November 24, 2011 - Thanksgiving

Today, Ann and her son, visiting from North Carolina, decided to spend Thanksgiving morning fishing aboard the Lady Pamela. I recommended to Ann that we pick up some live goggleyes, telling her that they would greatly increase our chances of landing a sailfish. Despite the added cost, Ann said to do whatever is necessary to make her son happy. So, we picked up the live baits, and then ran about 5 miles north of Port Everglades inlet to set up. The weather was great. Seas were flat calm, but there was enough wind to keep the kites up, and there was a hard south current and plenty of blue water. I couldn’t wait to get the baits in the water. Surprisingly, it took 1 hour 45 minutes before we had the first bite, but it was a sailfish and we fought it for a good 35 minutes into 30 feet of water. We got the leader a few times before fraying the sailfish off.

I ran the boat back into deeper water, as this time the edge had moved out a little deeper, into 140 feet. My mate Darin and I got baits back out as soon as we could, and started the waiting game, again. After a while, Ann came on the bridge and said we could go in any time, as we had caught one sailfish, and that was good enough. We still had 1 ½ hours left and I wanted her son to catch some more fish, so I asked her to give it a little while longer. It sure paid off, as 50 minutes before the end of the charter I yelled right long, there he is! Darin ran down from the bridge, grabbed the rod and fed the sailfish, he hooked it up and it jumped all over the ocean! A more acrobatic fish I’ve never seen! I needed a Go Pro Camera! We were the only charter boat to not only catch one sailfish but two sailfish today. We just started using a lighter weight Sufix™ fluorocarbon leader than anybody else is using, and I do believe it makes a difference.

Tight Lines,

Capt David Ide

www.ladypamela2.com

954 761 8045

November 18, 19, 20, 2011

For the last three days or so the weather has been very calm, and boy have the fish been biting. We have been using several different techniques, including trolling, kite fishing and wreck fishing. While trolling we have been catching kingfish, wahoo and mahi-mahi using fresh bonito strips behind blue and pink sea witch feathers. The kite fishing has been productive using live goggleyes and threadfin herring for big mahi-mahi, kingfish and plenty of sailfish. On almost every trip we have caught a sailfish, and their acrobatics have been unbelievable! The wreck fishing has been hit or miss. The other day, using live blue runners, speedos and live bonitos we caught two amberjacks and a black grouper. The shipwrecks we fish are anywhere from 100 out to 450 feet of water. The cobia, many in the 40-50 lb range, will be migrating through here pretty soon and you catch them on the wrecks as well.

Day and Nighttime Swordfishing

Over the past few weeks I have heard of a few boats going out at night getting plenty of bites, but most of the fish are short; too small to keep. Still, they do put up a good fight! The nighttime swordfishing has been best in 1000 to 1400 feet, above the sea mounts. Both live baits and dead squid, when fished 100 to 400 feet down in these areas, have been the key to success. Also, attaching a light stick or an LP light 30 feet from the bait improves the chances for a hookup.

When the moon and the wind are right, and we have calm seas, daytime swordfishing is a great option. We have been fishing baits on the bottom, in 1650 to 2000 feet of water, with 8 to12 lb leads on electric reels. The daytime swords have been averaging 150 lbs, up to 550 lbs. Overall, some very nice swordfish are being caught.

Tight Lines,

Capt David Ide

954 761 8045

www.ladypamela2.com

Nov 16, 2011

This afternoon we went fishing with Kirk and his two sons, whom I had met on the dock the day before. They had told me they wanted to go fishing and I recommended an afternoon trip, as catches had been better later in the day. Kirk went with my judgment. The afternoon weather was calm on the way out, though we had to work our way through a pile of boats competing in the Sailfish Cup Tournament out of Miami Beach. Apparently fishing was slow in Miami and the word had gotten out that the fish were in Ft. Lauderdale. I think just about all the boats in the tournament had run up here to fish!

