Was an awesome 1st time experience for all of us

In general, we liked the fishing and did get to reel in quite a few fish, plus got to be on the ocean for 10 hours.  However, the rest of the trip was not very enjoyable at all.

This Captain should retire and keep himself and his customers safe.  There was nothing on fishingbooker to tell you about the excursion.  A 10-hour reservation (longest available) should take you to the Gulf Stream, or so we thought.  Not so.  And it isn’t stated on their site what the itinerary is for the charter.  We did end up going about 30 miles offshore in about 90’ depth.  We basically did all bottom fishing in about 10 different locations.  We did some trolling for Spanish Mackerel on the way back in but only caught 1 mackerel and it was deemed by the Captain to be too small so he threw it back in after it had been out of the water for about 5 minutes….it likely did not survive.

Communications - 1/10 score.  No communication from Captain until 3 days until the trip and no instructions, planning, or limitations discussed….only that we aren’t going to the gulf stream.  Would not return texts, voicemail, or phone calls, or fishingbooker messages for 30+ days that I was trying to contact him.

Safety - 1/10 - No safety briefing, No discussion of emergency situations.  Didn’t even point out where life vests, first-aid kits, fire extinguishers were located.  He dropped a reel on my son’s face while the mate was piloting the boat.  It caused it to bleed for a good 2 hours+.  Not a major injury, but not something very enjoyable. The Captain didn’t apologize and didn’t bring a first aid kit until 30+ minutes later….by then we were applying ice and towel and had our own first aid kit out.

Equipment - 3/10 - No instructions on how to use the head.  Engine stopped on the return trip due to fuel contamination issues.  One of our charter had to re-pipe the fuel line to get us back in.  45 minutes wasted.  The fishing gear was in decent shape but my reel had a defective brake and it actually came off during the first hour of fishing.  They did not set up the tackle until we were bouncing on the way out to fishing sites.  Had to use my pliers to get sharks off the hooks since their dehook tool was broken.

Comfort / Hospitality - 1/10 - No water cooler, drinks, or snacks provided.  He limited us to 1 cooler on board for 6 adults for a 10-hour trip.  Caused dehydration and hunger for most of us.

Fishing - 4/10.  We caught plenty of smaller fish, about 1/2 of which we could keep.  We all caught at least 1 shark.  We also caught small seabass, sheepshead, small grouper.  The largest fish caught were red snapper which we could not keep. 

Decorum - 1/10.  No greeting / opening meeting to discuss the planned trip.  No excitement or enthusiasm.  No planned lunch break.  Very poor communications while on the boat too. 

Very Noisy - If you sit in the bow you get soaked with salt spray.  If you sit in the stern you had to hear super loud engine.  During our repair operations the engine covers were removed.  There was no soundproofing at all.  The noise was almost intolerable.  Definitely should have provided us with ear plugs, or told us to bring some.

Other:  The Captain needed assistance in hoisting the anchor and straightening the anchor line which was tangled and not ready for use.  The mate was very green.  He was as helpful as he could be with baiting, etc. but most of us were baiting and unhooking our own fish.  There were no metal leaders used, just nylon fishing line.  Even if something really big had hit, they were not going to stay on the line. 

Lastly, even though they supposedly take cash, visa, mc, Amer. Express….when we got there at 6:30 AM the captain said he would only take cash….no previous mention of that, so we had to scramble to get cash together.

Overall, avoid this charter.  If you go out, definitely not worth paying the 10-hour fee.  A shorter charter with a different captain is recommended.