So much fun!  We felt welcomed and safe and caught 7 fish.  Two of the fish were Black Fin Tuna and TJ filleted them for us and recommended a lunch place to have them cooked.  Captain Chad carefully maneuvered his 43 ft boat to the “best places to find fish”.  TJ helped all of us reel in our fish.  The men shared loads of local knowledge with us and pointed out famous buildings and points of interest.  Hope everyone gets a chance to take the Old Hat boat trip.

My son is obsessed with fishing, and we’ve been on charters in Canada, Hawaii, Australia, etc. Yet, of them all, this was our best fishing adventure ever. We only had 4-hours, as we had to fly out later in the afternoon - but they packed it full of action!

It started well before the day. Booking was simple and easy. And the captain invited feedback on what we were looking for. My son was hoping to catch some tuna, so they tuned the experience accordingly.

We met Chad (our captain) and Ryan (our first-mate) in the morning and it was evident they had already been at it for a long time. Ryan made a great point from the start: Success starts on the dock. And this became very evident. The baits were tailored to catching tuna (and more!), as was the equipment, the route, etc.

And sure enough we caught tuna. One after the other, every few minutes. My son ended up reeling in 9 black fin tuna, one barracuda and a smaller fish. As we had reached our limit on tuna, our captain suggested trying something bigger.

So we took one of the black fin tuna we had caught and Ryan quickly and expertly prepared it for a bigger catch (and BTW - he never stopped moving: either fixing a line, making a quick adjustment here or there, guiding and coaching, etc.) We asked him what he had in mind, and he said (I thought jokingly): Maybe a shark.

Well, I wasn’t laughing for long. Within 10-15 min we had a massive bite on a swapped out heavy-duty pole. It was quickly evident we were dealing with a monster, that quickly ran out 550 yards and gave sudden violent head-shakes. Over the next hour we slowly, but steadily brought it in - and we had to take turns to relieve one another, as it was a brutal fight.

In the end, my 15 year old son had caught a 10-foot, 300-pount Great Hammerhead Shark! I was astonished! Never having expected anything of the sort! He was thrilled and elated for this once-in-a-lifetime catch!

And so, within 4 hours, my son had caught 9 decent-sized and beautiful blackfin tuna, 1 barracuda (2.5 foot long) and a 10-foot Great Hammerhead Shark! If i made this up, people wouldn’t believe me - but we have all the photos and videos and memories and are incredibly grateful and impressed with this fantastic experience. We’d recommend Old Hat Fishing to anyone. And even in the cab-ride back to the hotel, as we debriefed his mom on our experience, the driver was pressing us: Which company did you use? They sound like experts. And they were. Thank you Chad, Ryan and Old Hat Fishing!

Absolutely fantastic day out with Old Hat Fishing Charters! It was a windy morning, and Captain Chad was upfront with us from the start—he explained the conditions thoroughly and kindly gave us the option to reschedule, which we really appreciated. We decided to go ahead, and we’re so glad we did!

Despite the choppy seas, we had an incredible time and caught mahi mahi, king mackerel, and bonito. Captain Chad and TJ were brilliant—so knowledgeable, professional, and genuinely great company. We felt completely safe and well looked after the entire time.

Highly recommend Old Hat Fishing Charters to anyone looking for an exciting, well-run trip with a crew who really knows their stuff. We’ll definitely be back!

Booked a half day trip with the family and it turned out to be a trip we will never forget.  Chad and Nano were great with the kids! Such a great trip for the family.  My son was able to catch a Hammerhead Shark, which was a fish of a lifetime!  They did a great job coaching him during the process and made it a lot of fun! I did a lot of research prior to booking, and it paid off. These guys were great! Definitely would book another trip if we come back to Miami area.

The Dynamic Duo of Chad and Nano are fantastic! Professional, Punctual and Purposeful. All advanced communications were clear and specific which led us to the docking position, and allowed us to arrive prepared for whatever was to happen. They had ice available for our personal beverages, and had assisted with loading our coolers and with boarding the boat safely. 

Chad and Nano provided a great safety briefing that calmed the nerves of a few of my group (only 2 of us out of 5 in the group could swim lol). We launched at 8am on the dot, and were LITERALLY fishing in open waters at 8:11am, and caught our first catch at 8:37am! 🔥

Chad and Nano were super friendly and fun, and educated us about everything we could imagine which made the experience even more exciting and rewarding as we spent the full excursion FISHING! Thanks Gents we WILL BE BACK! 💯