BUZZBAIT
Pro guide Ben Chancey lands monster fish and makes the evening news
BEAST MASTER
Captain Ben Chancey has been fishing south Florida since he was two years old. As a fishing guide, he special- izes in targeting Goliath grouper and giant sharks. Last summer, he took the fight to the fish, landing triple-digit grouper and sharks from paddleboard and kayak. The ac- tion appeared on Chancey’s website (
www.chewonthis.tv) and eventually went viral scoring almost a million views and landing Chancey on the evening news and morning shows. RIC BURNLEY
KAYAK ANGLER: How did you get started fishing? BEN CHANCEY: I grew up fishing Pine Island with my dad, who grew up fishing with my granddad, who started fishing the area in the '50s. For my first official charter, I hosted TV angler Blair Wiggins on a two-day shoot for Addictive Fishing. I took advantage of the publicity and have built on the business since.
KA: What appeals to you about fighting monster fish? BC: I always want to catch the biggest and most aggressive fish. I coached football and wrestling and take Ju-Jitsu, so I love the physical challenge. It took me 35 minutes to beat my first Goliath grouper and I was sore for three days. A lot of people aren’t physically capable of landing a fish of this size from a small boat with conventional tackle.
KA: You catch a lot of big fish, what are some of your personal trophies? BC: One of my proudest accomplishments is a 43-pound snook. I've caught Goliath grouper over 400 pounds from the kayak, standup paddleboard and float tube. This sum- mer an eight-foot shark pulled me off my kayak and into the water. The biggest fish we’ve released was a hammer- head shark that went over 1,000 pounds.
KA: What has been the reaction to your videos? BC: Jaw-dropping. People can’t believe what we are do- ing in the kayak and on a standup paddleboard. We have brought more popular-media attention to fishing than the sport has had in a long time.
KA: Not everyone is a fan, who’s blasting you? BC: Animal rights activists and traditionalist anglers complain that the fish are easy to catch and federally protected from harvest. But I’ve developed a catch-and- release technique using heavy tackle and take care not to overstress the fish. Our technique is so successful that we have been granted research permits to target Goliath grouper. In fact, tag results prove that the fish survive after release. I love Goliath grouper, they are amazing, aggressive fish.
grouper. DIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to watch Ben Chancey land a Goliath 18…KAYAK ANGLER
412 POUNDS OF CONTROVERSY. PHOTO: COURTESY
CHEWONTHIS.TV
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