Key West Premier Fishing Charters
Member since June 2014
Key West, United States
- Background
- Key West Premier Fishing Charters are a family owned and operated business that was first founded in 1965 by Hans Baumgarten. His son and grandson carried on the family tradition and created the current incarnation of the company in 1995. Throughout the company's history, the boats and crew have won many fishing tournaments in the Keys and beyond, and captain Mark Baumgarten has never had a problem putting his guests on trophy fish.
Key West Premier Fishing Charters
- Background
- Key West Premier Fishing Charters are a family owned and operated business that was first founded in 1965 by Hans Baumgarten. His son and grandson carried on the family tradition and created the current incarnation of the company in 1995. Throughout the company's history, the boats and crew have won many fishing tournaments in the Keys and beyond, and captain Mark Baumgarten has never had a problem putting his guests on trophy fish.
Our Charter Listings
angler's choice
US$ 900
US$ 800
US$ 175
Customer Reviews
4.49 out of 5 stars from 117 reviews
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, July 21, 2018
Although the 6 of us did not see many fish that day we all agreed our captain and first mate did a great job by continuously trying to get us on the fish. Myself I caught this 30# Wahoo and a Mahi Mahi! Would do it all again with this crew!
Robert Durbano recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, July 31, 2018
This trip has to be by far the best one. Bucket list item. I’m so glad I got to do it. Mission accomplished! The captain and Taylor were awesome. I’ll always remember the cliche on Taylor’s shirt… ‘you only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough.’
Gerardo Escobedo recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, July 28, 2018
Tom and AJ gave us a great ride! Took four great Americans from the SWUFO group and had an awesome day. For us old guys I’d go again, they have electric deep rigs on every boat that makes deep fishing a pleasant experience compared to the wire out forearms from other charters I’ve done! Fish we these guys you can’t go wrong and they do it RIGHT!
Shawn Granger recommends Cowboy Charters - Irish CowboyFished July 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Friday, July 20, 2018
Sean was a great deck hand. Has experience in gulf from Texas side as well as knowledge of Keys fishing. Totally two different type fishing to me as I’ve been offshore from Galveston only. The experience we had was amazing. We will be back
Wade Conner recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, July 17, 2018
The captain and the deck hand were nice enough. The deck hand Sean was knowledgeable and seemed to really want to make trip enjoyable. While we understand some days are just no good, the captain should have switched things up after 4 hours as we requested some bottom fishing 2 days before trip with the lady at the dock and with the captain on the day of. Should have at least tried to accommodate customer request after paying 1200
Terry Williams does not recommend Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, July 7, 2018
My son and I had a great time . The crew was excellent ! They made sure that we were able to catch fish . The captain was very attentive to all our needs and the first mate was truly helpful during the entie trip. We will definitely come back.
Jacqueline Teodoro recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Trip was excellent. Had a great time. Very accommodating especially with the fact that I have an injuried knee and couldn’t walk. Assisted me out greatly and made it a blast.
Michael Eppard recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished June 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, June 5, 2018
This is the third time fishing Key West. Booked a half day fishing trip, as I did previously. It takes an hour or more to get out before any fishing is done. Then finally you get to put some lines in the water.
You wait your turn if the fish are biting. If not, you don’t even touch a rod! Bad spot, up lines lets move. Finally, a bite or two. Small snapper, tiny Mahi Mahi, all undersize.
Anyway, that’s just how it seems. An hour or more just to get to fish, then two or less hours of actually trying to fish and then a hour back.
Paid $350 for my kid and I and I didn’t even get a fish, for a two hour trip. Two hours fishing two hours just getting out there and back. Just not worth it.
I have fished many places, Key West just seems a waste of money.
Small fish, not many, seems overfished, not the captains or the boats’ fault, what can I say, there are no guarantees,
Hate to say it I will not fish Key West again.Victor Van Dyke does not recommend Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished June 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, June 2, 2018
We booked cowboy charters and got a call the night before that we would be going on a different boat called wild bill! The captain of wild bull called us to let us know. The cowboy charters did not inform or ask us if the change would be okay with us!
