After I had introduced myself and handed the captain our cooler, I went back to gather the rest of our group. The captain went to get some bait. One or group hade dropped a $50 bill in the water, so I went back t the boat to get a net. When the captain realized I had been on the boat, he berated me for getting on the boat likening it to going into someone’s house uninvited. In addition, the insurance would not have covered me had something happened. In my opinion, since he knew I was one of his guests, I do not see how the house analogy works, and if the insurance would not have covered a paying guest, maybe shopping for another insurance company is in order. At that point, I had little option but to silently endure the unjustified (in my opinion) outburst or else jeopardize the outing for our group. He also berated others of our group for not being experienced in how to properly use the gear. I did not realize this charter was for experienced anglers only. Also, some of the gear did not appear to be ready to fish. One reel seemed to be frozen up and he complained about losing expensive lures when they may not have been lost to sharks if steel leaders were used. The good news is that we did catch some fish. Also, he was very accommodating to a handicapped member of our group who needed additional assistance disembarking and allowed us to swim for a time. When I tipped him (generously in my opinion as he had mentioned that he made more in tips than wages, and he did cater to the handicapped member of our crew), I mentioned that I did not appreciate how he handled the initial confrontation. He did not respond. Maybe a Dale Carnegie course is in order.

My husband and I did a 4 hour trip this morning,  previous to this our fishing experience was just some large lakes and ponds in NY, and a little salt water in florida.  We learned a lot, Kevin was patient and a really great teacher.  We ended up keeping a nice grouper and a snapper that he promptly cut into filets for us to take to a local restaurant for lunch per his recommendation. Start to finish the trip was great and exactly what we were hoping for. Can’t wait to come back and book a 6 hour trip, 100% recommend, this is the one to choose if you are searching!