Captain Michael Hartnett was so kind and patient with me and my two boys. We caught fish and were able to spend quality time with each other. Michael kept bait going for us and had a huge cooler for us to put our drinks/snacks in.
Everything we caught he educated us on. It was nice to be able to learn things as we fished.
As a woman you never know how it’s going to work out when you have to use the restroom, but he made me feel very comfortable and respected when explaining the process. A great example to my boys.

Captain Mike was a fantastic guide with immeasurable knowledge and experience.  We had our first fish in the cooler within 10 minutes and plenty for our dinner that evening.  He catered the trip to our needs.  Once the cooler was full, we were able to set our sights on some other species.  I will be reaching out to Captain Mike if I ever do a charter out of these waters again.  It was perfect for an adult Father/Son day.

What can I say, fishing in Florida in January can have its surprises for sure.  When booking this trip initially through Fishingbooker Mike was immediately responsive to the questions I had.  I was originally scheduled to go on a different charter but due to last minute issues I had to make a change.  When they say things happen for a reason this was def. the case. 

PreTrip:
Before the trip the weather was very hit or miss as it usually is in Florida between January - April.  However through good conversation back and forth with Mike we were able to stay set on Friday for our full day charter.  I was in Orlando to visit Disney but was able to get away for a full day of fishing along with my Cousin’s husband.  Throughout the week I was able to reach out to Mike for any questions I had and a potential game plan for the day.  Mike was incredibly helpful with what he needed from us prior the trip.

Day Of:
On the day of the trip we met Mike at the dock ready to rock and roll at 7:00am.  We got into the boat and headed out for some bait fish.  We were not able to locate any but Mike was prepared for that so we did not search long.  When heading to the first destination I lost my hat from the wind and Mike turned around and picked it up for me.  Once we arrived at our first spot we circled a reef a couple times but unfortunately no luck. From there we decided to go out another 10 miles to the reef line.  On the way out it was a little wet as there was a wind pretty much in our face but we toughed it out and got to the reef line.

Upon getting to the reef line we decided to do some bottom fishing on the reef as there was some good activity occurring.  We did this about a solid 2 hours and pulled up a ton of Grunt, a trigger, and vermillion.  While bottom fishing Mike noticed some commercial King Fish boats up ahead and asked if we’d like to give King Fish (trolling) a shot.  Upon starting immediately within 10 minutes we had two hits on Kings and brought them into the boat.  Mike than reset the lines (2) and about 15 minutes later another two hits.  This went on for a solid hour.  Once the King Fish action died down mostly due to dolphins showing up we switched back to some bottom fishing for the last hour or so until we headed back in.

Post Trip:
Upon getting back to the dock Mike filleted the fish we caught and wanted to keep (no extra charge) and we chatted a bit too.

Overall the trip was a great experience and everything you expect from a private charter.  Mike was super easy going and was great to chat about literally anything and everything.  With being an experienced fisher as well as the other guy in my party we were able to have a great day and Mike appreciated both our love for fishing and the other person in my party also being a boat owner. Mike also let me try some of his local shrimp he had and it was amazing! (Mike what type of Shrimp were they again??)

Overall if you are struggling to find a charter for the Orlando area have no doubts and book with Mike!  You will not regret it from an overall educational trip (learning about all boat gadgets) to his incredible knowledge of fishing in the area. There is no question, just book with Mike!

Hey Mike!  When we doing the Rooster tail Fishing trip!!

Capt. Mike has a tremendous amount of experience on fishing, boats, etc. He definitely knows how and where to fish. I would definitely book him again.