Beth Overman does not recommend Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished June 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, June 2, 2018
Brought my wife and childhood friend who had never been off shore. Captain Daniel and 1st Mate Josh gave us the fishing adventure of a lifetime. They are very knowledgeable and very down to earth. Captain Daniel put us on fish while trolling, drifting, and bottom fishing. I think that the best part of the trip (aside from the haul) was how excited they were to see us catch fish.
We started off getting some bait fish in a couple of different spots. As we were getting ready to head out, a big barracuda came in. Josh had me on it in one cast. A solid 5 footer that fought like a beast.
We started trolling and hooked up two Mahi Mahi at the same time. We went back and found them schooling. We caught nine before heading to a wreck that we drifted over. We caught two alamco jacks. The first was a beast that had me absolutely worn out. We finished with bottom fishing and hooked into mutton snapper. The smallest one was the largest I had ever caught. It was dwarfed by the other four. The first of which was the largest and actually swam into a hole in the reef. Josh was able to get it to come out of the hole using a technique that I will use if it ever happens to me again.
If there was a fault, the boat is a little older, but it worked just fine and we all had a ball.
I would recommend anyone to hook up with the Hawkins brothers, unless you don’t want to catch fish…
Allen Johns recommends Cowboy Charters - Irish CowboyFished June 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Monday, May 21, 2018
Had a great time with captain Mark we we saw 12 sail fish hooked Four and landed one very exciting. We also landed four bonitos. We were in 8-12 ft waves they were working hard for us. Thanks again.
John Pettigrew recommends Cowboy Charters - Irish CowboyFished May 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Friday, May 11, 2018
Absolutely the best charter ever! Highly recommend this professional crew who found and helped us catch many fish on our bucket list, and went the extra mile to give us a delightful day on the water. Cowboy/Cowgirl charters are a first rate outfit, the owners and crew are awesome folks who strive to please their customers. Many thanks to Mark, Michelle, Shawn and John for a trip we will never forget!
Jack Smith recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished May 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Captain Shawn recommended fishing a shipwreck for AMBERJACK and Black Grouper. We pulled in 2 25lb Jacks , 1 35lb Jack and a monster 50lb Jack. We ate some of those filets that night which were delicious. A good day of fishing.
Robert Creighton recommends Cowboy Charters - CowgirlFished May 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, April 28, 2018
I am an experienced offshore fisherman and I have been on many offshore charters. This is by far the worst experience I have every paid for and especially the worst fishing trip I have every paid for. All day offshore and not one bite and no fish.
We spent 4 hours going straight south and another 4 going straight north back to the marina dragging 3 Ballyhoo rigs that were improperly prepared. There was almost no wind but they only had 2 lines on the outriggers that were extended only halfway and I assume it was because there were no other reels on the boat.
There was no cut bait, live bait or any other lures available for any other fishing strategy. If we had accidentally hooked a Mahi, there were no casting rods, bate or chum to take advantage of that single hook up.Although I have never been on an offshore charter that caught no fish, that is not the basis of my complaint. These guys were incompetent, their equipment was lacking and incorrectly rigged and the boat blew smoke like it had holes in the pistons. The captain confirmed this when explained that we could only travel at 10 knots since “things start breaking” if he goes at a higher speed.
I was cheated and I made my decision to choose this charter largely due to the information on Fishing Booker. I know for a fact that the 4.7 start rating on 89 reviews is fraudulent. I spoke to the owner of the boat and learned that Cowboy Charters had only signed on with Fishing Booker a few days before I booked the trip.
