As spring draws closer, anglers from all over the globe are getting ready to dust off their fishing rods. But as these captains’ stories will show, you don’t need to wait until March or April to have an awesome time on the water. With monster catches and unforgettable family outings, we’re giving props to some of the captains who’ve had the most success over the past month.
You want it? You got it!
Our first story comes from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and boy, is it a good one. It all starts with Christopher going out and catching Snook, Mahi Mahi, and Barracuda. For most anglers, getting these three fish onboard is more than enough to write home about. But when you’ve got a captain like Carlos, you can feel confident about asking to catch something even more special!
Christopher wanted the chance to hook a Tarpon, and Carlos wasn’t about to disappoint him. In fact, he put Christopher on two Silver Kings at once! He ended up landing one, making the outing a huge success.
As Christopher pointed out: “He’s bilingual and very knowledgeable and willing to explain why it is we’re fishing a certain location with specific bait.” With a first outing as awesome as that, it’s no wonder that the tandem went out for an extra day.
A Bucket Full of Memories
When someone takes the whole family fishing, it’s not always certain that everyone will have a blast. But when the tally says eight different species of fish, you can bet that there was enough to test everyone’s line! Just ask Captain Jeremy of Fish Slapped Charters in Florida.
The best part is that you don’t need to sprint to your fishing holes to make this happen. Focusing on the experience can actually make a bigger difference to how the customers feel when it’s all said and done.
As Jeremy’s customer, Wendy, pointed out: “While other boats were speeding around, he was calm and calculated teaching us about the environment, our surroundings, different techniques, pointing out dolphins and Manatees.”
A Pro’s Pro
Who says fishing guides never fish for fun? Taking out a pro might seem like a challenge, but it can actually turn out to be one of the most rewarding guiding experiences you’ll have.
And when you get a booking from a former fishing guide with loads of experience and just as many fishing stories to share, you get to have as much fun as they do.
This is how Pete described his trip in Big Pine Key: “I was a guide for many years and can tell you that Captain Mark is an expert. He’s an excellent host and paid close attention to what I was looking for, and tailored the experience perfectly to what I was hoping for. His communication was excellent prior to the trip. The entire experience was really cool.”
It takes just one look at Captain Mark’s reply to see that the pleasure was mutual.
The Right Instincts
Running a fishing charter is a fluid business, and no two trips are the same. Unexpected challenges can always happen, but that doesn’t stop captains like Captain Alan out of Captiva, FL from providing their customers with a great time.
Just recently, the weather conditions looked like they were going to spoil Alan’s backcountry fishing trip with Scott. But, with his flexibility and experience, Alan turned what was looking like a foggy and cold backcountry outing into an action-packed inshore trip.
The two agreed to change the type of trip, and the rest was history. As Scott said: “We caught over nine species that day including Red and Gag Grouper, Mangrove, and Lane Snapper.”
Not bad for a Plan B!
The Whole Shabang
When someone steps on a deep sea fishing boat for the first time, you really can’t predict how they will react. What you can do is do your best to show them a good time. But do that on a consistent basis, and every once in a while, the stars will align to give your first-timers an experience of a lifetime.
Captain Manuel of Black Marlin Sportfishing knows what we’re talking about.
As his customer Jason wrote: “And on top of catching a bunch of beautiful fish, we got to see whales and some unexpected guests (a seal and a pelican) who joined our trip at the end by jumping/landing on the platform at the back of the boat ready for leftover bait snacks! It was awesome!”
They say a picture says a thousand words, so we’ll just leave it at this.
The Best is Yet to Come
We want to say a huge thank you to the captains who’ve made this month’s Captain Spotlight – it’s a pleasure doing business with you! With a number of bucket-list experiences already in the books, we can’t wait to see what the upcoming months have in store.
And now, we turn it over to you. How did you like last month’s stories? Do you have any recent fishing stories you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!
