We battled this huge barracuda up to the boat . took a couple shots and let him go. I made my way to the south as brett deployed the standard trolling spread. Three on top and two deep lines on the planners. We trolled down the reef catching our limit of kings with several bonitos mixed in. I made one pass right inside a shallow wreck and boom the deep rod smoked off a bunch of line then stopped . I knew what we had, it was a beautiful full grown red grouper. What a great fish, this one went right on the ice.

We trolled off shore looking for a few mahi to round out the day but they were no where to be found but we did manage to catch one really nice black fin to add to the menu.

Thanks for the trip and the great camaraderie!

The shark fishing has been hit or miss. When the current has been running the shark action is very consistent. We are catching several hammerhead sharks and beautiful sandbar sharks along with a few silkys.

The inshore bite in the intercostal has been great producing lots of juvenile tarpon , jacks , nurse sharks and cuddas

Give me a call and lets get out there on the rip!

There are sailfish here year round. It just takes certain conditions to get them chewing in the summertime. We chugged out the cut up to the north were there was a killer edge out in 200 feet . I launched the kites and out went our spread of goggle eyes. It took a little patience but it payed off . There he was on the left long the kite ribbon started walking off, locked up and we were on. Jason jumped in the chair and battled the sailfish for about a half hour . Joey grabbed him and pulled him the boat for a measurement and a few great shots. I ran right back to the blue water blend a little further south now and reset. This time it didn't take long , it was a reel aggressive bite on the right short I could see the entire fish eating the gog like it was 3-D, AWESOME we all saw it. This fish was hot ,running and jumping all over the place . Jason's Dad jumped in the chair and managed to tame this acrobatic fish. The fish tired himself out and came boat side to joeys hand for a quick measurement and picture before the release. What a great morning right out in front of Fort lauderdale Beach.

Thanks for joining us!!!

Capt. Stu and the Crew of the Miss Bonita 2

Call us today to book your trip on the Miss Bonita 2!

We made a few drops, bringing up a few nice amberjacks. We took some great pictures and sent them home. We trolled our way home catching a decent mahi mahi for the eating.

Thanks for the trip. See you guys next year!

She brought up a nicer amberjack than the first! We decided to go a little bit further south and try our luck in Golden Beach. We set up way out in front of the wreck and Joey tried to drop this bait straight the the bottom. He left it sit there right outside the wreck on the oceans muddy floor. I held into the current for a few minutes slowly making our way back towards the wreck. All of a sudden, the rod crumbled over to the water.

I gunned the boat ahead to help set the hook. Dave jumped in the chair and battled this beautiful Warsaw Grouper up to the boat. This is one of the best times of year to catch one of these goliath’s of the sea. We took a great photo and were allowed one per day. This one went on the ice. Thanks for the trip. See you guys next year!

We decided to pop the kites on this beautiful edge. We put 2 goggle eyes on the left kite and 2 on the right kite. The trap was set! This is where we could’ve used better luck! It only took about 5 minutes before the left long started freaking out and walking off to the south really fast. By the time I turned and saw what was going on, I yelled for Joey to jump the short bait over the long… “there’s another one!” It was too late. There was another huge Atlantic Sailfish desperately trying to eat the short bait that was tangled with the fish that was going south. Now everything “went south!” As the sailfish on the short was about to eat the bait, the sailfish on the long (with the tangled line) sprung the bait up out of the water and away from the 2nd sailfish. Moments later, the first fish shook his head and he was gone too. Unbelievable! The whole gang got to see both sailfish.

The wind was out of the south-east, the sun was behind us and the water was crystal clear. It was hard not to see what was going on. So, like anyone else would do, we reset hoping to get another bite. We waited and waited, but unfortunately, we never got another shot. The day was coming to an end we had to head home. On the way in, we stopped on the ledge in front of John Lloyd State Park and Port Everglades. Joey pinned a couple of big blue runners on the spinning rods while I slowly bumped them around on the ledge. On our second pass, we got an aggressive bite. A giant barracuda leaped about 6 feet out of the water. The fish came to eye level with me on the bridge. It was cool! Paul’s son, Chris, grabbed the rod as I pulled off of the ledge into deeper water. The giant ‘cuda made several runs and we finally got him in the boat for some pictures and safe release. This was the family’s first ‘cuda… pretty cool! We didn’t get to redeem ourselves after the first sailfish bite, but we wrapped up the end of the day on a great note with a high flying ‘cuda!

See you guys next year!

We moved out a little deeper and I saw a school of small black fins feeding and jumping out of the water. I made my way over to them and we caught several. They were about 3-6 pounds each. Small tunas but very tasty! We continued to head off shore and turn back north with the current. I found a beautiful edge where the sargasm weed was starting to build up in a line. I got on the outside edge on the blue water and continued trolling north. All of a sudden I saw 2 large Lagerhead Sea Turtles mating… the male clinging on to the big females back. As I made the pass by them, all 5 rods got bit! There were mahi everywhere! We reeled them all in successfully and I continued to make a circle around the mating turtles. The dolphin just kept biting!

