About Captain Matthew
Captain Matthew has a love of fishing that started at a young age and has continued to grow over the years. After years of learning the craft of fishing and working his way up the ranks he was able to reach a lifelong goal and purchase Vengeance Charters. The captain is local and knows the gulf waters extremely well. A father of three, he loves having his wife and kids on board when he can. Captain Matthew’s story is below.
From Captain Matthew
My love of fishing started as a young boy fishing the banks of Choctawhatchee Bay. At the age of 11, I talked my parents into buying me my first boat, a 14 ft. John Boat. It didn’t have a trailer or motor, but that was okay, I had my boat. My friends and I built a trailer out of pine trees we had cut down and used old bike tires for wheels. It was about a mile to the boat ramp, so it wasn’t always easy getting there. I bet we must have paddled over 100 miles around Choctawhatchee Bay that summer. I knew then that I wanted to fish every day I was able.
Three years later, at the age of 14, I landed my first job as a Second Mate on a charter boat on the Destin Harbor. Over the next 6 years I worked my way up to First Mate and had earned my 100 Ton Masters Captain’s License. The summer I turned 20 something magical happened, I caught my first blue marlin. It was the most magnificent fish I had ever seen. At that very moment I wanted to spend every day I was on the water chasing these beautiful fish. I was able to get a job on a private yacht and spent the next five years traveling the world fishing for blue marlin. I was lucky enough to fish places such as Costa Rica, Mexico, The Bahamas, St. Thomas, and Bermuda to name a few. During this time, I met my wife and we had our first son. The traveling and chasing blue marlins took a distant second to spending time with my new family, so back to Destin I came.
Once I was back home, I began taking the skills I had learned on my journeys to these blue marlin hot spots and putting them to good use. I was able to accumulate over 1.5 million dollars in tournament winnings in the Gulf of Mexico. My biggest win was in 2009, breaking the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic record with a 716 pound Blue Marlin. I continue to compete to this day, using my skills and enjoying every minute of the chase for the big fish.
Fast forwarding to 2019, I continue to live the fisherman’s dream. I now have three beautiful children, two boys and one girl. I have the boat of my dreams and have the pleasure of spreading my love and passion of fishing, with not only my children but children and adults from all across the world. I smile every time I remember that summer as a young boy when my friends and I were pulling my boat over a mile, on a homemade trailer with our bikes to the water. I never could have imagined what I could accomplish from my love and passion for fishing. To this day I am still that young boy every time I am on the water. I am so blessed and thankful for what the sport of fishing has given me!!!
See you on the water,
Matthew Pearson, Fishing with a Vengeance on the boat of my dreams!