My wife and I picked Bank and Bight Back Country charters because it had positive reviews and it was close to our hotel. Those great reviews were definitely accurate. Captain Jon-Paul put us on the fish and was an absolute pleasure to fish with. He moved around from spot to spot, targeting different species, which was so much fun! We both caught bonefish, which was a first, and we had a nice bag of Mangove snapper fillets for dinner. Couldn’t ask for a better day!

Jon- Paul took 2 of us out for 3 half days in a row. He is a very down to earth, nice guy with midwest roots. He is very knowledgeable about fishing in the area and is well in tune with the tides and how they are affecting the fishing areas. Uses first class, light tackle fishing equipment. Although it is a smaller boat, it was a very smooth ride and comfortable to fish from and allowed us to get in very shallow water for tarpon hunting. We jumped 10 tarpon in 3 days and had takes on another 10 more. Two tarpon we each fought for a minute. A short double header. A third, I fought for 5 minutes before he came unbuttoned. On the last day, I finally got a tarpon in the boat. Jon-Paul was just as pumped as I was. Seeing how excited he is about his clients’ success says a lot about him as a person and as a guide. The guide’s job is to put us on the fish and give us an opportunity and he definitely did that. We also caught a bonnet head shark and a small Goliath grouper and a large puffer fish. We caught many mangrove snapper and could have caught as many as we wanted, if we chose to focus on them. We did keep some for a dinner one night, and they were tasty. We spent time trolling for large barracuda. We spent time all three days trying for a bonefish. Going into this, I had not really thought that was a possibility and appreciated the effort for chasing a bonefish. With Jon-Paul directing my cast, I apparently cast my DOA shrimp on the head of a good sized bonefish and spooked him. I never saw it. He is very attentive and hard working and we moved often when he felt the window was closing and another might be opening. We tried a variety of tactics and pursued a variety of fish. We enjoyed listening to his experiences with the National Park Service when the fishing slowed. Overall, an extremely fun experience!

I can’t say enough good things about Captain Jon-Paul. He was so personable, knowledgeable, and informative. We went on a 4 hour, and wish we’d stayed all day. He put us where the fish were, the fish we wanted to hook into, Snook & Tarpon, just weren’t having it on our day. We watched the juvenile tarpon roll past our bait like they were blind. There was a good amount of Tarpon in the area, they just weren’t ready to come see us. We caught so many Mangrove Snapper, we gave half of the catch to Jon-Paul for he and his wife to enjoy. The photo of the snapper are just the ones we kept, had we kept all we caught the table would have bee covered.  His boat, tackle, and knowledge of the area are all on point, not to mention his dedication to the preservation of the fisheries that is the Everglades National Park. If you are looking to fish the back country, get up skinny in the everglades, and learn about the area, Captain Jon-Paul of Bank & Bight is a great choice.

I fished with Captain Jon-Paul on July 10 for my first saltwater fly fishing flats trip. Despite record water temps that pushed most fish off of the flats, Capt. Jon-Paul was able to get me multiple shots at Tarpon, Snook, and even a few bonefish. I hooked one of each, and even though I was not able to get any to the boat, I still had an amazing time and learned a lot. Capt. Jon Paul is very easy going, great to talk to, and very knowledgeable. I’m hoping to return in the near future for another trip and would definitely fish with Jon-Paul again!

Brad Logan