They weren’t the largest mahi, but they were numerous and most of them made the required size limit (20 inch fork length). The limit on these fish is 10 per person or 50 for the boat. On this day, we did not nearly reach that, but we managed to put together a really nice catch! We harvest these fish for their edible value.

They are one of the best eating fish in the ocean and a real treat to fight. The gang had a blast catching the small schoolie dolphin one after another. It happens to be some of the most exciting fishing out in the gulf stream of the Atlantic Ocean. I took a couple quick of the full cooler before we began our fish cleaning marathon.

Hope to see you guys next year!

When we finally made it between Oakland Park and Commercial Blvd, we started getting some excellent bites. The long planar rod doubled over and Teresa started winding up a beautiful king mackerel. While she was battling her fish, the short planar rod got hit hard. Tim jumped behind the rod and began bringing the fish in. While Tim was reeling his fish in, Brett wired Teresa fish in and put it in the box. Now Brett’s attention went back to Tim’s fish… which, by the way, was still taking a considerable amount of line. Time wound the planar to the tip of the Rod and Brett wired this strong fish up to the back of the boat. Ever so carefully, Brett continued to pull the fish closer.

The fish gave a surge and Brett dumped the leader back into the water. I sped the boat up to keep the fish behind us. Again, Brett began to wire the 70+ feet of line back to the boat. Finally, the fish got to the back of the boat and up popped a 30 pound black fin tuna. These fish show up always around this time of year in good numbers. We continued to troll, catching a few more king mackerel and pulled off another nice black fin tuna. We were way up north by now, and we decided to make another drop on another deep ship wreck, hoping for a grouper or cobia. We made a drop but the wreck seem to be abundant with large amberjacks. Another fish for Teresa!

She brought him up to the boat and we released him as well. We trolled home out in the deeper water but we never got the bite. We were hoping for a mahi or another black fin. It was a gorgeous and the couple enjoyed the boat and their day. We look forward to seeing them again on their next visit!

On the 2nd half of the trip, we popped the kite up, with 3 baits on one kite, and a speedo down deep on the drop rod. The conditions were great… the current was smoking and the wind was cranking. We headed out for the deep blue and sent the kites flying. In a matter of minutes we were on! It was a beautiful Atlantic Sail. The gang had a great time and got to enjoy a beautiful South Florida day! See you next time!

As Brett was rigging up the fresh king, we caught one more king as we were clearing the lines to head out deep. We had our hearts set on connecting with a big fish! We headed out off Dania Beach, only about 2-3 miles out. It was a beautiful day the conditions were flat calm with very little current. Brett quickly rigged another 2 baits and deployed them to the bottom and one on top. Each bait had a balloon on it used as a bobber (or float).

There was no wind this morning, so unfortunately we could not pop the kites. We waited about 35 minutes and the bottom rod closest to the boat started getting really heavy and doubled over to the water. I went ahead with the boat and we were on! While we were clearing the other baits, all of a sudden the line came slack. What a bummer! We broke our main line and lost the fish. It was getting near the end of our trip but we decided to re-rig and reset all of our baits. By now, the current picked up a little bit to the north and the wind also started coming out of the southeast. It was beautiful. We reset the baits, but this time we were able to pop a kite up, with one dead bait on top and one live bait short. Again, I held the depth and we waited… bumping softly in and out of gear holding the boat in position. About another hour went by with nothing. Brett and myself were upstairs on the bridge discussing a quick game plan to try another technique so we could catch something else before we left.

As we were chatting, the bottom rod doubled over. It was a weird bite because it came slack quickly. I gunned the boat to come tight. We had no idea what we had. Harry jumped in the chair. We cleared ALL the baits so that everything was put up and out of the way. By now we knew we were dealing with a large creature. We fought the fish for about an hour and a half. It looked like a nice hammerhead shark… maybe about 6-7 feet. When we got it up to the boat, it was HUGE!! It was a GIANT hammerhead, measuring about 10-12 feet. Brett and I, with the help of the whole crew, pulled the shark into the boat. It took up the entire cockpit. What a catch… a fish of a lifetime!!!

We were glad to have you guys out and look forward to seeing you next year!

We put the down rigger down with a live speedo and a couple on top. It didn’t take long before the down rigger snapped… the 20# spinning rod bowed over to the water. We put a real nice 15-20 pound king into the boat. We repeated this process until we had a limit of kings. We had a ball fighting multiple double header king fish on the light tackle. I moved out deeper and put the down rigger down to about 110 feet. We got one real nice bite and the fish ran back into the wreck cutting us off. I retied and sent another bait back down.

