Barracudaville by Capt. Mark Maloney

Captain Mark Maloney began his “charter” service in 1972 at the age of eight. His equipment was a ten foot aluminum Jon boat, the classic “Red Flyer Wagon” as the trailer, the famous Zebco 202, and a Maxwell House coffee can filled to the brim with worms. After a short hour or so pull on that rusty red wagon, we were off to another new adventure around every bend on that seemingly never ending winding creek.

As one of the luckiest kids on the planet Mark had the opportunity to “assist” his granddad on his tugboat, the Atlantic 5. Being an eight year old on a tug piloting enormous tankers into port

was an unforgettable way to get your feet wet in the maritime world. Fishing with his dad aboard the Lucky Strike II out of Cape May, New Jersey was another fantastic way to grow up and learn the intricacies of our oceans and sport fishing. To become a third generation captain in our family was an obvious choice.

After a minor league baseball adventure that included traveling to many of our coastal states, Captain Mark discovered that St. Petersburg, Florida is the place to be! Great fishing year round, fantastic weather, sports, nature, and city life all found in one place. It must be BARRACUDAVILLE.

Fishing locally for the past 15+ years in the beautiful, semi-tropical Gulf of Mexico and in its bays and bayous, we have consistently caught everything from giant amberjack, the fish snatching barracuda, hard fighting grouper, drag screaming smoker kingfish, the beautifully acrobatic tarpon, down to the tasty and colorful yellow TAIL snapper.