Charter Operator
Ana Banana Fishing Company

Member since March 2015 Marathon, United States
Background
Captain Joel is on the water 300 days per year, and he loves every minute of it. This very experienced captain is a third-generation fishing captain in his family. He's a native of Florida and has traveled the world over for fish. He used to be a child psychologist for 20 years and focused on childhood grief issues and grief counseling. He's also a co-creator of two published kids' books. Captain Joel loves acquainting his guests with the most epic fish, which he believes are exactly where he is from – the Gulf of Mexico!
Techniques
Inshore: Target snook, tarpon, redfish, trout, snapper, cobia, flounder, jack, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel , black drum, tripletail, shark. Light tackle spinning reels using live bait out of our new 24ft Hanson tower boat with 200 Yamaha. Offshore: Target grouper, snapper, amberjack, kingfish, sailfish, blackfin tuna, barracuda, wahoo, permit, cobia. Trolling and/or dropping conventional tackle using live and dead bait in our 45ft Hatteras Sport Fisher with A/C, restroom, staterooms and wifi.

Hey, we're Ana Banana Fishing Company

Marathon, United States
Background
Captain Joel is on the water 300 days per year, and he loves every minute of it. This very experienced captain is a third-generation fishing captain in his family. He's a native of Florida and has traveled the world over for fish. He used to be a child psychologist for 20 years and focused on childhood grief issues and grief counseling. He's also a co-creator of two published kids' books. Captain Joel loves acquainting his guests with the most epic fish, which he believes are exactly where he is from – the Gulf of Mexico!
Techniques
Inshore: Target snook, tarpon, redfish, trout, snapper, cobia, flounder, jack, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel , black drum, tripletail, shark. Light tackle spinning reels using live bait out of our new 24ft Hanson tower boat with 200 Yamaha. Offshore: Target grouper, snapper, amberjack, kingfish, sailfish, blackfin tuna, barracuda, wahoo, permit, cobia. Trolling and/or dropping conventional tackle using live and dead bait in our 45ft Hatteras Sport Fisher with A/C, restroom, staterooms and wifi.

My Charter Listings

Excellent
4.8 / 5
(106 reviews)
Marathon
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $1,195
Excellent
4.8 / 5
(47 reviews)
Marathon
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $1,595
Excellent
4.7 / 5
(21 reviews)
Marathon
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $1,295
Excellent
4.8 / 5
(88 reviews)
Marathon
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $795
Excellent
5.0 / 5
(3 reviews)
Marathon
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $795
Excellent
5.0 / 5
(4 reviews)
Marathon
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $1,295

