March 25, 2011

Today Eric and a friend joined Chris and I for a six hour afternoon fishing charter. We picked up a dozen goggleyes on the way out and put the kites up in the air once we got to 350 feet of water. We set out one big dead bait and three live baits on the kites, plus two big shark baits, one at 150 feet under the surface and the other one on the bottom. During this initial set we saw anglers on a boat next to us catch a 150 lb tiger shark, so we were thinking it was our turn next. Sure enough, Chris yells down that there is not a shark, but a big mahi-mahi trying to eat the big shark bait on the kite. We tried to reel the dead kingfish slab away from him to pitch him a live bait but he wanted that dead bait, so on the third try we hooked him. Eric’s friend reeled in a beautiful 40 lb mahi-mahi.

We sat for another hour with no bites, so it was time to make a move. Chris and I had been talking the day before about a big shark hanging around a particular shipwreck. This fish had been tearing up the big amberjacks that we would hook over this wreck, leaving our anglers with only heads to bring in. We decided that today was a good opportunity to target that shark so we ran Eric up there to try and catch this sea monster. On the third try we hooked a monster bull shark that Eric fought for two hours. Day had turned into night before finally catching this huge beast. It was easily 550-600 lbs, and in the darkness it was fearsome looking. Great catch Eric!

Tight Lines,

Capt David Ide

954 761 8045

www.ladypamela2.com

March 11, 2012

Driftfishing Charters

Captain Adam and mate Joe hosted ten anglers on the driftfishing boat for our Saturday night six hour snapper trip. The team ran south for a while before deciding to anchor up in 70 feet of water. The spot they chose was the sweet spot as the anglers ended up catching 140 snappers, including muttons, yellowtails, mangroves, lanes, and a few others. They weren’t all keepers, and some had to be thrown back, but everyone brought home plenty of dinner! This definitely rates as one of the best nights of snapper fishing we have ever had.

March 18, 2012

Today Darin and I had two trips and the fishing was great. We were catching plenty of blackfin tunas in 350 feet of water. These fish were ranging from 3-8 lbs, a little on the small side, but good eating nonetheless. We also caught a few mahi-mahi in the 8-13 lb class trolling fresh ballyhoo’s and bonito strips.

On the afternoon charter our clients wanted to go sharkfishing so we went out to 350 feet of water and put out three big shark baits; two blackfin tunas and a kingfish. It wasn’t long before we got a bite on the bottom bait. This was a powerful hit, with the rod bent nearly in half. We gunned the boat ahead to set the hook as we got angler Shawn in the fighting chair. The battle was on, and 45 minutes later we had a huge hammerhead shark behind the boat. Some great pictures of this champion fish were taken, and then we tagged it and released it.

March 19, 2012

One would think that I would do something else besides fish on my day off, but today the weather was perfect for daytime swordfishing, so my friend Jack and I decided to go. We cruised out to around 1400 feet of water and at about 10:00 a.m. made our first 4 drops. There was no action, so we moved north 7 miles and reset our baits. On the fifth drop, we got a strong bite from what seemed like a good fish and we set the hook. Unfortunately, the hook pulled with the fish about 200 feet from the boat. We ran back to the same place and dropped again, and got a few more bites, but no hookups.

We did hear a great story from another angler to the south. He radioed to tell us he had hooked up a 350 lb sword that racehorsed to the boat, then jumped right onto the gunnel, halfway into the boat! Had he gotten all the way in, that green fish could have shredded the cockpit! Luckily, they were able to get the fish back into the water, wear it out, then boat it properly. We didn’t have that kind of excitement, but it was a nice day to be on the water.

March 9, 2012

Today was very fun day fishing with Jeff Neal, and friend Brian. I recently met these great guys out at the Safari Club International convention in Las Vegas. Jeff is a world renowned hunter and outfitter who books some of the best hunts in the world. He’s been organizing quality big game hunts since 1975. Today he was looking to catch a sailfish so we left the dock early in the morning, running 40 miles south, hoping to get into some of the sails that I had heard were off Miami. It was a quick trip with triple Mercury Verados wide open on the 36’ Invincible! After filling our baitwell with live baits we set up the kites out in front of Miami.

We caught our first few fish right around 12:00 noon today, with Jeff hooking into a monster hammerhead shark on 30 lb test, fighting the behemoth for over an hour. During Jeffs’ hammerhead fight we kept baits in water hoping for other action, and sure enough, Brian was able to bring in a couple of mahi-mahi while the shark was still on! Jeff finally got the leader to the boat and everyone got a good look at the shark before it broke the leader and swam off. We continued kitefishing the rest of the day, with a few kingfish and mahi throwing hooks, but no sails. Jeff did catch another thrill though, as a nice cobia snatched a bait off the kites. Overall, it was an awesome day listening to stories of Jeff’s hunting trips around the world. Not too many people have travelled the way he has. I can’t wait to get together again with the guys this summer! We’ve planned six days of fishing in Bahamas that should be a blast.

Tight Lines,

Captain David Ide

954-761-8045

www.ladypamela2.com