We spent an extended vacation in Pompano Beach. We commissioned two separate charters while we were there. This was our second. Given the nature of weather and fishing itself, both were very different. The similarities came with my wife doing her extensive research before the trip and planning ahead. We knew that we wanted a large boat with a cabin and options in the event of unpredictable factors - weather, illness, etc. The Naughty girl was one of the boats that had everything that we were looking for. I went with my wife and my 11 year old son.
Before the trip, my son was SO excited to go fishing in the ocean. We had been fresh water fishing many times before. To prepare for the trip, he streamed all kinds of amazing ocean fishing shows and was super pumped. He was excited to catch numerus and HUGE fish!. His goal was to catch a fish that we could mount. I had several conversations with him to bring him back down to earth and remind him of the reality of fishing. He has always kept the mount of a fish I caught when I was now his age in his room (a striper hybrid caught on Lake Cumberland).
The day started with extreme downpour rain. Nicely, it quit just before loading the boat but faintly trickled on for a bit. Our day of fishing started out very different than the firstโฆ wind.. wavesโฆ seaweedโฆ etc.ย It was a very challenging day. Our captain (Kenny) and Joey, our first mate, remained optimistic and trudged forward with vigor. We initially went with standard trolling, which was tough with all the seaweed, but they were able to find spots without seaweed. We tried kite fishing, but the wind was patchy. We considered bottom fishing, but the conditions changed and we went back to trolling. Our expert crew were able to swap back and forth effectively and kept us engaged.
Seemingly against all of the current odds, we caught our first Dolphin fish. The pressure was off. Not long after, we hooked two at once. The first one jumped out of the water and IT WAS A MONSTER. Everyone went nuts. We reeled one, which was a nice Dolphin/Mahi and with the careful expertise we carefully reeled in the monster! It was a very large Mahi Mahiโฆ and it turns out it was a true trophy fish! Despite all the conversations I had with my son before the trip, we caught a fish worthy of mounting - and we did.
Moral of the story - anything can happen on these trips. Naughty Girl and the crew are equipped with everything you need to have the best chance to catch the best fish. It truly was the trip of a lifetime and we will be talking about it for years. We made priceless memories. Thank you.
We spent an extended vacation in Pompano Beach. We commissioned two separate charters while we were there. This was our second....