Private Six-Hour Big Game Fishing Trip in Hollywood

Been fishing with Lady Pamela fleet for several years. Capt. David runs a great operation. This trip we did two consecutive days, 6 hour private charters. Our captain, Geno was extremely knowledgeable and a real pleasure to fish with. Also can’t say enough about our first mate, James. Professional, courteous, and a real standout in comparison to most any mate I’ve ever fished with. They worked really hard both days to put us on the fish. And that they did! Me and my best friend have fished around the world and I have to say this bunch is a class act and made even better because of people like Capt. Geno and James! Already looking forward to next trip with them. Highly recommend!

Overall disappointing trip. I spoke w Dave on the phone and we booked for Pamela II with Captain Dave but we got Pamela w Hunter and Jim. Dave said trip out of the inlet was 15 minutes but it took over 30 minutes plus another 30 minutes to get to the fishing “spot” that was within sight of land and near the junky container ships. Then it took the mate a long time to get the kites rigged up because he couldn’t find the swivels and he had to call someone, some kites were ripped, and he struggled with the electric reels. Overall they were not prepared and the other guy didn’t help set up at all. It was almost 2 hours before we actually started fishing with all the baits. When we did have 2 fish on, and a fish was stripping line, the captain “gunned” the boat so fast that we lost both fish. He said he had to take up slack, but that’s not true, and why so fast. Immediately after we lost the 2 fish, the captain had radioed his friends and we had like 2-3 other boats surround us and come right into our area, including another blue Pamela boat. As we fished, the mates complained that it was hard to steer the boat because it only had one prop, not 2. Basically we stayed in the exact same spot almost all morning. When we drifted back he would gas the boat to go right over the same spot again. We didn’t do any good drifts. We finally landed a shark (our only fish of the day) and the mate was encouraging us to keep it. He was very persistent that we had a “trophy”, but we didn’t come for baby sharks. Then they shut down the kit fishing after only like 2 hours, and they moved us to a spot to catch bonita for bait. Keep in mind that bait was supposed to be included, and that we paid extra $100 for a dozen live fish and we only used about 4-5 on the kites. We spent an hour of our paid time just trolling around for 3 baitfish that we didn’t need. Then we spent 2 hours trolling with the bonita and got nothing. After that they packed it in and it took 45 minutes to get back to the dock. The drive to Ft Lauderdale was father than we were told on the phone, and we paid $1000 for 6 hours when there were boats in Hillsboro Inlet that were closer and would have run the same 6 hour trip for $750 with less travel time to the ocean. We did not get in much fishing time for a 6 hour trip, only kite fished for a short time, the mates were not prepared, and we didn’t move around at all to try and get on fish.

We enjoyed the fishing portion of the trip, everything was going great until the trip back in. At no point during or before the trip started were we told that if we pull something out of the water we have to pay for a replica to be made. That was never explained. When we were heading back in and were told we need to make a payment for the replica we were extremely shocked and frankly felt blind sided. If we would have known that, we wouldn’t have brought anything in the boat. It was extremely uncomfortable and we felt like we had no choice but to spend $2,000 on a replica. We were put in an extremely uncomfortable position and it really ruined the trip for us. I would have rather caught nothing then have been put in that position. It ruined our entire day and now we are stuck with owing $2,000 for a replica we didn’t want but felt pressured into buying (He said he’d be “fuckin pissed” if we didn’t purchase it). The rest of our honeymoon is now ruined with the though of having to pay for something we don’t want. Going forward I HIGHLY recommend making that portion VERY clear to clients, because that is really a terrible thing to do to someone.

Would have liked to tried the wrecks. With no hits in the first 3 hours would sort of make you want to change the plan. We caught 2 pre-schoolie mahi and 2 barracuda. I understand that it fishing not catching but when one thing isn't working, try something else.

I was lucky enough to have Capt. Gene and Capt. Adam on my private charter. I requested to try for sailfish even though it was not quite season yet. they obliged and got to work catching the best baitfish for kite fishing. while we were kite fishing they also tried many other forms of fishing methods to pass the time. the guys never stop or even slowed down trying to maximize our fishing experience. they have great personalities and made the whole day a lot of fun. while my sailfish eludes me we did catch a nice Mahi, many Triggerfish, rainbow runners, blue runners, and a porgy. I have taken many charters over the years, this was the best group I have chartered by far!

Adam and Sean were incredible guides! We were able to catch several trophy class fish, as well as a variety of fish for dinner! The morning troll started off a little slow, so the guys adjusted, switched up techniques and before we knew it, we were hooking fish faster than 6 people could reel them in! We were able to haul in a "50 barracuda, a 36" Bonita, a Blueline Tile, several Almaco Jack's, Genuine and Vermillion Snappers. Near the end of the trip, Adam yelled down, "We have about 4 minutes left." Sean asked if he could make one last drop, and no sooner than he asked, an 8 foot Hammerhead shark hit the big game reel, and the fight was on! About 30 minutes later we were able to bring the fish to the edge of the boat for photos of a lifetime memory for our family and best friends who joined us! Adam and Sean were incredible with our 10 and 7 year old boys, who were very curious and asked tons of questions as well. They were very informative and very accommodating for our family. I have been on several chartered fishing trips, and these two far exceeded my expectations. I will be booking our trip for next year with Adam and Sean early!

Mate, Dillion, was fantastic. The got us on fish early and continued to fish hard the remainder of a six out trip. I’ll fish with them again wen friend/family visit and too large of a group for my boat. Definitely recommend a trip on the Lady Pamela.