Guide Spotlight: Mark Hotze of 30A Light Tackle Fishing

Florida snapper fishing guide

FLORIDA’S PANHANDLE is a fishing destination with a rich history going back generations, so the guides who call this place home have to be great at what they do if they want to compete with the best. Mark Hotze is one of those who has, in a short time, proven he has the skills to consistently catch fish. Add to this that he specializes in light tackle and it’s easy to see why Mark has become such a valuable contributor here at Florida Sport Fishing magazine.

NAME: Capt. Mark Hotze — 30A Light Tackle Fishing Charters

LOCATION: Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

SPECIALTY: Big fish on little rods — light tackle fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Light spinning rods, slow pitch jigging, pelagics on fly — the fun stuff.

Destin Florida fishing guide

BOAT SPECS: 2022 Everglades 243cc with 2nd Station. Yamaha 300 with Atlas jack plate, full Garmin network and Fusion Marine Audio, Minn Kota Terrova 112 GPS trolling motor, Power Pole.

AFFILIATIONS/SPONSORS: Shimano, Pelagic Gear, Everglades Boats, Legendary Marine, Half Hitch Tackle, G-Eye Jigs, Brinley Gold Shipwreck Rum, Meathead Charcoal, SORD Fishing Products, Star Rods

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? After graduating from Virginia Tech, I worked as a mechanical engineer for a government contractor for many (too many) years traveling around the world. I tried to do as much as I could on my days off. Skiing, biking, climbing mountains, fishing, everything, until they sent me to a small military base in the panhandle of Florida. Bad idea — I never left. My introductions to fishing came from jigging in Japan and catching striper with the light tackle guys on the Chesapeake Bay — that’s how I wanted to fish here. So, I bought a boat, went out jigging and somehow this happened.

Mark Hotze of 30A Light Tackle Fishing

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN GUIDING IN YOUR AREA? 30A Light Tackle Fishing Charters was formed in 2018.

CLAIM TO FAME: In 2020, I signed up to fish our big tournament, the Destin Fishing Rodeo. We won eight divisions and Destin Fishing Rodeo Captain of the Year for the Under 25’ division — on jigs and light tackle. In the last three years, we’ve won awards in over 20 divisions of species.

I co-host the Gulf Coast Boating and Fishing Seminar Series at Legendary Marine. The first Tuesday of every month, we host a seminar on how to catch different species of fish in the Gulf alongside one of the smartest fisherman on the Gulf, Tim Broom from Half Hitch Tackle in Destin.

Destin Fishing Rodeo

BOAT LOCATION: Trailered so the nerd in me can keep it shiny and working 100%.

SEASONALITY (WHAT DO YOU TARGET AND WHEN): The fishery in Destin is very unique and changes almost every few weeks. Summer has a mix of everything — big red snapper, mahi, king mackerel, huge tarpon, cobia, redfish, grouper, to name a few. Fall is even better with the addition of blackfin tuna, wahoo and amberjack. Cooler months we might have to stay in the bay for redfish, trout and sheepshead. Then spring comes back with pompano, the cobia migration and plenty of catch-and-release reef fish in close to the beaches! We have plenty of residential fish year-round — seasons dictate what we can keep but we can always find something to fight!

GENERAL AVAILABILITY: We fish year-round. We book spring break and summer (especially snapper season) pretty far in advance.

30A Light Tackle fishing