else could have the thrill of catching a billfish. It was great seeing and fishing with you again Pete! The afternoon charter was a bachelor party for Mark from North Carolina; he was joined by his brother Dave from Boston and friend So-Co from North Carolina, The G Man, from Tampa, Florida and Dan from Atlanta. These guys were having a great time celebrating and anything we caught them was just going to be the icing on top of the cake! We started out slow trolling live ballyhoo and they brought in a big king fish then we hooked into a sailfish, but lost it before we could get it to the boat but luck was with us and we hooked into another sailfish and the guys did a catch and release. Good luck with your upcoming marriage Mark!
On the 11th we fished with Phil, Scott and Donna from Florida and Steve, James and Shaun from Kansas City. Fishing was tough today, we started out slow trolling on the reef but the bite just wasn't there so we moved into deeper water and trolled with live ballyhoo. The bite was slow to come but we got it and the gang brought in a nice sailfish.
The weather was beautiful on the 13th and Dave from Wisconsin and Anna from here in Ft. Lauderdale joined us onboard the Hooked Up. Fishing was better today, we had the dolphin biting while we were trolling live ballyhoo and the sailfish are coming into this area. Dave and Anna each got into the action bringing in 3 nice sized dolphin fish and then we hooked into a monster sailfish but unfortunately he got away before we got him to the boat.
The Hooked Up crew was joined by Denzel from West Virginia on the 15th and 16th and he had his hands full with some nice fish on both days. We thought we would start out with a daytime sword fishing trip; so we did some trolling on the way out and caught a few small fish just to get Denzel warmed up. When we arrived at our destination we put out all the heavy artillery and got ready for the bite; boy were we surprised when the bite wasn't the sword fish we were after but a giant bull dolphin that hit a high line we had out with a goggle eye on it. Denzel wasn't shook up by the change in plans and set to work and soon had him in the boat. Way to go Denzel. Since the sword fish were not biting we decided to move in to some wrecks to see what we could find. It didn't take long to get some action here and Denzel brought in vermillion snappers and a huge hog snapper. The next day, fishing was still good and after bringing in several smaller dolphins Denzel hooked into a monster cow dolphin to match the big bull dolphin he caught yesterday. Denzel had all the dolphin fish he need so we set up the kites and it wasn't to long before we had a bite and he got to do a catch and release of a nice sized sailfish. It was great fishing with you and we look forward to next time!
On the 17th Bill from Austin, Texas and Paul and Dave from Atlanta, Georgia, came on board and although fishing was not red hot we did find a few dolphin fish while we were trolling and when we put the kites up the guys did a catch and release of a nice sailfish.
The 18th brought Josh and Maria from North Carolina to the boat; we started out slow trolling and they brought in a few dolphin fish and then we switched up and did a couple of drops on a wreck and they caught several trigger fish; next they decided they wanted to try for something a little larger so we dropped dead bait on the bottom and put live bait up with the kites and they got their wish, bringing in a nice shark!
Steve, Matt, Mary and Betty from PA., joined us on the 19th and fishing was still a little slow but they brought in a few dolphins while we were trolling and we saw a huge hammerhead shark but we could not get him to eat.
On the 21st, we started the day fishing with Ryan, Matt, KC and Marie from TN and although fishing was slow they ended up catching a couple of dolphin fish while we were trolling and then they brought in a nice shark when we did a drop with dead bait. Our afternoon charter was with Joe and Al from New Jersey and PA. and these guys were interested in going after something large so we set up with live bait on top of the water with the kites and dropped dead baits down on the bottom to see what we could find, well our technique worked….they both caught nice sized sailfish…Way to go guys!!!
The morning of the 24th Gerald, Chris, Jeff, Ryan and Jeff all from the Ft. Lauderdale area joined the Hooked Up team. The weather and ocean were beautiful but the fishing was a little slow. We did some trolling down the reef and the only action we found was a barracuda so we decided to try our luck on some of the wrecks in the area; we dropped a live bait down on top of the wreck and it wasn't too long before we got a bite and the guys brought in a huge amber jack. Nice fish guys! For the afternoon charter we were joined by Jorge, Felipe, Antonio and Andres from Columbia. Fishing was still slow but the guys did catch a Spanish mackerel, a couple of big blue runners jumped on and 2 kingfish.
On the 29th Kenny, Carol, John and Edison from here in Ft. Lauderdale fished with us, and they ended this month of fishing with 2 nice dolphins, a nice bull and a good sized cow.
We want to thank everyone that joined us this month and look forward to the great fishing that December will bring to the Ft. Lauderdale area.