Stella Charters Light Tackle Guide 

My friend and I found Eric's charter via social media and decided to book a trip with my husband and four year old boy, driving down from Toronto. I had an initial chat with Eric after texting him and I found him responsive via both phone and text. I explained my party, situation and some of the interests and experience levels of my group and Eric was able to make recommendations for me. Payment and tips were online and very easy to manage. Eric and Ted were wonderful with fishers and shooting enthusiasts with different experience levels, knows good spots well and really was great with my son. We caught a lot of catfish which was seasonal during our trip and we got to try skeet products we haven't seen on the market where we live. They were also very safety oriented, which we appreciated. We had a great time shooting and fishing! Seeing our interest in the local history, Eric also gave us a bit of a tour to see the Francis Ascott Key Buoy, as well as local curiosities such as the bridge that was hit by the freight boat. Ted is quite a history buff. Eric was a great cook and we had great local food and sauces. Thank you, Eric and Ted, for a brilliant day!

Captain Eric is very knowledgable and helpful. He had us on fish right away, and showed us how to catch them. We caught our limit in the first half hour-hour, even after throwing back some that were too large or too small. Eric then gave us a tour of various spots on the bay, identifying birds and seeing local sites. We stopped here and there to learn additional fishing techniques, and ended up catching a bunch of nice sized perch in addition to our limit of rockfish. Eric's setup is just about perfect. There's a nice bathroom available in his garage before getting on the boat, a small bathroom on the boat (none of us needed to use it), and when we got back he filleted the fish at a well-kept station right on his dock and then bagged and vacuum sealed the filets. Great service all around.

We had an amazing experience with Stella Charters! I took my two boys out for a family fishing trip, and it was one of the highlights of our Summer trip to the US (we live in Singapore). Captain Eric was awesome...friendly, knowledgeable, and incredibly patient with my kids, making sure they were involved and having fun the entire time. He worked hard to keep us on fish, and we had great action throughout the trip. The boat was one of the best I've ever been on. It was perfectly clean, comfortable, and super high-tech, making it a great choice for families and maximizing our catch rate...never caught so many fish in my life and we hit our limit within 15 mins! What impressed us most was how much the Captain genuinely cared about giving us a memorable experience. If you're looking for a fun, family-friendly fishing charter with an experienced captain who knows where the fish are, I highly recommend Stella Charters. We can't wait to come back!

I could write a short story about this father/son duo, but I will try to keep it to key moments. First, booking was easy and communication was prompt before the trip. Originally myself, my boyfriend, and his 15 year old son had a 1PM reservation, but Eric reached out to me a ciuple of days before the trip to let me know the afternoon fishing hadn’t been as successful and suggested we did 7AM. Boy are we glad we did! We caught a fish pretty early on, and then just nibbles for a couple of hours. This gave us a chance to check out the bay and learn about some historical sights, see some floating lighouses, and just enjoy the ride! After the obviously well-connected Eric received a call from another captain, we changed locations again and that’s when the magic happened! It was the last leg of the trip and Eric was DETERMINED to get Beto his Father’s Day fish. Well, one turned into 3 within a short 10-20 minutes! Once we got back and off the boat, we were greeted by Navy (Eric and Drew’s adorable golden retriever) and gave butt scratches while Eric fileted and packed the fish for us. This friendly, knowledgeable, and entaining duo will have our business and recommendations for many years to come! Thanks guys! -Tara, Beto, and Eli

My great niece, who loves to fish, came in from Chicago, and we scheduled a trip with Eric. Due to extreme heat, Eric let us reschedule our 1pm trip to 6am. We easily caught fish...Eric's boat, equipment and knowledge were the key to our successful haul. He offered to go to another site for bottom fishing or stop for breakfast. Food won out and he took us to Hard Yacht Cafe. Upon getting back to his pier, he cleaned and packed our fish and we enjoyed meeting (needy) Navy, Eric's dog. We had a great trip - our niece loved it all!! We'll be back...thanks, Eric