Capt. Mark Martin-
Growing up as a kid in Arizona, my family is not surprised to see that I wound up having a career as a saltwater fishing charter captain. Since I could remember I always had a fasciation with water, and even more, what may be swimming in it. I can remember as a kid collecting tadpoles from puddles after the monsoons would pass through in the late summers and creating bigger water sheds for them to live in. Fast forward 30 years to when this is written and that same curiosity of what swam in that puddle when I was a kid, is now my fascination for what swims in the ocean..
I left Arizona in 1995 and moved to San Diego, Ca to surf and, well, chase girls!! After just 2 short summers, me and a few friends packed up the car and made our way north to Lake Tahoe. After just 1 winter season of snowboarding, we packed up the car again and headed out west to Rockies and Vail Colorado. There I stayed and snowboarded for 6 years moving back to Tahoe for a couple more years.
While living in the mountains and snowboarding over 100 days a season, I picked up my first fly rod in the year 2000 and started seeing my days on the mountain decrease and my days on the rivers increase.
After my stint in the mountains and a beat up body and tweaked knees, I returned to San Diego Ca. While I was living in the mountains I worked as a carpenter building custom homes and when returning to San Diego, started working for remodel companies based in San Diego.
During my time working as a home remodeler I eventually starting my own Design Build home Remodeling business. Still that big pond that laid to the west had me obsessed with trying to see how many species of fish I could catch on a fly.
In 2012, I know found my days on the water increasing and my days at the remodel jobs decreasing. This was due to my obsession with the Mako shark and catching them with a fly rod. With that, I decided to obtain my captain’s license and start San Diego Saltwater Fly Fishing where I could share my experiences of fly fishing in the salt with others.
Fast forward 2 more years and in 2014 I sold my construction company and decided to go full time into the world of saltwater sportfishing. This is when I purchased a ran down and abandoned fishing lodge in Costa Rica called Tarponville. I currently own and operate the fishing lodge, which has a Spring and Fall fishing season, where I accommodate anglers world wide helping them catch there first trophy Tarpon (tarpon over 100 pounds).
Right around that same time was the start of Anglers Eye Media which consisted of me and my best friend Alex Beck. With Angler’s Eye Media, we set out to document and share with others what can be achieved with having an optimistic outlook while chasing some of the toughest fish to catch on fly rods. Our films where showcased in the International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4) where we did 4 years straight of creating and filming short adventure fishing films with one of those films (In Search Of Grande) winning best film.
SEE ALL OF “ANLGERS EYE MEDIA” FILMS HERE:
San Diego has a fishery with so much to offer and after the many years of chasing different species from inshore to offshore, I have found my niche, fishing San Diego’s offshore banks for Tuna, Dorado, Yellowtail and the inshore waters for the SoCal Mako shark. Now with San Diego Saltwater Fishing, I offer trips for fly fishing and conventional bait fishing for both offshore pelagic fish and inshore shark.
Wether you are a novice that is just getting into the game, a family out on vacation looking to fish, or the seasoned angler looking to lay into some fish, I look forward to one day meeting and sharing my passion of the ocean and “what lives below it” with you..
”For the exploration of the unknown”, – Capt. Mark