I made another pass a little further away from the wreck… insta-bite! This time it was about a 25 pound amberjack. As we were fighting the jack, a sailfish came up and ate the right rigger bait. The fish immediately came up jumping and somehow shook the hooks. It was a pretty exciting bite! Throughout the rest of the trip, we burned through all the live baits by catching a couple of barracudas, another amberjack and several king mackerel. It was an action packed trip from start to finish. I heard of a little bit of a dolphin bite way offshore about 20 miles or so. A little too far for a half day trip. The fishing is still hot… before the BP oil spill reaches us!

Come on down and bring your families to enjoy sunny Fort Lauderdale!

We managed to put a few speedos and blue runners in the well. We ran up north a little ways and put the down rigger down to about 80 feet with a few other baits on top. I made one turn next to a Tropicana ship that was anchored up off of Beach Place. The down rigger went off! Throughout the trip, we couldn’t get any bites on top but we managed to catch 6 king fish… all on the down rigger and the 20 pound spinning rod.

All of the fish were up to 20 pounds. The gang got together for a picture with one of the nicer fish. They have never been out on the ocean and it was a great afternoon…. Minus the small rain squall that blew through. See you guys next year!!.

They explained that they were not impressed with the boat and crews that they fished with the day prior. I think it must have been slow for them. Well, the guys decided to join us for a 4 hour afternoon adventure. It started out a little slow. We kite fished for quite a while, hoping for a big sailfish or mahi.

The gang had their heart set on catching a big trophy fish. The kites were up, the live baits were out, the big dead baits were deployed, but unfortunately we didn’t get the bite. Capt. Brett continued way down south, where no one else goes, to a nice deep ship wreck. It didn’t take long… the bait hit the bottom and the gang was on! After a 10 minute battle, the guys brought up a beautiful amberjack. They were amazed how strong this fish was! They reset and did it again! They guys had a blast and were thankful for their redemption of their all day trip the day before. See you all next year!

Here are pictures from our trip on 4/27 with Matt and Joe.  Sorry to say I didn't get a chance to catch one, except for a Bonita for bait, but it was a blast watching my wife catch a 46" Barracuda.

We lost a nice sailfish and landed a 8 1/2 foot Hammerhead, a 46" Barracuda and a 43" Barracuda.  Thank Matt and Joe again for us, we had a great time.

Rob Larson

From Beautiful Minnesota

We had Dan and Bob bring their wives from Montana to join us for the afternoon. Once again, we went back to the can and caught more speedos. We had the area to ourselves since it was later in the day. We ran over to a favorite local wreck. After one pass, just by looking at the fish finder, it was obvious that it was going to be a good afternoon! We went over he wreck one time, dropped the bait down and WHAM! After about 3 seconds we were on! Bob jumped in the chair and brought up a nice looking amberjack! We made 6 more drops, each producing a jack. The largest jack was close to 70-80 pounds. Everyone got their chance. After everyone brought their fish in, we went to trolling the rest of the speedos. Nobody was home. Since we saw some sailfish free jumping in about 100 feet we switched gears and put the kites out with the goggle eyes, but to no avail. Overall, everyone had a great time and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

This morning we took part in a 15 boat convention trip for ATT. All of the guests were South Florida locals. We started the trip by shaking the chum bag at the # 1 can catching speedos (aka “small eyed scad”). Once we caught an abundance of bait, we headed down towards the Hollywood “bubbler.” From the bubble, looking to shore, you can see the Westin Diplomat hotel. This is where the sewer lets out in the water from land. The bait around this area is insane! We set out the speedos, rigged on triple trebles, 2 on top and one on the down rigger to see what we could find. It didn’t take long! After only about 10 minutes a nice king jumped onto the downrigger. We caught 3 more kings with each consecutive pass over “the bubble.” We then changed over to the kites and sent some goggle eyes out dangling on top of the water. We spent a while waiting for the bite but we had no success. All in all, everyone had a good time out on the water. Who wouldn’t?! Thank you for the trip and we hope to see you next year.

I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you about my fishing trip on the Bonitta II. Brett and Joe were fantastic. I felt very comfortable immediately. I felt that they had tremendous confidence that I would catch some kind of game fish that day. Brett was a great captain and Joe’s understanding of fishing and where to catch game fish was evident. We tried placing a couple of lines out off of Ft Lauderdale but when this didn’t work we went down to Miami to fish over some sunken ships. As time passed, the guys were really working hard to find a way to catch something in the allotted time. Joe tried using different baits and it was amazed to watch as we caught different live baits to use. We finally caught a bonita to use for bait and within about 20 seconds, we got a bite. We lost the fish but Joe felt we could still use the bait as is and he put it down again. Within 20 seconds again we had another bite. Joe masterfully reeled the fish up so it could dive back down to the ship wreck and when he felt it was safe gave it to me to reel the rest of the way in. It was a barcuda and it took me about 20 minute to get it in. It was an amazing experience. I was so impressed the way Joe and Brett worked together to keep the boat in the right place to keep the line behind the boat as the fish dove and moved around. When we were trawling for bait fish I actually caught a rainbow runner. Joe said it was the biggest one he has seen. It was 3 feet long and Joe noted that these are typically much smaller and used as bait fish.

