July 28
Gary and Victor from New Jersey came out on the Lady Pamela IV for three days in a row. The first day we went out in the afternoon. We went right to 350 feet of water and put out three shark baits, one on the kite, one on the bottom and one in 150 feet of water. We sat there for three hours before we finally got a bite, about a seven foot shark on the kite bait. But it didn't last too long, the fish fell off and the four hour trip was up but Gary really loves shark fishing so they booked another trip for the next afternoon. Gary told me, David I don't want to catch bait for sharks, I want to get on the boat and shark fish the whole trip he said I don't care if I catch a fish, but all I want is sharks so that what we did.
The next afternoon Gary and Victor showed up around 12:30. We got on the boat and untied the lines and stared shark fishing in 150 feet of water at the whistle buoy. It took about 45 minutes before we got a bite on the bottom. As soon as a 100 yds. of line was off the reel the fish fell off. We put the baits back out for 30 minutes and I decided to reel everything up and run 8 miles north. Leo put the baits out in 135 feet of water as soon as we stopped the boat. It took 20 min and we had a fish on Victor got into the chair took 30 turns on the reel and the fish got away. I felt bad for Victor because this was the third shark we lost in two trips. I was determined to catch Victor a monster shark.
Just as it was time to reel in all the baits, the last rod in the water (before Leo had a chance to reel it in) bent over to the bottom and I gunned the boat ahead to set the hook. This time Victor was going to sit in the fighting chair for almost two hours and fight a fish that some people only dream about. It was a very long battle and took a lot of strength form both Leo and I. We finally got the monster 400 lb. bull shark tied up to the boat and there was a 35 lb cobia swimming around the monster bull shark. So I quickly grabbed a spinning rod and a live ballyhoo and pitched it several times before the huge cobia finally ate the bait. Then Victor didn't get a break, he had to reel in another fish. This cobia didn't take long maybe 10 minutes before I gaffed the cobia and threw him in the box. I told victor to sit on the box to keep them in it. I am sure this is a trip that Victor and I will never forget.
Tight Lines,
Capt David Ide
www.ladypamela2.com
ladypamela2@bellsouth.net
954 761 8045
