Captain

John Tenore

Experience: 29 years

Verifications

Email Address

Verified

Phone Number

XXX-XXX-X936

Captain
John Tenore

Member since June 2015 Destin, United States

Background: Captain John 'JT' Tenore was born and raised in North Carolina. JT was first introduced to fishing by his father and was fishing along the coastline at a very early age. In the 1980's, JT moved to Destin and started fishing the local piers. And the rest is history!
Techniques: Offshore, back bay, inshore gulf fishing; anything swimming around Destin is fair game.

Hey, I'm Captain John Tenore

Destin, United States

Background: Captain John 'JT' Tenore was born and raised in North Carolina. JT was first introduced to fishing by his father and was fishing along the coastline at a very early age. In the 1980's, JT moved to Destin and started fishing the local piers. And the rest is history!
Techniques: Offshore, back bay, inshore gulf fishing; anything swimming around Destin is fair game.

304

Reviews

Fishing Reports

My Charter Listing

Meet the Captain

Dawn Patrol Charters

4.9 / 5

(304 reviews)

4.9 / 5

(304 reviews)

Angler's choice

Destin • 22 ft • 5 persons

Instant Confirmation

Trips from US $500

Fishing Reports

Big tarpon cruising the beach!

Jul 1, 2025 Destin

This is the time of the year. you can hook into these huge silver kings, take advantage of fishing for these big game fish inshore it is not uncommon to catch bull reds closer to the beach. Also, this time of the year

BIG Trout

May 23, 2025 Destin

Live bait fishing for big speckle Trout on the grass flats and around docks. Like tackle action.

Fishing for bull reds!!

Apr 26, 2025 Destin

Fishing for bull reds around the bridges and beaches makes for a lot of fun most of the fish are too big to keep but make great pictures.

Red fish on fire!!

May 17, 2022 Destin

Lots of red fish cruising the beach right now ideal when the waters are calm the fish are in 2 to 8 ft of water all sight fishing most of the fish are 35 to 45 inches to big to keep but a lot of FUN to catch !!

Schools of tarpon rolling down the beach

Jul 2, 2018 Destin

We are seeing schools of taron every day this is a big game fish when hooked it becomes very acrobatic it is not on common to fight one of the's fish for over an hour or two especially if its over 100 lbs

Red snapper fishing on fire!!!

Jun 20, 2018 Destin

Red snapper fishing has been red hot since opening day and has not let up any. We have been catching a really good grade of snappers this year. The baits of choice are live cigs and herring.We also have been catching alot of black snappers and a few scamp grouper .We have been catching some really nice gag groupers . The mackerel fishing is on fire also and quite a few sharks in the mix too..

Customer reviews

Rating summary

4.9 / 5

out of 5 stars from 304 reviews

See details

Boat

4.9 / 5

Crew

4.9 / 5

Experience

4.9 / 5

Photos & videos by reviewers (685)

+682

Angler rating

5 stars		275
4 stars		20
3 stars		3
2 stars		2
1 star		0

Anglers claimed

Good experience
	95%
Friendly captain
	99%
Recommend this charter
	96%
Appropriate for children
	95%
Satisfied with the boat
	98%
Caught fish
	93%

Appropriate for children
	95%
Satisfied with the boat
	98%
Caught fish
	93%

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Showing:

5 of 304 reviews

Showing 1 - 5 of 304 reviews

Jessica O.

5.0 / 5

Experience:

5.0 / 5

Boat

5.0 / 5

Crew

5.0 / 5

Overall

JT was amazing

VERIFIED 4 Hour Trip AM (5MAX) on June 25, 2026

Jessica O.

5.0 / 5

Jun 25, 2026

4 Hour Trip AM (5MAX)

My family (dad,sister, fiance, and myself) had such amazing experience with JT! My dad has some very tough mobility issues and JT was so patient and caring when getting him in and out of the boat. JT also helped us when reeling in all those big fish! My dad caught the most and biggest fish on our trip! lol..it was like 27 inches long! JT was cheering us on and hopping all over that boat to make sure we weren’t missing an opportunity to catch a fish. We also saw dolphins! It was perfect! We would... More

My family (dad,sister, fiance, and myself) had such amazing experience with JT! My dad has some very tough mobility issues...

Jessica O. recommends Dawn Patrol Charters

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Logan D.

5.0 / 5

Experience:

5.0 / 5

Boat

5.0 / 5

Crew

5.0 / 5

Overall

May need a nap after this one!

VERIFIED Tarpon Fishing on June 10, 2026

Logan D.

