Overall had a blast, Justin put us on some very good fish. He seemed very knowledgeable and was very good company.  Made sure we always had bait on a hook and where having a good time.  Would definitely be interested in going again.

Pros: Justin was mindful of the marine safety conditions and renegotiated our fishing day to one without a predicted thunderstorm. His boat (24’) was heavy (4000 #) so when the Gulf swells started to get larger, we were still safe and could navigate our way back to shore from 4 miles out. His boat has an “e-perv”(?) which he explained is an emergency beacon. He provided a brief orientation of where to find the life jackets at the start of the trip. Cut up squid was his bait of choice although he netted a few small fin fish before we left shore to use as live bait when we were in deeper water. He kept two of our “beginner” fishermen’s poles baited, but he would have been hard-pressed to keep up with 3 or 4 who needed help. Fortunately,  my husband could bait his own hooks. Two kind that we caught a lot of were out of season, and he knew to tell us to throw them back. Once something keepable was caught, Justin was good at coaching how to wind it close enough to let him gaff it and bring it into the boat. He was quick in cleaning the fish and gave us pointers in how to prepare each type of fish that was caught.
Cons: The boat, while clean, is older. The front seat back is tied on with ropes, and it was a little difficult to be comfortable sitting while fishing. We had a difficult time understanding Justin’s speech- he has a STRONG fast Southern drawl. If I asked him to talk slower, we could understand him. As mentioned earlier,  if you have a larger beginner group who needs Justin to bait all hooks and take off your fish, he’s only one guy and he has trouble keeping up. I’d recommend Justin to use if you could bait your own poles. He’s happy to teach you how to do it.
Note: (Not a pro or con- it just is what it is) I am severely allergic to shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab) and mollusks (squid, oysters, scallops). If you are, make sure you bring an Epi pen, just in case. You can be miles out, and help won’t get there right away, even with the ship to shore radio. Also, bring nitrile or latex gloves because you should assume the shellfish proteins are on the handles of the poles and on the sides of the boat from hook baiting. Instead, I chose to be the official photographer and stayed out of the way in the bow of the boat to avoid contamination.
Overall: One of out fisherman caught the 3 keeper fish- a king mackerel and two vermillion snappers. The other 2 fishermen caught 10-20 trigger fish each but these were out of season, so they were disappointed. Overall, we’d give this trip a 3.5 stars.

Money well spent. Not to mention cheaper than all the others!!! Captain Justin gave us more than just a “fishing experience.” He is very knowledgeable and it’s very obvious that he enjoys the work he does.

I booked this trip for myself and my three sons, aged 16, 14, and 8. We had an absolute blast. Caught quite a few fish. On top of that we same a huuuuge sea turtle surface several times close to the boat, 6-8 dolphins playing in our wake, and a couple of stingrays. My kids said it was their favorite part of the entire vacation. Would highly recommend.