David Byars does not recommend Cowboy Charters - Irish CowboyFished April 2018
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Replied to this review on Sunday, May 6, 2018
Hi
I am very sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your charter experience. We, at Cowboy Charters, strive for excellence in every trip, unfortunately fishing is not always a home run. it ‘s not as easy as most people think. There are many variables in play for every charter—weather, wind speed and direction, temperature, moon phase, location of the gulf stream, as well as many other variables that are outside of our control and everyday is different. I would love for every customer to catch a big sailfish, or mahi every charter out.There are going to be fishing days that are less successful than we would like. I spoke to several captains in the area who all stated that they similarly had a very difficult day that day, and most went back to the dock empty handed. I understand everyone would love to come back with a cooler full of fish as we would love that also. I hope that you have better luck the next time you go fishing.
Due to the winds we had to run the boat at a slow safe speed not only for the customers comfort but to make sure things don’t go wrong. We have all new international and fin-nor reels which are above what most charters have. the list of reels are 5 x30W Penn Internationals, 1 x 50 W International, 1 x 80W international 1x Van Stall spinner, 4 x offshore fin nora, 4 x small penn spinners, 4 bait casting rods that comes out to about 20 rods, thats not counting the 2 electric rod and reels we carry on boar I don’t think we could fit any more than that, not sure how many you would have wanted on your trip but i think that covers just about anything that could come across. We have been on fishing booker for several years or since its inception so yes the good and bad reviews are legitimate. We fish lines on both the outriggers, down riggers, and flat lines and if conditions allow some from the top. You mentioned you have never been on an offshore fishing trip so I would have to say you don’t understand how we work things. we run these rigs all year long and they work. You said you wanted Pelagic fish so that is what we went for. This was an unusual bad day of fishing. We gave extra time since the fishing was so tough. there are very few other charter services that will provide you with that. Pictured here is Johnny (a.k.a.no fish) with his catch the day before your trip. As you can see his rigs worked with the right conditions. Unfortunately our weather this year has been very unpredictable just as it has been all over. Fishing is all related to the weather. Thank you for your input and hope the rest of your trip was better than you fishing trip.
tight lines,
Cowboy Charters
VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Captain was lazy and rude. Yelled at first mate the whole time. Then yelled at us also. He did not give good instructions on what he wanted us to do. He put in just enough effort to get paid.
Craig Novak does not recommend Cowboy Charters - Irish CowboyFished April 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, April 14, 2018
Captain John and his Mate Alex worked hard to get us in good areas to catch fish. We had a good day of catching Mahi [email protected]
Richard Williams recommends Cowboy Charters - CowgirlFished April 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Friday, March 23, 2018
Me and five friends booked a 6 hr charter and enjoyed every minute of it. Ten fish were landed everybody got two with one being a 76” sailfish. I would highly recommend this boat and crew to anybody. They knew what they were doing.
Don Bex recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished March 2018
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Replied to this review on Sunday, March 25, 2018
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We are glad your fishing trip was successful. Hope to see you all again. Please send any photos to my email. [email protected]
VERIFIED Went fishing on Friday, March 2, 2018
Great captain - friendly and knowledgeable. Didn’t catch a lot of fish, but due to phenomenal weather and Florida’s Spring Break, every boat in Key West was out there.
Matt Childers recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished March 2018
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Friday, December 29, 2017
went 1/2 day on 12/29/17 and had a great experience with shawn (captain) & john (deck hand) . great fishing trip , caught two big amberjacks -brought fish home to ky and they were awesome to eat !!
Ronald Carroll recommends Cowboy Charters - CowgirlFished December 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Equipamentos otimos. Equipe ótima. Fiz uma pescaria dividida com outras pessoas. Infelizmente pegamos apenas 4 peixes. Mas pescaria é isso mesmo. Parabéns a equipe pelo profissionalismo.
