We booked Capt. Dave on On the Run Charters for a bachelor party trip, and Iโll say it straight: the man flat-out knows his stuff. From the second we got on the boat, I knew weโd be on fish โ and sure enough, we were.
Now, my crew made the classic mistake of getting banged up the night before. Bad move. Within 15 minutes of fishing, we already had 3 keeper fluke on a local wreck. Unfortunately, a couple guys couldnโt handle the seas and tapped out early. Capt. Dave went way out of his way and kindly ran them back in โ something he absolutely didnโt have to do. That ate up time and fuel, but even after that setback, he still made the rest of our trip count.
Even when the tide and temps werenโt perfect, Capt. Dave figured out a way to put us back on fish. Heโs got that dialed-in local knowledge you canโt fake. By the end of the trip, the three of us who stuck it out landed 3 keeper fluke and 3 solid sheepshead โ not bad considering the circumstances.
At first, Capt. Dave was quiet, but once he realized we werenโt total idiots (minus the hangover crew), he loosened up and showed us what a cool, down-to-earth guy he is. Same with his deckhand โ who worked non-stop setting lines, baiting hooks, and handling the anchor. Those guys worked hard and made sure we had a good trip.
We fished off his Parker 28โ center console โ plenty of room for our crew (even if we started with 5 and ended with 3). And Iโve got to mention โDoc,โ his salty hound. That dog had better sea legs than my friends, which we all cracked jokes about for the rest of the trip. Doc climbed the gunnels, walked the deck in swells, and stayed locked in the whole time. Absolute legend of a boat dog.
When we got back in, Capt. Dave and his mate filleted everything for us. We had plenty of meat to take home, plus we brought some over to the local restaurant Fish Tales, where they cooked it up for us right on the spot โ the perfect catch-clean-cook ending to a solid day.
Bottom line: donโt be like my crew and drink the night before, and definitely donโt waste the Captainโs time. But even with all our mistakes, Capt. Dave still delivered a great trip. 5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommend if youโre heading to Ocean City, Maryland.
We booked Capt. Dave on On the Run Charters for a bachelor party trip, and Iโll say it straight: the man flat-out knows his...