It was a great trip and very memorable. I am having the two fish stuffed to commemorate the trip. It hope to go out again when I return to Florida but this time have my wife, Lisa and my 3 year old daughter join me.

It is important that you hear about the good trips as well as the bad. The guys were great and the boat really performed well.

Mitchell Yass

Steve brought his family for the afternoon on the Miss Bonita 2. Since the fishing was decent this morning, and we found fish down south, we chugged our way back down. We put out the bug lines and caught several small bonitos pass after pass over the shallow wreck. Joey deployed one of the fresh live bonitos on the down rigger on a 20# spinning rod. WHAM! Hailey fought the first fish, a 40 pound amberjack on the light tackle! What a fight! They brought the fish boat side for pictures and sent it back. On the next pass, it was Sarah’s turn. Joey put out another live bonito and we made another pass. BOOM! Another killer bite right on the up current side of the wreck. This time it was a really nice barracuda. Again, we took quick pictures and we released the fish. Now it was Dad’s turn! We continued to fish the live bonitos around the wreck. Dad caught another big barracuda. All in all the family had a great time. The weather was excellent, the seas were calm and we found some real nice fish to fight. It was a beautiful ride home heading back up the coast line. Thanks for the trip. See you next year!

Mitchell joined us from New York for a birthday present from his wife, Lisa. She chartered the boat for him alone. What a great gift! We went right out to 350, hoping to take advantage of the big bite early. After a few hours, with every bait in the world out, we couldn’t get a bite. It was a beautiful day, the seas were calm and Mitchell was having a great time anyway. We picked up and ran south to a couple of our well known ship wrecks. It was great! The current was moving and the bullets were popping in front of the wreck. It didn’t take long to catch 4 or 5. We put one out on top and one out on the down rigger. The first pass, BOOM! A giant explosion right on top. It chopped the bait in half and Joey free-spooled the rest of it right on top of the wreck.

This is a little risky. The fish turned around and inhaled the rest of the bait. Joey came tight and hung on. I can not believe we were getting this fish out of the wreck! Mitchell fought this fish for about 15 minutes up to the boat. It was a giant barracuda… the saber tooth tiger of the sea. This fish was 50+ inches long and well over 25 pounds. Nice catch! We went back to catching more bait on top of a shallow wreck. The long rod doubled over and we knew we hooked something bigger than a bullet bonito! Mitchell took his time winding this fish up to the boat. Joey got the leader and finger-tipped the fish hand over hand up to the boat. He dumped the leader 4-5 times before finally landing one of the biggest rainbow runners we have ever seen! He was about 8+ pounds. These fish are common, but definitely not this size!! That’s a cool catch! The boys had a few other chop-offs and a few pulled hooks on some other fish today. Everyone had a great time and Mitch had a great birthday! Thanks for the trip!

It didn’t take too long and the bottom rod doubled over to the water. It was a great scalloped hammerhead! We brought the fish up to the boat side for a couple of killer pictures, a measurement and a safe healthy release. What a nice fish! It was fun watching Joey pulling on him on the wire. The boys had a little time left, so they chose to move their way towards the northern wrecks.

They caught a few bullets and went right to it. After the 2nd drop, WHAM! They had a great bite, sending the rod tip to the water. WOW! What a beautiful gag grouper. Unfortunately, grouper season is closed, so this one got decompressed and sent home to the deep. We did get great pictures right before the release.

I hope they open the grouper season soon! I would like to thank Barry and Al for joining us again on the Miss Bonita. We look forward to seeing them again next year.

Out of nowhere, this beautiful silky shark came from the east and bee-lined for the carcasses. There he is! Brett wound in the kite bait quickly as the shark was still circling under the boat. When the kite bait made it to the transom, Brett quickly pulled the carcasses in. All that was left was out baited hook.

The shark quickly turned on the bait and ate it. Brett fed the fish. We were tight! Tony’s son, TJ, jumped in the chair. This was the perfect size shark for this tough 10 year old to fight. In about 20 minutes, with a little help from the family, TJ had the shark boat side. Since this was his first shark, we decided to pull him in the boat for quick pictures, perfect measurement, de-hooked him and sent him back home unharmed.

It wasn’t the most productive day on the Miss Bonita, but we stuck it out and caught the family a cool catch. Thank you for joining us. We look forward to seeing you guys again real soon!

