What would you recommend to anglers fishing in Key West, Florida for the first time?

Stay at Ocean’s Edge. Captain Russ has some promo code for a discount. Also, get a Key Lime Pie at Yellow Fin the night before to bring on the boat. For lunch, we grabbed sandwiches at the Cafe there at Ocean’s Edge to take onto the boat. No preplanning and made life very easy.

We caught a break with the weather and it was overcast and breezy. If it had been clear and sunny I think it would have been very hot. Plan for hot; the boat has water but I would bring plenty of liquids.

Unless you are an experienced saltwater angler, your entire experience is going to be determined by the knowledge, abilities and dedication of your captain and mate. We had three different charters with 3 different outfits. I literally knew nothing about fishing in Key West going in, but we got lucky and all three were excellent. Nothing but good things to say about all of them. I’ll have to say, though, Captain Maryann and 1st Mate Sean with Boa Vida were standouts among standouts! They tailored the fishing perfectly for my 9 year-old son and I both. We caught a really nice mix of rapid action, light tackle tablefare species, as well as some heavy gear species, including a massive Goliath Grouper, that my young son was able to land with their careful instruction and assistance. Thanks again, Boa Vida!

Same as anytime you charter a trip, listen to your captain and first mate. Be sure to do research to ensure your getting a captain that is experienced in catching and using the techniques the fish you wish you target.

Proper sunscreen, hats, proper shirts, and maybe a snack everything was awesome on our trip and be prepared to bring Fish home if you so choose like a cooler or something along those lines! Fillet knife won’t hurt either if you want to fillet your fish afterwards.

Bring sun protection and water! Make the most of your time! These guys are professionals, but they don't command the fish to bite so don't give up keep on fishing. I caught my black tip shark with literally 5-10 minutes left before we headed back in!!

It’s hot! Plan ahead with uv shirts or bring sunscreen. You can bring your own water or snacks but they have some for sale on the boat too at reasonable prices overall. Also, plan on tipping the crew - cash or Venmo. They earn it!

It's flats fishing, so it helps if you know how to cast well. There's no shade on the boat, so you need to be able to deal with the heat. But if you enjoy casting on the flats, it can't be beat. Beautiful water, plenty of fish (even on a slower day) and a great time with the Captain.

Fishing was great catching yellow tail was getting ready to hit the mangrove snapper and the ladies were sick , so had to head back in CPT Sam was great thought trip got short we had a great time and will be coming again without the ladies lol , thank you CPT Sam

We didn’t catch any fish until the final 30 minutes of what was a four-hour, half-day trip. We were told the previous day had been much more productive, which made our experience all the more disappointing. Unfortunately, the trip did not meet our expectations, and my significant other summed it up best afterward by saying, “I wish we had actually caught fish.”

Key West is a great place to fish using charters. What we learned is to bring a heavy duty insulated cooler with you big enough to carry frozen fish home with you. There is business on the island that will vacuum pack freeze and ship fish home for you. Fins Diver Center. Shipping yourself with Dry Ice is expensive through UPS or FedEX. We carried ours home on the plane, total time was 10 hours. Fish made it home frozen, using a Yeti softcooler

I would recommend fishing Key West with Charters from the North Roosevelt Charter Dock. I fished with others in the past and we had a much better experience with the charters from the businesses in this area for the same cost.

Make sure to clarify the fish or types of fishing you want to do. This has a big determination on the captain, boat and time on the water. If you fish the flats you will catch a lot of barracuda, so if that's not your fish of choice make sure to let the capt know your fishing goals for the catch. Also if you are really after one species of fish, get a capt. who states clearly that they target and specialize in catching that species.

If you're looking for deep sea fishing, this aint it. I mistakenly booked this charter. However, I love to fish, so gave it a try. It turned out to be a great trip. We had fun, the boat was clean, the guide (Sam) worked his butt off, and we caught a bucket of eaters. Firing up the grill right now. We were not disappointed!

Bring sunscreen and apply liberally. Bring a hat. Bring snacks for in between most boats wont provide. Bring hydrating packages to put in the water bottles they provide. Bring YOUR OWN freezer bags for your catch. They do the fillets but give you a shopping bag for all your catch. So if you want all your fish separated once, you will have to provide the bags

You will catch something with these guys, I promise that, I’ve been fishing for 33 of my 36 years of life and this was probably the best trip I’ve ever been on. 3 hrs is the perfect amount of time !

Definitely decide between offshore and near shore because the shallow water around the keys is definitely different than my other fishing experiences around the gulf. April has had some cold snaps so the sailfish and permit were not here yet. That was a little disappointing but nothing the captain can control.

Give multiple days to fish, weather is pretty rough most times I’ve fished the keys, or but able to handle rougher water. Both times I’ve fished the keys my fishing partners have gotten sick, and they’ve not had the best experience, But we’ve caught fish.

Check the size of the boat you rent by looking at the picture on the bottom of the page. I reserved the boat by the captain Todd Ermish, as we had gone out with him 2 years ago. When we got to the dock, he showed up but told us we were going out on a smaller open fisherman with basically no amenities. The Captain Aaron was a good guy but overall we were disappointed. And When Ermish responded to my evaluation of the trip, he was less than cordial. I won’t go out with him again.

March is a transition period and an angler has to be prepared to go with whatever the captain thinks is the most productive fishing. Captain Zane of Second Nature Charters was quick to seek out opportunities, and the result was productive fishing. Would highly recommend fishing with Second Nature Charters.

No lesson needed. Caption Tosh, she was the best teacher for beginners and the hole boat were on fish in no time. She cleaned and filllet the fish and was eating my catch prepaired by almost every popular restaurant down here. Great time!!

Let the captain explain the best fishing types you can choose from on any given day. They have the experience and it’s in their best interest to give you a great day. Make sure you have long sleeves, sun screen, hats and water. It can get pretty bright out there on the water.

Not much we could’ve done here. The issue was with an unprofessional and unfriendly Captain. I would suggest booking through referrals I guess and not rolling the dice on a booking here. That’s what we usually do but our plans changed and those options were unavailable.

Make sure u do your homework on the Captain of the boat before you go. We caught a good amount of fish including a medium size barracuda! Our experience could have been much better n shoulda been at a cost of 800 for 4 hours.

The fishing was great on a somewhat rough day. Capt. Eric and First Mate Tommy on My Ohana Fishing were spectacular. They put us on really good fish (Mutton Snapper, Yellowtail Snapper, Cero Mackerel, and Barracuda) all day and were the best of hosts! Strongly recommend this charter for a great day.

The November fishing trip was very windy but we were still able to catch fish. I have only experienced November and February in Key West so I'm not sure if the wind is normal in November but fish still bite!

It was the best experience on a charter boat I’ve ever had. The owner and first mate communicated the whole time with my friend and I the entire time we were on the boat. We caught lots of fish because of his knowledge and experience and mostly cause he cared. I would definitely use his charter boat and will on my next trip to Key west. Five stars all the way. Fantastic fishing trip!!!!!!

I would not book ahead of time. You need to go to the dock and talk to different charters and see what they are catching if anything at all and maybe choose something more budget friendly instead of dropping $1600 and catching one barracuda and then being blamed for only catching one fish.

Trust your captain! They know what’s around, what’s biting, and where to go. If you want a specific species and they say it’ll be a tough hunt and suggest something else, just go for the most likely action.

Be sure to look at monthly charts for fishing in a specific area so you are aware of what species is in season. It is advisable that anglers be in good medical condition/mobile as this trip can be physically demanding at times. Bring sunscreen, hats, light weight long sleeves, and anti-nausea remedies.