Rafael Miron recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished November 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Totally awesome. We wanted to start out earlier than eight a.m. and BOOM…we agreed to a 6:30 a.m. start. We arrived at 6:35 and off we went. REALLY! They we’re ready to go…no waiting, no delays. Michelle (wife of Mark who is the owner and captain) is the nicest and very informative. She never made us feel it was all about the money, very easy transaction. Although there were never any guarantees to catch fish, there was a guarantee that Captain Mark and first hand John would do all they could to give us the best chances. These two are locals (conchs) and have been in the business for forever. Within 45 minutes I reeled in a large Black fin tuna which was between 15 & 20 lbs!! WOW what fun. The day was beautiful but a little windy. We got a number of hits from mackerel (we think) and we listened to the chatter on the radios which indicated others were not having luck. Just when Nick and I thought we were coming back with one Black fin tuna,. A huge hit occurred and OMG Nick landed a sailfish (about 70-75 lbs). BEAUTIFUL and injury free and set free at the boat. MARK and JOHN worked hard and it was all for our beneficial experience. We highly recommend COWBOY COWGIRL Charters in Key West. You will have the best charter experience because of the knowledge, expertice and “customer first” attitude of the entire team. THANK YOU MARK, MICHELLE AND JOHN and your Charter Boats!
Nick Ligori recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished November 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, November 4, 2017
Jerry was Taking good care of everything and Body. so every of our 6 People Had at least one nice catch. thx For that wonderful experiance. It was very n joyable on Board the weather was Fine and the Fish Hungry.
greetings stephan
Stephan Jüttner recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished November 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Thursday, October 12, 2017
Had a great day of fishing. Caught a hammerhead shark, mahi-mahi, barracuda, skipjack tuna, black fin tuna and yellow tail. Captain Tom and John are the best! They made our fishing experience fun and informative. Anybody coming to Key West to fish, highly recommend you call them.
Clayton Schell recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished October 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Sunday, August 6, 2017
Off shore conditions were rough for August and fishing reports were slow for everyone. We were able to snag a Barracuda and nearly landed a shark, but my wife and son became sick as seas picked up. Our crew desperately wanted all of us to be happy so we did some bottom fishing nearer to shore. My young son had a blast catching grunts, grooper, and yellowtail. The crew were so friendly and accommodating they even gave us extra time without us asking. We will definitely fish again with Capt Tom and Lucky.
Christopher Sloan recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished August 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, July 26, 2017
1st mate John was great. Showed us every thing we ask about and then some. Very well versed on all things we wanted to know about our charter. Let us know what to expect and when to expect it. Will ask for him on our next charter.
Ken Hibbitt recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Mate Jerry makes the trip. Even on a slow day he kept things going on the boat and put us into a couple good schools of Bonita and mahi. I’ll do another trip, but I’m gunna ask for whatever boat Jerry is working mate on.
Charles Nunn recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Great experience fishing on a trolling charter for the first time.The captain and mate made sure that we caught some fish and kept their eyes out for anything floating in the water and birds.We caught 3 Mahi Mahi and one of the other guys caught a tuna.
Wendy Gregory recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Monday, July 3, 2017
We did a shared charter and the other 4 people we went with were great. The crew was fantastic and as a boat we caught about 15 bonitas and 2 mackerels. Great experience. Would highly recommend
Susan Warren recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Saturday, July 1, 2017
We had an awesome time!! Josh worked like a fiend getting the lines out and setting us up and no one was more excited to hook a fish than he was. His enthusiasm was wonderful. And Sean was cool and collected but had the eye and magically spotted the fish. They were a great team and they love fishing which was evident. I was a bit hesitant when I saw the boats the day before, as they are older, but once I got on board it didn’t matter as the fish and salt and sunscreen were everywhere, so who cares! There was no a/c but the breeze and shade on the upper deck by the captain were more than enough. The only reason I would not recommend this for kids is it was too long a day for smaller children. But teens looking to fish would be fine. The owners, Mac and Michelle, were around before we left and when we got back and that was a nice touch too. I would recommend this company and especially this team of Sean and Josh again any day. They ROCKED it! Did I mention we caught a sailfish ???
Penny Paxton recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished July 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Great crew and great experience . My son landed a 25-30 ib mahi mahi and it was a great experience for him . Lasted at least 30 minutes . Michelle was great to deal with on setting this trip up and hope her new grandbaby fills her up with joy !!
