Meet Captain David Mistretta
Second Generation. Same Waters. His Turn At The Helm.
David grew up aboard JawsToo. Four photographs tell the story of the boy, the father and the captain he became.
The Story of Captain David Mistretta
Every Picture
Has A Story.
Pick up a photograph. See where it leads.
Choose A Chapter
2006 · Father’s Day
Two Dollars A Tarpon.
Where It Started
At seven, David spent tarpon season alongside his dad, helping wherever a seven-year-old could.
THE PAY?$2 FOR EVERY TARPON
THE BOAT LANDED.
Then, Father’s Day changed the story.
BUT THIS ONE WASN’TSOMEBODY ELSE’S.
David caught it. He fought that monster all the way to the boat himself. As luck would have it, Bay News 9 was aboard to capture the moment.
Somewhere between the hookup and the boat, the kid earning two dollars a tarpon got hooked, too.
Father’s Day · 2006
And Yes.
We Have The Tape.
This isn’t a recreation. This is seven-year-old David, on Father’s Day, bringing that tarpon to the boat.
The Teen Years
He Never Really Left The Boat.
Growing Up On The Gulf
As the years passed, the little kid earning two dollars a tarpon got older.
TARPON SEASON.KINGFISH SEASON.
TOURNAMENT DAYS.
Meanwhile, some days meant fishing aboard JawsToo. During kingfish season, though, a faster boat could take them farther, trolling the Gulf and looking for where the big fish were holding.
Boats changed and seasons came and went, but David was still fishing alongside his dad.
Eventually, he wasn’t the seven-year-old helper anymore. Instead, years of watching, learning, rigging and fishing had taught him a life that couldn’t really be learned in a classroom.
JAWSTOO WASN’T SOMETHINGHE’D INHERIT SOMEDAY.
He was already growing into it.
Father + Son
The Dream Took The Long Way Home.
Father, Son & The Gulf
For Dave, fishing wasn’t simply a career. It was in his blood.
The Gulf. The boat. Salt air. Fishing. And for years, one of his biggest hopes was that David would someday love this life as much as he did.
Still, David had his own road to travel. College. His own interests. His own path.
THEN DAVID CAME HOME.Soon, he earned his captain’s license and began running trips with his dad and for his dad.
In time, the thing Dave had hoped for all those years happened naturally.
HE GOT TO FISHBESIDE HIS SON.
Not as a little boy anymore.
AS A CAPTAIN.
2021 · Second Generation
The Boy Takes The Helm.
Taking The Helm
By 2021, David wasn’t learning how to become a captain.
HE WAS ONE.By then, the boat, the business and the responsibility of running JawsToo were David’s. As a result, the second generation was already underway.
Dave, however, didn’t disappear from the story.
Even so, for the next five years, father and son kept doing what they had always done together — fishing aboard JawsToo.
ONLY NOW,DAVID WAS AT THE HELM.
Through it all, Dave had hoped his son would find his own love for this life.
HE GOT FIVE YEARSBESIDE HIM WHEN HE DID.
From Father To Son
Years Changed. Stories Got Bigger. Still JawsToo.
Two generations built this story together. Now there are plenty more days on the water waiting to be made.
Your Own Story.
ROOTED IN INDIAN ROCKS BEACH.
FISHING THE GULF FOR GENERATIONS.
Based at the Holiday Inn Harbourside Marina in Indian Rocks Beach (IRB), Florida, JawsToo Fishing Charters takes families, friends and serious anglers offshore into the Gulf of Mexico. Depending on the season, trips can target grouper, snapper, kingfish, shark, tarpon and other Gulf species aboard a 40-foot Dorado built for the job. So, whether you’re visiting Indian Rocks Beach, Treasure Island, Clearwater or elsewhere along Florida’s Gulf Coast, you’ll fish with local knowledge shaped by generations on these waters. Ultimately, from family fishing charters to deep-sea days offshore, the goal is simple: put you on the fish and give you a day worth remembering.