Regardless, we moved offshore, found an edge in 400 to 550 feet of water, and spent the afternoon right there, rolling in fish. There were plenty of mahi-mahi and little blackfin tunas working north and south along this edge. It was green water, with a little north current and we were trolling a few deep lines right on the edge. In addition to the mahi and tunas, we caught a nice 35 lb wahoo on a pink and white sea witch. Then, about three-quarters of the way through the charter, we hooked a huge sailfish while trolling. This was a tough fish that we fought for nearly an hour. Everybody was on the VHF radio calling to see if we had a blue marlin on, but we didn’t, we just had a huge sailfish that took a lot longer than usual to land. But we caught the big sailfish, and Kirk and his family were ecstatic to get this monster fish to the boat. They were used to fishing in lakes in Canada, catching 3to 4 lb fish, so this was really the experience of a lifetime. Good job Kirk! Can’t wait to take you guys fishing again!

Tight Lines,

Capt David Ide

954 761 8045

www.ladypamela2.com

November 13, 2011

Today was a special day for me, as I got to take my dad Peter out fishing. We don’t get to do that very often because we both always seem to be “working “on boats, instead of enjoying them. Not today though, as we took a day off and went fishing on our 36 foot Invincible center console boat. The night before, we had informed a few of our friends about our plans, and Bill, Russell, John, and Darin quickly agreed to round out our crew. That night I also put together two dozen live bait leaders, snelling VMC 5/0 circle hooks onto 16 foot sections of 30 lb Sufix® Invisiline™ fluorocarbon leader.

In the morning, we picked up six dozen goggleyes from T & T live bait and ran north 30 miles to just offshore Boynton Beach inlet. We put up the kites, and as soon as we got the baits in we hooked up a double header sailfish, landing one out of the two fish. By 10:00 a.m. we had released another four sails and lost one. The outgoing tide had the current running at the inlet by this time so we reset the kites right in front. It didn’t take long before we hooked another sail, then another. We now had released six sails and lost two. Every time we set back up in front of the inlet we got a bite, so we kept jumping and catching sailfish. We ended the day with 10 for 12 on the sails. We also caught 10 nice mahi-mahi up to 20 lbs, a couple of blackfin tunas, a king mackerel, two silky sharks, and a barracuda. We ended up catching over 30 fish. Not too bad!

Tight Lines,

Capt.  David Ide

954 761 8045

www.ladypamela2.com

Email Us at ladypamela2@bellsouth.net

My husband Mike, sister-in-Law Nichole, brother-in-law Craig and I (Amy) chartered through Lady Pamela II for a 4 hour fishing trip on Thursday November 10th from 9-1. This was all of our first time deep sea fishing. I just wanted to let Lady Pamela II know we had an amazing time fishing! Our captain, Captain Adam and 1st Mate Joe on the Lady Pamela III were awesome to fish with and made it the highlight of our trip! During our 4hrs out we caught a sail fish, 3 tuna fish and 2 shark! Everyone caught something which put the icing on the cake! We had Joe filet the tuna we caught and took it to Southport Raw Bar at their recommendation and had it cooked for lunch. The cook at the Raw Bar did a fantastic job preparing the fish! We wanted to say a BIG THANKS to Adam and Joe for an awesome experience!

Mike and Amy
St Louis, MO

November 10, 2011

During the winter months, many of the large Atlantic predatory fish species are migrating south along the coast from the western mid-Atlantic to Mexico. Over the next 6 months, we will see schools of sailfish, mahi-mahi, tuna, wahoo, and marlin right off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale. As each cold front the moves through the area we see new groups of fish. These fish find live baits suspended below fishing kites, swimming right at the surface, irresistible. We see fantastic aerial displays as the big predatory fish crash these baits.

Today, Pauli and I ran offshore to a current edge in 550 feet of water. In this case, the “edge” was a clearly defined area where the Gulfstream current is running north and the near shore current is running south. These current edges tend to concentrate baitfish, and sure enough, we caught six nice mahi-mahi up to 15 lbs as they were crushing our baits. After a couple of hours of this action, we moved back in to 120 feet and dropped some fresh goggleyes from the kites. We caught a few king mackerel right off the bat and jumped off a nice sailfish. “Jumped off” fish are those that hit one of baits, jump around a few times, and then throw the hook before they can be reeled in.

