I am an 80 yr old female angler who had never fished the Gulf, inshore or off shore.  Having fished with my dad since childhood on lakes from shore and small boats, I love fishing.  Catching is fun but it’s fishing that stirs my heart.  Capt Mike is the perfect guide for those like me who come to Pensacola to explore a new fishing adventure.  When I arrived, a youngster and his grandpa were smiling their way up the modest boat ramp. He caught a flounder and reminded me of my childhood fishing trips with my dad; as well as our sons fishing with their grandpa at Lake of the Ozarks 25 years ago. 
Having booked a fly fishing trip on the Colorado three years ago, I learned that some fishing skills require a life time of learning….like fly fishing.  But I thought inshore deep sea fishing might be something more akin to my skills and booked a 3 hr trip with Capt Mike.  What a blessing.  The trip was filled with details about fishing in the bay and all the way out to Pickens Fort area.  At one point we stayed above a sunken sail boat where the water was so clear it was like a coy pond watching mango snapper and spade fish dart about.  I caught so many red fish my wrist was tired from cranking in the fiesty friends. My Pensacola sis and I were sharing the condo vacation and wanted fish tacos fresh caught.  I sent a picture of the culinary fun Capt Mike provided with my big Spade catch.  I wish all you visiting anglers can have Capt Mike at your helm.  It was a wonderful new fishing adventure and a reminder that if you’re not having fun, you’re doing something wrong.  Capt. Mike makes fit fun, easy and is a real blessing.
Sandy from Kansas
PS I tried to upload a picture of the fish taco’s for Capt Mike but alas my techo skills are not as good as my angler’s skills

The whole morning was so wonderful. The meeting up location was super easy and accessible. Mark was a pleasure from the moment we walked up to the dock! We enjoyed some great inshore fishing in the sound before heading to the bay. When they weren’t biting he set us up to go someplace else. He was super informative and helpful; not only in showing us how to use his gear and provided bait, but even helping us with our hiccups ;-) after a spell at the bay and a butt load of catches we moved on to the Gulf coast. Here we played Donkey Kong with the Dolphins lol… Seeing aho could get the fish first. He followed swimming schools of fish and the dolphins followed us. As a fisherman, these beauties can be aggravating but he made it so fun! We just kept reeling them in :-) My baby girl and I LOVED the dolphins they would come right up to the boat… We know they were just waiting on us to bring in their next easy breakfast but we didn’t let them win LOL. We came back with 7 fish, three different species. He even told us how to best prepare them. I can’t wait for dinner!
Thank you, Mark, for the most AWESOME ADVENTURE!!!

We did a 3 hour fishing charter w/ Captain Mike.
The fish were reluctant to come out at first but our 2nd spot yielded some good sized spade fish.
Our 3rd spot was the highlight of the trip. While fishing for blue fish we had to not only snag the fish but compete against the dolphins to land them. Half Tail made an appearance as well as about 6 other dolphins including a mother and her calf. Being so close to the dolphins was a real treat (we respected the rules and didn’t touch/harass them).
Would HIGHLY recommend this charter for smaller families who are on a budget but want to have a great experience.

This our first charter trip, we chose the blue angels 4 hour fishing trip. It’s the highlight of our trip. Cpt. Mike greated us as if old friends. Went over all the safety information and we headed out. Both my wife and I are novice fishers. He told us the what we would be fishing for and told us exactly how to catch them. Right out of the gate we had bites. Once we got to the area near the show, he told us where to look and the maneuvers they would preform. We had a visitor Halftail the dolphin showed up and stole the show for a bit. After the show we headed out around Ft. Pickens. The dolphins did steal a few fish, but it was all in fun. Once we cought a few fish we started fishing back in different spots along the way back. Again Cpt. Mike knew the spots and my wife landed a very nice 20.5in Spotted trout. He helped her get him in the boat took some pictruand put him on ice. Overall this has been an amazing experience and will definitely be back.

My family of 5 went with Captain Mike on a 4-hour family fishing/dolphin trip. Everyone in our family caught at least a couple of fish but most importantly we all had a great time. We did see dolphins a couple of times, and by the end they were even coming up to the boat and chasing our catches which my kids loved. We were able to keep a sea trout, quite a few spadefish and a couple bluefish. Captain Mike was patient with our kids (12-year-old boy, 9-year-old girl, 7-year-old boy) and answered every question they had…and trust me, they had a LOT of questions! I would highly recommend this trip to anyone with younger children and would even book again if we were in the area.