Capt. Dennis Forgione - Miami, South Florida

Captain Dennis is a true original. He was born, raised and fished in Miami and Southeast Florida his whole life. Dennis has been fishing out of Haulover Inlet for decades, staring as a kid on drift boats with his dad, Captain Frank Forgione.

No other charter captain in Miami has the history in Miami that Dennis has. He can remember going out fishing as a kid with his dad on the Tiki, a drift boat that his dad captained from 1957 to 1995 out of Haulover Marina.

He still remembers at the age of 6, going out fishing on the Tiki with his dad, sweeping the Tiki's decks after a day of fishing, cigarette butts and all, and loving every minute of it. Even then he was a working fisherman, charging $1 a day for his work. He has been fishing out of Haulover Inlet in Miami for over 35 years! He is quite often asked, "How often has he gone under the Haulover Inlet bridge?" Although he finds this an interesting historical question, he has vowed to only answer the question when actually going under the bridge. So you have to go out fishing with him to get the answer.

Dennis got his first boat with the help of a friend in 1986, a 25 foot Mako that he used for commercial fishing and a charter here and there. He got serious about being a charter captain in 1989 when he bought a 25 foot twin engine Dusky.

The next Free Spool was a 32 foot custom built inboard motor fishing boat. He has led many anglers to IFGA world records. He has won both the Miami and Fort Lauderdale Billfish fishing tournaments.

The next Dennis is exited to announce that he has acquired a new 43' custom built sport fishing machine! The new boat is aptly named "Free Spool Too" She is a twin diesel powered, four live wells, 30' tuna tower, fishing machine with four chairs in the cockpit and full standup head in the cabin. The "Free Spool Too" was formaly the "How Bout It" from Islamorada, one of the most successfull charter fishing tournament boats in the keys. So, lets go fishing with Captain Dennis on his brand new "Free Spool Too" !

He is known as a honest, reliable, hard working captain, Dennis will take you out for a day of fishing. What's the fishing like? Well, it all depends on the fish, the current, the water temperature, the cloud cover, the bait, the mood of the captain and the fishermen, the gods, the fish, the skill of the fishermen, and luck.

In the Media:

Almaco jacks: big fish, big fighters
Most South Florida anglers are aware of the different species of jacks inhabiting our waters: amberjack, yellowjack, bar jack and jack cravelle. All put up a valiant battle but are so-so to eat unless smoked.
But many anglers don't know there's another species of jack that fights harder and longer than the others. And that this particular jack presents a better-than-even chance for anglers to catch a world record fish right here in Miami-Dade County.
Click here get the complete story in pdf-zip.

RIGGERS FOR FISHING
Many don't use them, but downriggers are the answer to fishing all depths.
Heading out of Government Cut into seas of 4-6 feet stoked by a northeast wind, I knew we were going to catch sailfish. I just didn't know how many.
Click here get the complete story in pdf-zip.

Kid's Stuff
9-year-old a determined and experienced angler
Austin Rosen's fishing credentials read like those of a sportsman who has been around: yellowfin tuna in barbados, bluefish in New Jersey, sailfish in South Florida, snapper in the Bahamas. It's easier for him to name the three or four fish he hasn't caught.
Click here get the complete story in pdf-zip.

New IGFA All-Tackle record for Cero Mackerel
Caught off Bimini Bay by Bert Caskil with Capt. Dennis Forgione on Ande 20.
Capt Forgione and Bert Caskill ran across to Bimini aboard the "Free Spool" for some variety and bottom fishing. While snapper fishing in 25 ft of water, the 16 lb. 3 oz. Cero hit a live Pilchard and soon after entered the record book as the largest Cero ever caught
Click here get the complete story in pdf-zip.

Surprise!!
Anglers beat odds, catch huge dolphin
Dennis Forgione didn't want to go fishing on New Year's Eve.
He had a cold, it was raining and windy and the seas were steep
Click here get the complete story in pdf-zip.

These smaller fighters have earned some wee-deserved respect.
Gina Larkin was out for revenge. Minutes earlier she'd been caught off guard by a big almaco jack, cousin to one of the ocean's most notorious brawlers, the greater amberjack.
Click here story in pdf-zip, part1.
Click here story in pdf-zip, part2
Click here story in pdf-zip, part3
Click here story in pdf-zip, part4

Captain knows keys to billfishing
For Capt. Dennis Forgione, catching sailfish is like riding a bicycle. Even though he hasn't seen a sailfish in the past few weeks, he's not concerned. He knows exactly what to do in the 57th semi-annual Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament, which runs Friday through Sunday out of Bahia Mar Resort and Yachting Center.

Many of his clients have made tournament winning catches and he is a very active member of "The MET", the Rod & Reel Club, the IGFA and a founding member of the South Florida Fishing Club. He's also a fequent guest speaker at many fishing clubs in the community.