Travis Sr. recommends Cowboy Charters - CowgirlFished June 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, June 7, 2017
We did not go on the trip. They delayed it due to weather. They then called and said they would be picking us up in 10 minutes. There was a crazy storm that we could see t the lightning on the ocean. We dod not feel safe fishing in the storm. They did not return our deposit. Very disappointing.
Denise Lott does not recommend Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished June 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, June 7, 2017
I was completely satisfied with this trip. The weather was a bit up and down but the Captian kept us South of the hard rain. Sean the Deckhand did an amazing job of keeping 5 of us pulling in fish and baiting the hooks. Thanks for a great fishing trip.
Tamara Migliozzi recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished June 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Thursday, May 11, 2017
Let’s start by saying that these two and Michelle were absolutely amazing. My morning started off with my car getting towed and fighting with the lot to get the car and my luggage. Not only did they provide me with space to keep what I had with me on the boat but Michelle offered to have the luggage dropped off at her house while we were off shore. The fishing started a little slow but Captain Mike and Lee are experts and doing what they do and had us on the fish and unfortunately I had to catch a plane otherwise I would of fished with these two for the rest of the week! Thank you for such an incredible first time experience and for getting me on the plane in time. I will be back again soon and will only book with these amazing people.
Joseph Presto recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished May 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Monday, May 8, 2017
John the mate did everything but make the fish bite. Worked his butt off. Tried a deep drop that the captain wasn’t real happy with. Getting bites, time to troll. Make sure you designate catching instead of chasing “trophy” fish. Good trip overall. No fish.
Glenn Thurmond recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished May 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Sunday, March 12, 2017
Tom and Ricky were excellent as Captain and Mate. They made the trip fun and were very helpful and shared their knowledge. We trolled for a while and didn’t catch a whole lot but then my son ended up reeling in a 300 lb. 9 foot hammerhead shark! That was so exciting for all of us! Didn’t get a picture of him out of the water because the line broke just as Ricky was pulling him up beside the boat. Bummer. We did end up bringing some fish home as well. The only complaint I would have were the broken chairs that made it difficult to reel in a big fish. My 18 yr old son kept sliding forward and had trouble staying in the chair. But Ricky and my older son both helped him. Overall it was an awesome day!
Nancy Irwin recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished March 2017
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Replied to this review on Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Awesome thank you for your feedback. If you don’t mind, we would appreciate if you shared your review on TripAdvisor snd yelp.
VERIFIED Went fishing on Monday, February 20, 2017
It was my second fishing trip in key west, this one was perfect.
A nice trip, professional captain and deck hand, very polite and nice to be around.To summon it up we had a great day and will surely use them again for our next fishing trip.
Peter Hedlund recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished February 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Bobby and Ricky were great! We had a blast and I’ll bet all 5 of us caught over 20+ fish a piece! We didn’t have to many photos because we were catching fish the entire time! We caught Snapper, Grouper, Trigger, Grunts, and various other types of fish. The fish tacos that night were awesome!
Robert Hawley recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished January 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Friday, January 6, 2017
Captain Bobby and mate Ricky got the full boat of six each several chances at fish, as a boat we ended up catching mostly Blacking Tuna with a few Bonita, and a King Mackerel. The material Ricky filleted the Blackfins at the dock.
James Prince recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished January 2017
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The weather was nearly perfect. The sea was very choppy. First mate Danny was very knowledgeable and entertaining. He stayed very busy making sure each of us had a chance to catch fish. While he was doing that our captain did an amazing job of maneuvering the boat. All in all it was a great trip.
Mike Walker recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished November 2016
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VERIFIED Went fishing on Wednesday, September 14, 2016
The morning started out very slow, no activity. We finally started catching Bonita about 2 hours into the 4 hour charter. It was my wife’s birthday and this was something she was looking forward to. She ended up catching the last fish of the day which was a 48 inch Wahoo and we’re having it mounted. She was so excited, so it turned out to be a great day in the end!
Russel Smoke recommends Cowboy Charters - CowboyFished September 2016
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