We started the trip out with the standard trolling spread, looking for some kings to jump on. After about 45 minutes we decided to pop the kites, deploying the gog’s and the shark baits.

We sat in 350 for the remainder of the trip, finally getting one really nice bite on the bottom. We released a beautiful scalloped hammerhead.

On the way in, we stopped on the inside northern ledge of Port Everglades catching a couple of barracudas.

All in all, we all had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Couldn’t be better conditions to be out on the water!

The crew has taken over the boat for the past few days while we start our new family. They say the fishing has been great with lots of shark hook-ups and king mackerel snapping on the troll. The weather has been beautiful typical Fort Lauderdale conditions. The Bahia Mar fishing dock has had every boat out all week long. Call today to reserve your spot on the Miss Bonita 2!

Deploying baits at the 100 foot mark, 200 foot mark, 300 foot mark and sometimes one even deeper have been really doing the job! Whole squid and large live goggle eyes and tinker mackerel have been the baits of choice. The spring time is a great time to target these fish, especially when we have beautiful calm sea conditions. So, lets get out there and slay some swords!

We continued north to a couple of our favorite deep spots. We set up on the wreck, in about 260 feet, and dropped it to the bottom. It was instant gratification! The rod doubled over and I went forward aggressively with the boat. Mike jumped in the chair and wrestled this beautiful amberjack up to the boat. I was down in the cockpit doing all the fishing, so I had the honors of wiring the fish up and putting him in the boat. We took some great pictures of the fish as well as me and Mike. We tried a few more spots, but unfortunately it just wasn’t happening.

We decided to do something else. The wind started picking up, so we popped the kites. Brett set out the left side with 2 live goggle eyes and he rigged a surface shark bait for the right kite. He deployed the shark bait and up in the kite it went. No sooner did he turn around, a nice little black tip shark was all over it. The bait and the hooks were a little too big for this particular fish. We had another rod ready and fired out another chunk of bait on it. As Brett re-rigged the other shark bait, the TLD doubled over. We caught a nice little black tip shark.

It was getting late in the day and it was time to go. A little slow for us on the Miss Bonita 2, but we did enjoy the chamber of commerce weather.

Thanks for the bologna sandwiches… and the trip!

Hope to see you next year.

It was a beautiful brisk afternoon, a trickle of current to the north, and a beautiful slow rolling swell coming from the northeast. I have to tell you that it was a blast running the boat to the north, straight into the swell. We made our way up off The Park, in 350 feet. The area was alive with bait and small black fin tunas were popping around us. Brett launched the kites and put a set of goggle eyes out. I was set up just south of one of our deeper ship wrecks. We drifted over the wreck and here comes a beautiful black tip shark trying to eat the left short. Brett fed him, but somehow, the shark grabbed part of the mono, above the wire, and got away. We reset the bait and here comes another one! This time he chopped the bait in half and missed the hook. We free-spooled the rest of the bait and dumped it back. Right then, both baits on the right kite started walking off. Both fish were out of the water! 2 beautiful sized gaffer dolphins. We fought the fish up to the boat, and Brett professionally made them hit the ice.

After landing both of the fish, the rod with the half of goggle eye on it doubled over. We got the shark on now! This was the same one or another really cool black tip shark. Brett got it boat-side and popped him into the boat for a picture and some quick measurements. He was safely released back to his home. The wind was dying and we were running out of baits. We left one kite out and fished 3 baits off of it. I kept bumping the boat ahead to keep the kite in the air. The middle bait went down quickly, and once again, we were on! It was another beautiful bull dolphin. We tried a little trolling on the way home, but to no avail.

It was a gorgeous afternoon, and the gang stopped by the dock to pick up their sack full of fresh mahi fillets. They took them to the Bahia Cabana, next to the dock, for a late lunch.

Enjoy! Thanks for the trip

Of course we had live baits going on the well from the day before. We ran right out front of Port Everglades to 350 feet. Jeff popped up the kite and deployed a slab of king mackerel up top and a live goggle eye on the short. As we were setting out the mid-bait and the bottom-bait, the goggle got nervous… WHAM! An Atlantic Sailfish piled all over him! It was a very visual bite. The fish took off running a few hundred yards of line out. We cleared all the shark baits and chased this fish. Chris expertly fought the fish up to the boat. Jeff grabbed the leader and wired him up to his hands, grabbing the bill and pulled him into the boat. What a way to start the day! We took measurements and released the fish. After the sailfish, we reset the shark baits, waiting for the big bite. It never came.

Hope you had a good time on the water and enjoyed the game!

Evan, his Dad, and their friends joined the crew for the afternoon trip. They started out trolling managing to catch a couple king mackerel. We continued trolling but with no success. The boys decided to switch over and use the fresh king mackerel to target something a little bigger.

