Jim “Chiefy” Mathie is a locally-known lobster slayer for more than 25 years and author of “Catching the Bug, The Comprehensive Guide to Catching the Florida Spiny Lobster.” Chiefy has been written about in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper and featured on the Paul and Young Ron Morning Radio Show for his expertise in lobster hunting. Jim was given his Chiefy nickname by his dive buddies while spear fishing off South Florida in 2004 after he encountered and survived a shark frenzy witnessed by his friends. Later that evening, for entertainment, they watched “Jaws.” During the movie, boat captain Robert Shaw, who later gets eaten by the Great White, nicknames Police Chief Roy Scheider Chiefy. It is Chiefy who ends up killing the shark. At the time, Jim was a fire chief, so a new Chiefy legend began. Retiring after 30 years of service, his newly-acquired 29-foot SeaVee was documented with the Chiefy name. All Chiefy crew members were given hats and additional attire. CHIEFY, LLC was formed and a complete line of CHIEFY apparel, equipment and publications are now available to the dive and marine industry. The web site chiefy.net was established to showcase numerous Chiefy adventures, keepingthe legend alive!
The upcoming lobster mini-season is Wednesday and Thursday of next week (July 27th & 28th) and my book explains how to catch spiny lobster. Catching the BUG is available at most local dive stores and retails for $19.95. It is my first attempt at writing and publishing with over 100 color pictures, 84 pages, 18 Chapters and 3 main sections (Find, Catch & Eat the Lobster). It’s also available at www.amazon.com and thru my web site www.chiefy.net.