5.0 / 5

Jun 10, 2026

Tarpon Fishing

May need a nap after this one!

VERIFIED

What a great time. We started the day catching bait on sabiki rigs. When the captain decided we had enough we headed out to look for tarpon schools and caught a bonus redfish along the way. Our first tarpon school produced a bite that led to an hour plus long fight before she broke off. Three schools and a couple non target bonus fish later we hooked up again and after an hour long battle we got our tarpon pictures and high fives. Hire this guy and dont forget your sunscreen.

What a great time. We started the day catching bait on sabiki rigs. When the captain decided we had enough we headed out to...

Logan D. recommends Dawn Patrol Charters

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John Tenore (The Captain)

Replied on June 20, 2026

Had a blast fishing with you guys, very successful trip. We’ve seen lots of tarpon managed to catch a big red fish bonitas, Spanish mackerel, and had another tarpon on it broke off, found some more. We hooked another one and managed to catch that one turned out to be an awesome day. great day of fishing. See you guys next time.

John Tenore (The Captain)

Replied on June 20, 2026

Had a blast fishing with you guys, very successful trip.
We’ve seen lots of tarpon managed to catch a big red fish bonitas, Spanish mackerel, and had another tarpon on it broke off, found some more. We hooked another one and managed to catch that one turned out to be an awesome day. great day of fishing. See you guys next time.

Captain replied

Sarah W.

5.0 / 5

Experience:

5.0 / 5

Boat

5.0 / 5

Crew

5.0 / 5

Overall

Great outing with JT

VERIFIED 2 Hour Trip – Kids/Beginners Fun on October 14, 2025

Sarah W.

5.0 / 5

Oct 14, 2025

2 Hour Trip – Kids/Beginners Fun

Great outing with JT

VERIFIED

We had a great fishing trip with JT. It was myself, my best friend, and my 6 year old son. It was his first time fishing and we started catching small bait fish right away that he was really excited about. After a bit we headed further out and started angling for the bigger stuff! I caught a grouper and a snapper. The trip was only a couple of hours which was perfect because that’s about the time my little boy lost interest! For the adults, it was both very relaxing and of course thrilling when... More

We had a great fishing trip with JT. It was myself, my best friend, and my 6 year old son. It was his first time fishing and...

Sarah W. recommends Dawn Patrol Charters

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John Tenore (The Captain)

Replied on October 15, 2025

A fun trip. With new friends. We had a lot of action a 2 hour hope to see you again soon. Thanks, captain j. T.

John Tenore (The Captain)

Replied on October 15, 2025

A fun trip.
With new friends.
We had a lot of action a 2 hour hope to see you again soon. Thanks, captain j. T.

Captain replied

Tracy S.

5.0 / 5

Experience:

5.0 / 5

Boat

5.0 / 5

Crew

5.0 / 5

Overall

Fishing the Gulf

VERIFIED 4 Hour Trip AM (5MAX) on March 16, 2026

Tracy S.

5.0 / 5

Mar 16, 2026

4 Hour Trip AM (5MAX)

Fishing the Gulf

VERIFIED

Hello! JT is a great Captain with tons of expirence! Went out on some rough waters and still caught a lot of fish! Caught grouper, red snapper, trigger fish, vermillion snapper, and many other species! JT ws great with our son who was terrified of the rough waves and vatered to his needs well! Would definately reccoment JT aka Dawn Patrol to anyone who wants to catch fish!! Thank you JT! The Swanson Family

Hello! JT is a great Captain with tons of expirence! Went out on some rough waters and still caught a lot of fish!...

Tracy S. recommends Dawn Patrol Charters

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1 person finds this review helpful

Nicolas K.

5.0 / 5

Experience:

5.0 / 5

Boat

5.0 / 5

Crew

5.0 / 5

Overall

Awesome Fishing Experience!

VERIFIED 3 Hour Trip - Kids Fun (5 MAX) on March 30, 2026

Nicolas K.

5.0 / 5

Mar 30, 2026

3 Hour Trip - Kids Fun (5 MAX)

Awesome Fishing Experience!

VERIFIED

Captain JT was great. Our two kids (6&8) loved it. It was all our first time on a fishing charter and it did not disappoint. We caught around 20 spanish mackerel and kept 10 of them. JT was kind enough too also take is to try and find some dolphins and we succeeded. Overall this experience was a BLAST! I would highly recommend captain JT for your next fishing charter experience.

Captain JT was great. Our two kids (6&8) loved it. It was all our first time on a fishing charter and it did not disappoint....

Nicolas K. recommends Dawn Patrol Charters

Mark review as helpful

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