Fishing Reports

Captain Joel's Fishin' Holes
Captain Joel's Fishin' Holes
Feb 20, 2025 Marathon
Over the years I've written about fishing spots, fishing techniques, and how to target certain species. I've rarely written about specific Fishing products. Years ago, I wrote about Power Pole and how it was going to revolutionize the fishing industry. I bought my first Power Pole out of the inventors garage when he still had a patent pending on them. Everybody who fished inshore had to have a power pole, which, if you didn't know is a hydraulic arm on the stern of your boat that anchors you in shallow water electronically with the push of a button. Everybody wanted to buy one once they figured out that you could drift into a school of fish quietly push a button and stop your boat rather than anchoring traditionally which was loud physical and also not enviromentally friendly with traditional anchors destroying reefs and seagrass. Then everybody had to have two on their boat once they realized one would anchor you and the other would position your boat. Years before that, I wrote about a product called Bobs Machine Shop Jack Plate. Before Bobs Machine Shop jack plate all you could do was tilt your engine up and down with the push of a tilt and trim button now with Bobs Machine Shop jack plate you can jack your engine straight up and down allowing you to plane through much shallower water to get to your fishing spot. Up till now I think those two revolutionary fishing products are the only products that I've ever written about. Today I want to tell you about a new product that I think will change offshore/nearshore fishing forever. It's called the Bravo ACR LLC. Invented and patented by a local Marathon fisherman named Erick Bravo. ACR stands for Automatic Clip Return. Most offshore anglers use outriggers while trolling , kite/ballon fishing, drift fishing etc. The idea of having outriggers is keeping multiple baits separated and also keeping your baits out of your prop wash and being able to make tight turns and not tangling your baits on one another by deploying long arms port and starboard called outriggers. Allegedly the first modern outriggers were invented in Marathon Florida Keys by whom I'm not sure, however, here we are many years later, and the modern outrigger has just been reivented with ACR automatic clip return. As you know, fishing and especially offshore fishing is a game of inches and seconds. Inches and seconds matter a lot when presenting a Bait to a hungry game fish. Before ACR a captain in a Sportfisher for example would have to yell down to his First Mate, "hey Larry take the middle starboard outrigger and pull it down change your bait your ballyhoo is trashed!" Hey Larry put up your first port outrigger it's running too low." Hey Larry you have weeds on your port long bait! All day yelling at poor Larry, who has to bring multiple outriggers clips up and down all day by hand. With ACR the captain can sit in his captains chair, looking down at the cockpit and can control his entire set of outriggers with the push of a button on a little controller attached to a lanyard around his neck. No more yelling down to his First Mate to make outrigger adjustments. This not only allows the captain to have complete control of his outrigger system, but it allows the first mate to be doing other things such as rigging baits, cleaning the boat, catering to the clients etc, but most of all it saves inches and seconds. Not to mention people who fish alone or fish with novice anglers. Before ACR these captains with no First mates or experienced anglers would have to leave the wheel with the boat underway to adjust the outriggers while trolling which is not only dangerous but time consuming. This invention is the coolest invention since the electronic windless anchor or auto pilot steering. I know there will be a day in the near future when you will step on to a nice offshore boat and already know the release clips on his outrigger system is equipped with an automatic clip return. Any offshore boat that has outriggers operated manually instead of electronically will be considered prehistoric.. All of our offshore Ana Banana Boats are equips with the new Bravo ACR LLC outrigger system. On another note the fishing is great right now and will be getting better and better as we enter into springtime. For a charter with Ana Banana Fishing Company call Captain Joel Brandenburg at office **hidden content**cell **hidden content** or visit us in person at Ana Banana Marina 11699 Overseas Hwy Marathon or at our other location at Poncho's Fuel Dock 1280 Oceanview Av Marathon or visit us at www.marathonkeyfishingcharters.com Sent from my iPhone
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Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
4.8 / 5
out of 5 stars from 269 reviews
Boat
Excellent
4.7 / 5
Crew
Excellent
4.9 / 5
Experience
Excellent
4.8 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (278)
Great Experience
Epic Day with Ana Banana
Epic Day with Ana Banana
+275
Angler rating
226
17
7
2
2
Anglers claimed
Good experience
94%
Friendly captain
99%
Recommend this charter
90%
Appropriate for children
96%
Satisfied with the boat
94%
Caught fish
89%
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Showing:
5 of 269 reviews
EDWARD A.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Great Experience

VERIFIED   NEW  3/4 Day 6 Hours on July 1, 2025
This was my 10 year old sonโ€™s first real offshore trip. Captain Joel and mate Ian got us into a yellowtail feeding frenzy...
EDWARD A. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company - Nautic Star
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EDWARD A. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company - Nautic Star
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Benjamin G.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Epic Day with Ana Banana

VERIFIED   NEW  10 Hour Trip (AM) on June 18, 2025
My 15 yo son and I went on a 10 hr trip with Captain Joel and First Mate, Eric. They kept us on fish throughout the day. We...
Benjamin G. recommends Ana Banana Fishing โ€“ 40' Luhrs Express
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Stanley M.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Great Trip

VERIFIED   3/4 Day Trip on January 31, 2025
Captain Joel was the absolute best. We had one of the best days fishing with him and his first mate. He made the trip as fun...
Stanley M. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company โ€“ 30' Grady White
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You and 1 other person found this review helpful
Stanley M. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company โ€“ 30' Grady White
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1 person finds this review helpful
You and 1 other person found this review helpful

Mike C.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Snapper and Mackerel!

VERIFIED   Full Day 8 Hours on March 14, 2025
Jo Jo and Eddie were great! They worked hard and put us on fish! We caught lots of giant yellowtail snapper, king mackerel,...
Mike C. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company - Nautic Star
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Mike C. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company - Nautic Star
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Conrad G.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

A great time!

VERIFIED   3/4 Day 6 Hours on June 10, 2025
We had a great day with Captain Joel and team.ย  He tailored our charter for my three boys to put us in multiple spots with...
Conrad G. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company - Nautic Star
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Conrad G. recommends Ana Banana Fishing Company - Nautic Star
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