Jeff rigged the king fish and set out 3 baits in 350 feet. Unfortunately, after a few hours, they were unsuccessful. They cleared the baits and ran over to a local deep ship wreck, before concluding the day. The boys had one more fresh speedo in the well. Brett set up on top of the wreck while Jeff sent the fresh bait to the bottom. BOOM! The rod doubled over and the fight was on. The fish quickly came to the surface and the boys knew they were dealing with something really nice. Jeff wired the fish up to the gaff and hauled this beautiful 60+ pound Cobia into the boat. Everyone was ecstatic!

That fish made the day! It is definitely not everyday that we catch a cobia out of Ft. Lauderdale.

It's great to see that these fish are migrating and holding on some of our deep ship wrecks. Thank you guys for the trip and we look forward to seeing you next year. Enjoy the cobia!

Bill, Lindsay, Savy and Jessica, from Tampa, joined my crew for a half day of Miss Bonita 2 sport fishing. Being that it is Superbowl weekend, and Miami is hosting, the Ft. Lauderdale Beach is jam packed all the way down to South Beach! It was a popular day for charter fishing and the weather was "chamber of commerce" perfect!

The winds came out of the west overnight, that flattened the seas right out. It seemed to push the fish with it. It was not the most eventful day on the Miss Bonita 2, but at the last 90 minutes of the trip, we decided to bait fish off the bow of an anchored ship.

The boys shook the chum bag, bring the blue runners and speedos to the back of the boat. After a few minutes, Brett saw a beautiful silky shark swimming in the chum slick. Jeff got a bait ready and pitched it out. The sharked made a beeline for it and ate the bait. Jessica fought the fish up to the boat. The fish was brought into the boat for pictures and measurements. Off to the Superbowl!!

Thanks for the trip... see you next year!

The seas were ROUGH! Most of the charter fleet that went out ended their trips early. One boat actually fished for 1 hour on an all day trip before coming back to port. We hung in there for about 4 and a half hours.

The daily talley was two sailfish, 2 wahoo, a hammerhead, a skipjack tuna, a mahi and a king mackerel. It was absolutely brutal hanging on for as long as we did. We managed to make it a great day! Have a safe trip back

My mate, Jeff, yelled up “I have to use the bathroom” and wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law! The mate is busy and the right long started walking off underneath the left kite. I was trying to be quiet, giving a few pounds on the deck, but Jeff didn’t hear me. Finally Jeff came out and knew something was going on! He locked up the spool and right at that moment, a great Atlantic Sailfish started dancing all over the place! It was John’s turn. We cleared the kites. There were no boats around, so we let John fight this fish all the way to the boat on his own, without chasing him down. The fish came boat side and Jeff grabbed him and popped him into the cockpit for a few quick pictures and then a safe release. This was John’s first billfish ever, and we met our goal! Since we had a little more time left, we tried our luck at trolling. We put the standard trolling spread out and headed back south down the reef. It didn’t take long to find the king mackerel and before we knew it, we had our limit of fish in the boat. It was definitely an enjoyable morning, and it was even nicer to get back out on the water! The guys are ready to enjoy “Super Bowl Weekend!”

Thanks for coming out, hope to see you next year.

See you guys soon!

The kite fishing bite this afternoon was still a little slow, so we waited and waited. After about an hour and a half of waiting, we couldn’t make a decision whether to switch over to do something else or not. Out of no where, a giant black shadow swam up to the long butterflied bonito. Now I could see him! It was a beautiful scalloped hammerhead shark. Jeff put the reel in free spool and the fish grabbed the bait and started swimming off. We let the shark eat for a minute. Jeff locked up and started winding fast.

The big rod quickly doubled over and we were on! The whole gang took turns in the chair bringing this monster in. We got the shark up to the back of the boat for some pictures and sent him back to the depths. Hope you all had a good time! See you again soon!

We hooked a small dolphin, but he shook the hook and jumped off. Towards the end of the day, we drifted all the way up north near a local shallow ship wreck. The boys cleared the kites, busted out the downrigger and fired a live goggle eye down to the depths. They immediately got bit. Robert brought in a beautiful amberjack. Once again, it wasn’t the fastest day for the Miss Bonita 2, but the guys enjoyed being out on the water and being on the boat.

Thank you for the trip.

We only had an hour left, but I picked ‘em up and ran all the way down south to “the bubble” where the birds were diving with a little more life to the ocean. We popped up the kites and waited. No bites. We fired down a bottom bait and fortunately hooked a small red grouper. We still had no kite bites. We put another bonito strip on the bottom with the entertainment rod, and caught a nice African Pompano. It was an uneventful afternoon for the Miss Bonita, but still a great day on the water. Better luck next time!

