I knew from the start I was dealing with a professional! Captain Mike reached out to find out just what we were looking for, yet knew when he needed to switch things up to best manage our expectations.
Our group arrived to the dock quite literally with nothing but smiles, because 1/2 way through the trip I realized that I’d even forgotten to grab the main components of my thoughtfully crafted lunch. 🤣
I promised Mike a family of full on smart-asses (which we normally are) however on that day, I ultimately delivered something quite different. What I brought was a 75 year old m-I-l who recently suffered a pretty serious stroke, a beloved 72 year old f-I-l who, although deaf - loves to ask question after question and even christened the boat with its first #2…A former collegiate athlete husband who still thinks after all these years he can excel at anything, yet ultimately only excelled at chumming the waters, getting barf all over the side of the boat - then holding down the bean bags the duration of the trip, (which Mike handled so well - that I didn’t even notice - I mean - I was too busy reeling fish in), a bratty 32 year old family friend who thought he was baiting shark - only to find he was reeling in those nasty ass sucker fish, a 19 year old who had struck out so much on this vacation - he was hopeless and thought there were no fish in the Atlantic, and myself - the mom who has never even held a pole. You know - a crews true DREAM CHARTER. 🤣
Captain Mike and Aiden did an excellent job communicating the potential challenges we faced with weather that day. They kept our safety as the number 1 priority - yet still mindfully ensured we had a fantastic time with them. The trip started with us making the 20 mile trek offshore, to set up for trolling. We all dreamed of a Mahi! After about an hour - Mike and Aiden realized we were not the family for that type of trip. They quickly pivoted, relocated us a bit and went straight to bottom fishing. No sooner than the first pole hit the water, my m-i-l reeled in 2 fish at once. One being a large trigger. She was tired and decided to bow out, leaving 4 of us to fish. When I tell you that the 4 of us kept Mike and Aiden busy, I’m not kidding. They worked their tails off. We were on a major honey hole, reeling in fish after fish. They were literally running and jumping over us, taking fish off, repairing line and rebating hooks. The 19 year old even got a couple of really nice battles and although one giant got away, we were able to get video evidence which we are thrilled to have! He was my main priority on this trip! Even this momma got to battle a little with what Mike claimed was a shark. He must’ve been eleventy feet long because he was strong. Unfortunately, even with Mike and Aiden all over it - even half hanging off the boat - the sucker outsmarted me and whipped around the trolling motor before Aiden could stop him. (I mean, we also practically had to straddle the passed out husband atop 2 bean bags.. Which is when I actually figured out he had tapped out…🤣) Sooo - that giant lives to fight another day.
After fishing at the honey hole a few hours, Mike and Aiden advised that the weather could get ominous so we were going to switch it up again and had inshore. Mike, I want you to know that I noticed our time was nearing the very end - but you stilllllll took us to that 3rd location and took the time to set things up for us. You could have easily taken us back but you wanted so badly to deliver again. While we didn’t have pole luck there - we were able to relax and watch a pod of dolphins frolic very near the boat. That was awesome.
When we arrived back, Mike and Aiden carefully cleaned, bagged and labeled our fish as we unloaded. I want to make sure I say this. 2 gentleman walked off their boat while we were unloading - proudly peacocking their 1-Mahi and 1-King catch for the day. Although we all made over their catch - we knew we had the better trip! We talked about it in the car. Captain Mike could tell for our first trip, and taking that chance this time of year - might not pay off for us. And we sure weren’t the patient type. We do appreciate everything you guys did! And now - momma and Jax have the bug and will be returning for that Mahi trip sometime soon!! Thank you Fishing Booker for the recommendation and THANK YOU Trigger Rich for everything! Sorry for what we gave you in return, but thanks for taking it all in stride and laughing it off! Unless you block us, you’ll see Jax and myself book again through Fishing Booker soon!!!
Stay Safe and save some big ones for us!!
Allison
