This morning, Ron and his son Cole joined the Lady Pamela II for a full day of fishing offshore. Living in Fort Lauderdale, they didn’t have to drive too far to spend a great day on the water. We left the dock at 10 AM sharp and headed straight to the morning balls for bait. The goggle eyes and speedos were coo operating today; we filled the well to the rim in no time at all. We checked bait off the list and ran five miles south to slow troll the live bait. Trolling was producing. The first two baits of the day got hit within seconds. A double header Bonito came up interested and ate. Ron and Cole knew the drill, turn ’em and burn ’em, a.k.a., reel quick so we can go for round two. Our third bite of the day put up one hell of a fight. Ron fought a gaffer size King Mackerel all the way to the surface. We were on a roll at that point. Captain Paul dropped a speedo on the down rigger and it didn’t take long before that got somebody’s attention. Ron and Cole couldn’t believe the set the teeth that Barracuda had. Not even an hour into our trip and we landed two Bonito, a King Mackerel and a ‘Cuda.


There have been some gigantic fish on the wrecks, so I decided to try our luck and drop a rigged bait down to the bottom. With our baits set, Ron, Cole, Captain Paul and I sat back and kept a close eye on the rod. It bounced once, bounced again, then it was on. That fish ate and ran! Cole fought this reef donkey all the way to the transom. The power of this fish was amazing.
Ron had mentioned that he’d like to land an Atlantic Sailfish while fishing offshore this morning. The balloons went out and we crossed our fingers. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a huge fish swimming around the boat. I couldn’t really put a finger on what it was, but I knew it was coming up to eat our bait. Once it got closer to the boat, I yelled to Captain Paul “Huge Hammerhead!” Paul got the 130 and we were ready for the bite. Paul pitched it bait a few times, but couldn’t get its attention. The giant Hammerhead started to veer off and swim away from the boat, but we weren’t going to let him get away. Captain Paul grabbed a gaff and started to make vibration in the water to interest him again. It worked just as planned. The Hammerhead made a u’ey and ate right off the transom. I pushed the boat ahead to set the hook and Ron jumped in the fighting chair quicker than you could imagine. The 10 ft Hammerhead gave Ron a run for his money and didn’t give in for a while. It was probably the longest 40 minutes of Ron’s life, but some of the best. Long story short, Ron was the man after he landed the 10 ft’er. It wasn’t a Sailfish bite, but it was up there after he realized how hard these Game Fish fight.

Tight Lines!
Captain David Ide
954-761-8045