They hooked one and the other jumped off. This was a hot fish, jumping all over the ocean. We finally got the leader and released him back to his home to fight again. They ran back to the south a little ways to get back in front of the fish. They reset for one last shot. There he was; Brandon finally got his sail! All in all, it was a great day and we wound up catching 3 of the 6 sailfish that we saw. It was beautiful morning right out in front of Port Everglades. February is starting to book up and I still have a few dates open. Call us to get out on the rip!

We waited…. And waited.  Our friend from another local boat called me on the radio and said he had seen 2 tail-ers swim right by.  Then he called again about a minute later and he saw another one.  The next few minutes he called out on the VHF “I got him on!” He said he was in 105 feet.  I pointed the boat inshore and bumped the baits quickly into that depth. 

We reached 105 feet and I had Jeff switch the right baits out to freshen them up.  Now, it was only a matter of time.  We waited about 5 minutes before one piled on the right short.  We were on!  Brian jumped in the chair.  As I was peeling off to fight the fish, and keep the other baits in the water, I saw a whole pod of sailfish swimming by.  It was an awesome site! 

We had our hands full with the one we had on.  What a great fish!  These boys from Ohio had never seen such a thing!  What a treat that was!  The guys had a great time! 

Wish we had a little more time to keep fishing! 

See you next time!

Christina, Scott, Kyle and Tyler joined us for a morning trip.  The current was smoking to the north almost too much.  We ran south and started out in front of the Dania Pier and John Lloyd State Park.  The water was about 160 feet deep.  We drifted past Port Everglades, past Marriot Harbor Beach and kept drifting all the way up past Commercial Boulevard, almost making it to Lighthouse Point.

Fishing today was a little disappointing for everyone.  The large school of sailfish that have been pushing through seemed to disperse today.  We managed to catch one cool and fast black tip (spinner) shark.  All in all, even though the fishing could have been much better, the gang had a great time on the water. 

See you guys in a few weeks to redeem ourselves! 

Cal, Pete and Bryan came out on the Miss Bonita for a quick morning of fishing.  The guys stopped at the marina to get goggles eyes in hopes to catch a sail.  Just their luck that a private boat was there and offered the guys the rest of their baits instead.

The gang transferred the free bait and off to sea they went.  Brett came out of the inlet and steamed to the north.... to the ever so famous "Sailfish Alley."  When we got up off the park, we started to notice small patches of weed developing on the small current edge.  We saw the sailfish swimming down sea.  The kites went up, and as the first bait hit the water, we were on!  I managed to get the 2nd bait in the clip and fired it out, while Jeff was feeding the first one.  Another fish tried the 2nd bait, but never fully ate.  We then concentrated on bringing the first fish in.

Throughout the rest of the trip, we caught and landed 2 more sailfish and had at least 3 other shots at window shoppers.  We had a large sickle fin hammerhead shark swim through the spread, but we ignored him.  The guys only wanted sail.  This was the first time the guys had ever seen kite fishing, and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Thanks for the trip!

We hope to see you guys next year!

We landed 2 of 3 sailfish and I got a couple great shops of Jeff, my mate, wiring the sail that Capt. Brett caught.  What a great couple hours on the water!  Dad had an awesome time!  Come on down to South Florida and lets get bent!

Tight lines,

Thanks Dad!!

We cleared the bait rods out and deployed the trolling spread. We made it down the reef to the south with no success. I came up to one of our shallow water wrecks and WHAM! The plannar rod started screaming line off of it. My mate, Jeff, yelled up "what did you do? Catch a crab pot?!" Its stone crab season, so a few local guys set traps this time of year. However, this was NO crab pot! Heather jumped behind the rod and stared reeling the fish in. Wekept guessing what we thought it was, but to tell the truth, we weren’t really sure! King fish… wahoo… amberjack… but no. Up popped a gorgeous Gag Grouper measuring about 40 inches. What a beautiful catch!

The season is still open, so this one went in the box! We got some great pictures of the fish fresh out of the water with Heather and her first salt water fish. We continued trolling further south but to no avail. It just wasn’t happening. We cleared the trolling spread and kept running south towards another local shipwreck. We decided to try to catch some bullets, so we deployed the small Clarke spoons and I made a few passes over the wreck. It didn’t take long before we had a few bullets in the well. We wrapped those upand I ran out to the 210. We deployed a live bonito down to the bottom on a circle hook. No bites. Jeff wound up the bait, and it was still in good condition. I motored up way ahead of the wreck, and the fish finder was loaded! It looked like tons of bait with a few big fish mixed in. I told Jeff to "drop it." This time it didn’t take but a few seconds and the rod doubled over to the water. We caught another beautiful amberjack!

