Let me establish some credibility (possibly)...My family and I have lived on the Texas Coast our whole lives.  My brother is a professional bay guide and my uncle is a professional Captain based out of Galveston TX.  We’ve fished in the bay and the gulf our entire lives.  Having said all of that…..We had one of the best family fishing trips EVER and it was all because of Captain Hall.  We’ve come to Destin every year for several years and I swear that we’ve found our guy.  He is a family man himself, very personable and extremely professional.  All of the other positive reviews were correct.  I spoke with Captain Hall before the trip and explained what we preferred to do (if possible) and he delivered!  The boat was great, the tackle was great and he knew where to go and how to fish for them.  It was obvious that he had a plan and he set out to exceed our expectations.  Of course, HE DID.  We didn’t stay too long or leave too early from fishing locations. He made a point to show the entire family all of the diverse sea life while we were changing spots, how to use the equipment properly and the history and current events of the area.  There were so many charters to choose from and since we weren’t from the area, we had no idea if we made the best choice.  There’s no doubt now. We are REALLY REALLY happy.  It’s the first time in a LONG TIME that we felt like with got a bargain. I know there is no way to truly guarantee you’re going to catch fish but, he’s about as close as you can get.  We’ve decided that on our future trips to Destin, we’re going to base all of our other activities around Captain Hall’s availability.  There’s no doubt other people can catch fish as well but, as a vacationer I now know that the whole trip won’t be a disappointment because we will get what we paid for…..I can’t say enough good things!  I think the key to the relationship and success of the trip may be to make sure that you talk to Captain Hall prior to the trip and discuss your expectations.  He will try to exceed them.  No doubt he loves his job.  Finally, we attached a lot of photos but they weren’t remotely all of them.  We had snapper, Bonito Tuna, Bull Sharks, Blue runner, cobia, amber jack….the family loved seeing the dolphins, sea turtles, remora, and other sea life….we fought all of the fish that we could physically handle that day…..make a reservation with Justin Hall on the “MAXIMUS”.  He’s the 1st charter that I’ve ever been on that was more concerned with our satisfaction more than the profit of the day.  He’s going to be around for a long time because of repeat business…....you won’t be disappointed

I researched online and came across Captain Justin Hall and his boat, the Maximus.  After reading all the reviews, he was hands down the best “on paper”.  So, I called and spoke with him and explained what I was looking for - that my family had experienced a very difficult year after losing my boys’ father and as their mom, I wanted them to experience a trip of a lifetime….something I had not been able to do in the past.  So, I was coming down with my two teenage sons and one of their friends, it was 3 teenage boys and myself in all.  I explained that I wanted the best bang for my buck and asked which “trip” he recommended for my boys to have the “ultimate” experience.  He was very professional on the phone and he immediately put me at ease in booking something of this “expense” blindly so to speak.  We got the date set and were good to go.

Upon arriving, he met us warmly and welcomed us aboard.  The boat was well equipped and he had all the gear loaded, rigged and ready to go.  He even provided cold drinks for us as needed, inclusive of the charter price.  Captain Justin is very personable and that immediately put this single mom at ease to know that we were in good hands. 

It was apparent early on that Captain Justin is very knowledgeable and knows how to put his customers on the fish.  There was not any “dead period” while fishing; it seemed like one or more of my boys were constantly battling and/or reeling something in ALWAYS! The smiles on the boys faces in the attached pictures (with the exception of Cody, who rarely ever smiles because he’s way too cool for that) says it all!  We caught our limit of Red Snapper, along with some Amberjack, Blue Runner, Sailfish and Shark which made for an adrenal pumping, fun day for everyone!

This was hands down the very best fishing trip I have EVER been on!  You could not ask for more, Captain Justin was attentive to everyone on board to ensure they had the best personal fishing experience!  He spent time with my youngest son so that big brother didn’t outdo him… it was great! 
We created many memories aboard his boat on July 10th that will last a lifetime!  We look forward to definitely doing it again very, very soon! 

Sincerely,
Wanda Carpenter - One Very Grateful Mom

I am not a fisherman but I did go with my husband and adult son and they loved it - especially my son.  What impressed the two that were fishing was the speed that we were able to get to the fishing location and how the entire trip was centered on fishing - no wasted time.  Capt. Jason and Rob spent all their time making sure that those fishing had a successful trip.  I believe that this crew would accommodate your desires (within reason) so let them know what you are interested in doing.  Both of them were very personable and professional.  We plan on returning for more fishing on the Maximus!

Booked a half day trip with Maximus through FishingBooker - great experience start to finish and would highly recommend Maximus. The guys are top notch, professional, fun, great with kids, and a class act. They know what they are doing, kept us on the fish the whole trip, had the best attitude the entire trip, love what they do, and it shows. We caught so much fish—could not keep all due to sizes and seasons, but had fun catching every one of them and still took home over 40 fish. Boat and gear are great, perfect for this area. Will call them again next time we are in town and look forward to a summer trip out to the rigs.

We did catch a shark which was cool but for 5 hours no fish to bring home- only 1 random keeper in the middle of snapper season. We kept getting sharked- decent time,  didn’t catch bait fish within 15 min as described in video, had to travel 1 hour to get to fish, disappointed we could not catch fish big enough to keep for the price. Bummed out- nice boat though.