Captain Card and crew did everything right had the right equipment. It just wasn’t our time to land a fish. A very memorable trip!

My son and I had a fantastic trip with Alan and Ian.  They are great guys and complete professionals when it comes to fishing.  They were obviously extremely knowledgeable about the fishing grounds, their equipment and their boat.  They also made my son and I feel very welcome and comfortable and were great to talk to. Ian was an excellent and patient teacher, especially with my son.  He worked extremely hard to maximize our chances of catching fish, keeping 5 lines running all the time and regularly checking them for weed and adjusting them (we were trolling). His efforts and expertise paid off and we had a very successful day catching Wahoo, Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi.  The boat is also just about perfect.  Fast, plenty big enough and lots of seating in the shade.  I recommend Challenger to anyone looking to maximize their chances of catching fish while also having a really pleasant day on the water with two great guys on a great boat.

Let me start with Capt Alan Card and his son Ian are a fishing machine! They have been fishing so longand so well together that the communication between them is minimal. Each knows their jobs and what the other is going to do before it usually happens. Clean boat and the finest 130 Shimano Tiagra’s onboard. My wife Judy and I have fished my whole life in great venues such as Pt Judith RI, Cape Cod, Ocean City, MD, Jupiter Fl, Islamorada, FL, Marsh Harbor and Eleuthera Bahamas, and have been fortunate to have caiught Giant Tuina over 600ibs. However, what happen in three days of fishing with Alan and Ian were off the charts for us and memories that will last forever!

Day One started with a quick warmup with a 250lb release just 5-Miles offshore. Then later on in the day they hooked us up with an estimated 500iber that put on a show that is fixed in my mind.

Day Two we went 0-3 on 2-Blues and a White. The two Blues(different times) each came crashing into the spread and causing a huge disruption in the water grabbing the lure and jumping, only to have both get off (it happens).

Day Three was a slow starter with 4 1/2 hours of trolling and then while coming back off the Challenger Bank (the depth goes from 5000 ft up to 120 ft on this huge Seamount) the left rigger snapped off and the130 Shimano started screaming and dumping line at an amazing speed with the fish putting on a display before diving. We were able to get the fish up less than 100 ft from the boat twice only for the spool to be dumped again on close to 40 lbs of drag! Unfortunatley, this is where there is a somber moment when the fish last dove and dove and then just stayed straight up and down with no more runs. We knew at that moment this great fish was probably dead. The Captain did an unbelievable job raising this fish back up to the boat after exerting me to the max until we were able to float the grat fish to the top. Sad, but you fish long emough this stuff happens. We brought “her” on board and measured her and through a calculation were able to estimated her at 631lbs! (NOTE: The fish was cut up by Ian and distributed to islanders as well as Ian making smoked Marlin bites and Fish Dip. So, none was wasted.)

We totally recommend the Challenger and Bermuda for fishing. Most of the day we were in sight of land except on Day 3 when we went 20-Miles out to the furthest Seamount and back. Alan and Ian are warm, fun and inviting and have stories that most of us experiance fisherman could only dream of having. We chose not to on this trip, but the Yelow Fin Tuna bite up on the
Bank is also off the charts as we saw the action while trolling around the fleet. Thank You to my awesome wife Judy for booking this anniversary trip for us with the sole goal of trying to catch BIG Marlin ... GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Book the Challenger and you won’t be disappointed!!!
Garry and Judy L.