Shortly after jumping the sailfish, we pulled in the baits and ran north five miles to some cleaner water. We put the kites back up, set out four more fresh live baits, and in no time hooked another sailfish. This time we had a solid hookup and 15 minutes we landed the fish, got some good pictures, tagged the fish and let him free. It is interesting to note that one of the sailfish we tagged a few years ago, right off Ft. Lauderdale was re-captured several years later off Mexico. It is cool how fisheries oceanographers can track these fish. Lady Pamela is committed to assisting fisheries scientists, by tagging both billfish and sharks when possible.

Tight Lines,

Captain David Ide

954 761 8045

www.ladypamela2.com

Email Us ladypamela2@bellsouth.net

November 2 and 3, 2011

The last few days we had a nice cold front move through, and when that happens, you can expect first rate fishing in Ft. Lauderdale. We have been live bait kite fishing pretty much every trip for the past several weeks. On November 2^nd we had a morning trip with Reggie and his friends from Washington, D.C. They caught a few 20 lb. mahi-mahi, and then missed a sailfish first thing in the morning. Later, Reggie hooked up a sailfish that we almost lost. The fish jumped straight at the boat, landed on the covering board, then fell back into the water. My mate Pauli said the fish was teetering like a seesaw! I got a good laugh when I heard that Reggie jumped out of the fighting chair because he thought that the fish was going to hit him!

On November 3rd we had two half-day fishing charters; one from 8 a.m.-12 noon, with the other running from 1p.m.-5p.m. On the morning trip we caught some nice mahi-mahi and 10 Spanish mackerel. The mahi-mahi we’ve been catching the last few days have all been over 12 lbs, with a few fish of 20-25 lbs thrown in. We also missed a sailfish in the morning.

Anglers Bob, and wife Terry caught a nice sailfish in the afternoon and missed a few other knockdowns off the kites. They also caught three 20 lb mahi-mahi and six Spanish mackerel. They sure boated a nice group of fish in four hours. You’ve gotta love the fishing this time of year!

If you ever wanted to catch a sailfish or a swordfish, this is the time of year, and those are not the only abundant species. We also see plenty of kingfish, snappers, mahi-mahi, wahoo, tunas, and sharks this time of year. Come on down to Ft. Lauderdale and let the Lady Pamela crew show you the fishing trip of a lifetime.

Tight Lines,

Captain David Ide

www.ladypamela2.com

Email Us ladypamela2@bellsouth.net

954 761 8045

October 29, 2011

     David, and his friends from Indiana, joined Darin and I on the 8-12 morning trip. The trip was for Bob, who always wanted to catch a nice fish in south Florida waters. We bought a dozen live goggleyes from the Fort Lauderdale Marina on the way out. These live baitfish cost extra (from $60 to $100 per dozen) on top of the charter price, but it is well worth it. There was a strong 2 knot south current that morning and the wind was blowing 15- 20 knots out of the northeast, with seas running 4-6 feet. I was running the boat from the tower hoping to see sailfish tailing down sea but I didn’t see any. However, there was a large container ship anchored in 140 feet of water, and at this time of year, if there is a ship anchored offshore like that, they hold a lot of bait. That means there are fish there. Once we got to the ship, about 20 minutes after we left to the dock, Darin and Dominic put the kites up. As I have said before, kitefishing is the best type of fish to do in the winter time using live baits. So, right off the bat, with our first kite up, with one bait in the water, we jumped off a sailfish. We got the baits back out ASAP and within 20 minutes we hooked a monster sailfish. Our angler fought the fish all the way out to 350 feet of water before we boated it, took some pictures and let the fish go. It sure made the trip for David and Bob! We also caught a few mahi-mahi as a little icing to put on the sailfish cake! As well as a Hammerhead Shark Way to go guys!

Tight Lines,

Captain David Ide

954 761 8045

www.ladypamela2.com

Email ladypamela2@bellsouth.net