Captain Ed Dwyer

SUCCESS STORY

Featuring: Captain Ed Dwyer

GREETINGS CAPTAIN ED DWYER

A 321 native, some may already know Ed, but if you’re in the fishing industry you most likely know him as Captain Ed!

Ed is a dear friend of mine and a highly recognized Professional Sport Fishing Captain. He’s been fishing the Brevard County waters and beyond for more than 40 years. What started as shark fishing off a local beach while in high school, led to his captain’s license and becoming an extremely successful charter boat captain in the world of offshore fishing. One of his most notable charter boats was The Ticket.

After finding success in the offshore charter industry for more than 20 years, he then became a private captain. He is currently captaining a 66’ Spencer called the Bear Trap.

There’s more to Captain Ed than just fishing, he’s a captain that knows his way around boats. Throughout his career, he has helped to build 5 different boats, and with each came a bigger boat!

He and his wife Candy host two very successful annual fishing tournaments, for 25 years and running, the Otherside Invitational held out of Port Canaveral and Baker’s Bay Invitational held in the Bahamas.

Captain Ed made a name for himself when he started pushing the limits and going where no other east coast fisherman had ventured before. He was the first sport fisherman out of Port Canaveral to travel across the Gulf Stream to the 110-mile weather buoy. He’s most notable for fishing Yellowfin Tuna on the east side of the Gulf Stream, otherwise known as “the Otherside”. He’s also referred to as the ‘bird man’ as he has perfected the art of using radar to track birds to the lead to the fish.

ENJOY CAPTAIN ED’S RESPONSES

TOP 3 BUSINESS TIPS

Customer/Owner Relationships
It is important to have good customer relations. To be personable, know what your customers want to get out of their experience and be able to provide it to the best of your ability. Being a private boat captain, you must have the best relationship with the owner of the boat. You need to be able to treat each other with respect and have honest and open communication.

Know Your Stuff
Some tend to think a boat captain just knows how to fish, but a good boat captain knows the boat and all its components inside and out. Do your research and learn about the boat you’re in charge of. If you’re not mechanically inclined, learn!

Boats need to be maintained both mechanically and cosmetically and if you can do both, you’ll be saving the owner a lot of money. If you find yourself in an unforeseen circumstance with mechanical failure out in the water, you’ll know how to either fix it or at least get to shore safely.

Do your homework, learn about the fish your customers want to catch. It’s not just about fueling up a boat, putting out the line, and hoping you catch something. You need to have the proper bait, know the weather and water conditions, temperatures and clarity as well as the moon phase.

Understand the electronics you’re using. Learn how to navigate the waters utilizing all the available information on the internet to plan your trip.

Be safe. If something breaks down, know your equipment enough to either fix it or put enough of a band-aid on it to get you and your passengers back to shore. Have the knowledge you need to maximize the customer/owner’s experience to the best of your ability. It’s not cheap to go offshore, and if they are spending the money, you want to use it wisely and efficiently.

Have Good Partners
A first mate is someone you can trust and is your righthand person. I’ve had the pleasure of having many great first mates and those who have moved on from me have gone on to do wonderful things in the industry and make a name for themselves.

I can’t leave out my most important First Mate and that is my wife, Candy. It’s not always easy being the wife of a fisherman, but she takes care of our personal side of life, and she is the key factor behind the success in the Otherside Invitational and the Baker’s Bay Invitational. She puts a lot of time and effort into making these great tournaments, not only for the boats who enter but also our spectators and fans.

Without her, I wouldn’t be the successful fisherman I am in today.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

One thing I think I can improve on is not putting so much pressure on myself. Because I am mechanically inclined, I tend to take on a lot of maintenance tasks myself. In my defense though, it is hard to find people who take pride in the work they do, have good work ethic, and who want to work hard and put their best foot forward. It is my name on the line in the end, and for me to entrust important tasks to others, it could result in a life and death situation, and/or myself getting hurt. Let’s face it, I’m only getting up in age and I know one day my brain will say I can do it, but my body might be thinking something totally different.

INSPIRATION BEHIND THE JOURNEY

What inspires and has always inspired me is to be and stay successful. It makes me feel good knowing I know what I know, and I know how to be great in this industry. Oftentimes, I’m referred to as the go-to guy, just because I may be the only one who knows how to do something.