We repeated this process going to the shallow wreck to catch bait and running back out to the deep one to catch the big fish. Everyone got a shot at reeling one of these bruisers in. It made for an exciting and action packed trip. Before we knew it, we were out of bait and out of time. What a fun trip! Thanks guys. See you next year!

s

I turned back around and set up back on the same wreck. Jeff dropped another bait to the bottom. Once again, the rod doubled over to the water. This time, it was a beautiful black grouper! Unfortunately, with the new limits and closing dates on these beautiful edible game fish,they couldn’t bring it home for dinner. We released him back to his home unharmed. After those 2 beautiful fish, we headed inshore to right outside the rocks. We deployed a baby bonito on top. It only took a few minutes before a great bite surprised us! Elizabeth fought a nice Greater Barracuda up to the boat. We released it.

Since that didn’t take too long, we ran back out to another deep wreck to try our luck onemore time. We sent another bait to the bottom… same result! The rod doubled over to the water and we pulled the fish away from the wreck. Another nice Golden Amberjack! WOW! It sure is great when a whole plan comes together and we are able to produce some nice quality fish. It was starting to get late and we had to boogie home, so we put out the trolling spread and made our way back down south. On the way, we hooked into a nice Cero Mackerel. All in all, the couple had a great time and we enjoyed having them on theboat. Thanks for the trip! See you again soon!

The first bait hit the bottom. The rod immediately started screaming… connected! We did this about 5 or 6 times, producing really nice Amberjacks. There was one for each guy. We caught a few and we lost a few. Thankfully, everyone had their chance to bring one to the boat. We were having a really good time, but we were running out of baitand time. We then started to make our way back home. Thanks for the trip guys! We look forward toseeing you next year.

Now, out came the trolling gear. We continued to the north, catching a couple bonitos and a king mackerel. We made one pass out a little deeper and the short planar doubled over. It was a nice fish! Kevin was onthe rod this time! He wound the fish up to the planar and Jeff expertly wired this beautiful Wahoo up to thegaff. WOW! Now we’re having a great morning. We rounded out the trip with a few more king mackerel toput an exclamation point to a great morning. These kids definitely had a different fishing experience this go around! They will be back for sure! See you guys next year! Can’t wait to see the video!!! Thanks forthe great trip! Happy New Year!

We ran up to the north off the park. We popped the kites up and deployed the baits. We sat and waited for about 40 minutes. The left long started walking off. Jeff free-spooled the rod and fed the fish. Jeff engaged the reel and wound tight. The fish started jumping all over the place! Another beautiful Atlantic Sailfish right off of Ft. Lauderdale. Howard could not believe how close we were to shore! That’s what is amazing about our fishing grounds. The continental shelf and the gulf stream come right in to our continent. After about 20 minutes, we landed the fish for measurements and pictures. We then released him unharmed. We reset and caught one nice mahi mahi. We also burned through the rest of our baits from king fish chop-off’s. We decided to clear the kites and go on the troll. We rounded out the rest of the morning by catching a few more king mackerel and a couple bonitos. Look forward to seeing you guys again! Thank you for the excellent morning and a good time!

After landing those beautiful fish, Brett reset all of the live goggle eyes. Brett decided to put down a long leader with a freshplug of ballyhoo on the bottom. For me, it was the highlight of the trip! Doyle’s son wrestled this beautiful Mutton Snapper in from off the bottom. He was elated!! Pictures are worth a thousand words! What a great morning! Thanks for the trip!

We finally made our way to a shallow wreck and deployed the down rigger and a bait on top. Here, the gang caught several nice size barracudas. Thanks for the trip and we look forward to seeing you guys again next month!

It started out a little rough, and thefishing was slow. As the day went on, the seas laid down and we finally started getting a few bites. It wound up being a gorgeous day… mid 70’s and lots of wind. We wound up we a few bonito and a couple nicesized king mackerel for the grill. When we got back to the dock, I filleted the fresh king mackerel for the guys. They were having a big family BBQ for the holidays. What a great group of guys! I look forward to seeing them again in the Spring.

Marjorie and her family joined the Miss Bonita today for a nice 4 hour trip on a picture perfect day. Capt.Brett and our mate Jeff showed these guys what Ft. Lauderdale was all about! After catching several small live bonitos (aka “bullets”), the boys headed north to a couple of our shallow water wrecks. These guys were really excited when they saw the ship wrecks on the fish finder.

The guys deployed the baits on the down rigger… WHAM! They got bit! They caught several king mackerel, a small jack and some nice sized barracudas. They made a move to another shallow wreck and sent down their last live bonito. As Brett made his first pass over the wreck… BOOM! Line came screaming off the spinning reel and the fight was on.This fish leaped and jumped about 10 times. Once the fish finally got to the boat, it was a giant barracuda…look at the teeth on that thing! The gang got back to the dock and we took some great shots of Marjorie’s first barracuda.