This was my first time sea fishing and first time fishing in over 30 years. I took my brother-in-law and 9 year old son, for his first fishing trip, with Captain Joe. My son was incredibly nervous before this trip and very cautious for the first hour of our six hour trip. Captain Joe and First Mate, Tyler, were very attentive to my son and went out of their way to ensure he had a great time. Sure enough, after he snagged a small shark; my son was hooked and it was game on from then on out. Captain Joe got us in the right locations and the three of us were catching Spanish Mackerel, Seabass, Grunt Fish, and Grouper (and a few sharks). Captain Joe and First Mate Tyler were great to hang out with and were a fun time. I really appreciated how they went out of their way to ease my son and essentially enable him to fall in love with the sport. Captain Joe’s boat and equipment were top notch. His boat was beautiful and spacious enough for all three of us. We really enjoyed ourselves and even got to see some 4’ sharks, Barricuda and Amberjack next to the boat. My son was talking about this fishing trip for the rest of the day and said it’s been the highlight of his vacation. We will definitely be back next year and look forward to booking an 8 hour trip next year. Highly recommend booking with Captain Joe!

Long review, and feel free to read on, but if not, just know that I absolutely recommend Capt Joe and Atlantic Sportfishing for a trip near Topsail, NC…  #takeakidfishing #makingmemories

Booked an 8-hour trip with Capt Joe and we had an absolute blast.  Me, two of my boys (15yo and 8yo) and my dad teamed up and we caught them all day long.  Spent a little time trolling, then moved to the bottom bite to keep the kiddo’s busy.  We then pretty much caught fish all day long and we were fortunate enough to also be around some hungry amberjack and king’s.  Both of my boys had the thrill of landing a couple sizeable ambers on light tackle, and then I had the incredible opportunity to boat a ‘smoker’ of a king mackeral.  We even got it weighed and certified as a citation.  My dad landed a small shark to go with everything else, and I’d say we caught probably 10 different species throughout the day.  Seriously one of the best trips I’ve ever paid for and well worth the $$$‘s.  Capt. Joe rocked it all day, doing all he could to put us on fish, keeping us entertained and engaged.  His mate, Tyler, rocked it all day too.  Keeping bait on hooks, helping us unhook fish, and his positive youthful attitude was a joy to have on the boat.  He’s a great kid (also 15yo) which was really cool for my boys in that he worked hard, but was also very relatable with regard to the conversations of the day.  Finally, that Contender is straight TOP SHELF.  If you know anything about boats, you know that Contender’s are the absolute shizzle of saltwater fishing boats.  One day…one day…maybe I’ll have my own.  Until then, I’ll just rebook with Capt Joe.

Booked a half day trip with Captain Joe and Tyler. Both were great to work with and made the experience awesome!

We caught shark, flounder, grouper, king mackerel, and more. Kept some mackerel and a grouper to have filleted and grilled it for dinner that same evening. 

We look forward to another trip to Topsail and booking a whole day trip.

Trip was moved back one day due to weather which was a great call by the captain! Boat was very clean and had accommodations for everyone on the boat.Highly recommended this charter.