I enjoy working with my hands and being hands on, studying the logistics of each trip I take, learning the fish we are fishing for, going offshore with confidence and coming onshore with a boat full of fish and happy customers/owners. This is what keeps me inspired, to be the best and continuing to find ways to be that much better.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Keep your dreams alive, even if you haven’t realized they’re your dreams yet. I went from a kid in high school who shark fished off a beach behind someone’s house where someone recognized my love and passion for fishing, and ultimately offered to help me get my captain’s license, bought their own boat to charter, and hired me as their captain!

Fast forward 40 some odd years later, and I have been fortunate enough to charter many excursions, build several boats, make many friends, push myself to the limits, going where no one had ever ventured to go before offshore, and ultimately made a name for myself in the fishing world. I’d say I came along way from that first 900-pound tiger shark I caught as a teenager on the beach. When something falls into your lap, take it and ride!

THANK YOU CAPTAIN ED DWYER

Thank you, Captain Ed, for sharing your remarkable story with my readers. His top business tips, room for improvement, and inspirations can be utilized within anyone’s business and/or life. Learn your industry, know your weaknesses, and always have an inspiration to work towards!

If you’d like to follow Captain Ed on his journeys, please visit his website. There will be a very exciting special event coming up where information will soon be posted.

OthersideFishing.com | Facebook

TOP 10

Health Tips from Eating Fish

According to Healthline.com, one of the healthiest things to eat is FISH!

• High in Important Nutrients

• May Lower your Risk of Heart Attacks and Strokes

• Contains Nutrients that are Crucial During Development

• May Boost Brain Health

• May Help and Prevent Depression

• Good Dietary Sources of Vitamin D

• May Reduce your Risk of Autoimmune Disease

• May Help Prevent Asthma in Children

• May Protect your Vision in Old Age

• May Improve Sleep Quality

ATHLETES

Failure Is Just A Stepping Stone

Some have natural talent and some have to work, but both will have failures and it’s how you overcome those failures and move on that will determine your success as an athlete.

You will NOT win everything, you most likely will get injured at some point, you WILL have obstacles, personal matters amongst others which will stand in your way, or at least try to stop you from achieving greatness!

Instead of looking at a failure as just that…a failure…look at it more or less as a stepping stone. Learn from it, make it a rung on your ladder to greatness, step on it and MOVE FORWARD!

PARENTS

Teach Your Kids How To Swim

Did you know the age with the highest drowning rates in the entire world is children 1-4 years old and the second is the age group 5-9 years old.

Growing up in Florida, it was imperative we learned how to swim. I do not directly remember taking actual swimming lessons when I was a baby. However, there were lots of pictures of me in a baby pool and at the beach! My parents made sure I was a water baby! Although I may not have had intentional swimming lessons, my parents knew enough to teach me to keep me safe while in the water. I do remember being in swim lessons learning proper swimming techniques when I was older.

In the 321, we are SURROUNDED by water whether it be at the rivers, the beach, or even in our own backyards or someone else’s, we are bound to be near a body of water at almost every point in our daily lives.

Teach your kids HOW TO SWIM…AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. There are private instructors who come to your house, there are group lessons available, and some start as young as months old! If you’re not comfortable in teaching your child water safety and how to properly survive in the water based on their age and competence level, please look from someone who can and utilize them! The time, effort, and money you spend on this simple life lesson will be one of the BEST INVESTMENTS you can make!

LIFE

Tides Of Life

Life is like the ocean tides coming in and going out, constantly in motion, some bringing in good waves, other high tides, some days can be flat with nothing to it, and others can bring in chaotic rip currents! Learn to ride those waves, currents, and tides no matter what they bring.

Enjoy the good waves to the upmost possibilities!

When the tide comes in high and leaves you with only a slight bit of walking room and you feel you’re at your wits end, barely hanging on to the piece of sand that is left…keep hanging on. Just like the tide, the bad times will leave and once left you’ll see the new sand, the new beginnings, and so much hope!

When the water is flat and isn’t offering much, don’t think about it as a ‘bad day’, think of it as a time to relax and reflect. You may not have realized you needed some down time, but the water is telling you, you do, so sit back and enjoy.

When the rip currents start churning and you don’t know which way is up, find your horizon, find your rock, your stronghold, focus on that until you ride out of the rip current of this chaotic life. Once through you’ll be tired, you’ll be drained, but it’s only a steppingstone that will have made you stronger, both physically and mentally.

So, in life, RIDE the good waves, ENDURE the high tides, RELFECT in the calm, and SURVIVE those rip currents…Life isn’t perfect, but even in imperfect times you learn to survive and when times are perfect…learn to ENJOY the water!