Jacksonville
Instant Confirmation
Trips from
US $500
Captain
Dave Sipler
Džeksonvil, Sjedinjene Države
1 recenzije
Captain Dave Sipler has been a full-time captain/guide, since 1996. He has been fishing since he was only five years old, since he could hold a rod. Even though he comes from a family of fishermen, with a grandfather who was a die-hard angler, Captain Dave is a first generation captain, mostly self-taught. He specializes in organizing kid-friendly and safe fishing trips, as well as putting his clients on top of trophy Speckled Seatrout, Sheepshead, Black Drum, and giant Redfish.
Charter
Rating
5.0
1 review
5.0
Boat & Equipment
5.0
Captain & Crew
5.0
Fishing Experience
Anglers' gallery (9)
All reviews (1)
Showing 1 – 1 of 1 review
Alex GorhamRepeat angler5.0VerifiedNEWBorba za pronalazak velikih crvenih!
1 person, fishing the Tide • 2 adultsKapetan Dave je bio odličan. Hteli smo da pronađemo neke velike crvene (redfish), i Dave nas je držao na vodi i tražio dok nismo naišli na pravo mesto na kraju dana! Šta god da je za vas savršen izlet, Kapetan Dave će učiniti sve što može da se pobrinete da to i doživite!
Translated by AI:Reported catch:
Response from Captainsad znaš koliko su važne plime i oseke (faze meseca) ovde u severoistoočnoj Floridi.👍 zaboravio si nekoliko......
Šta se peca sa 2 FOR FISHING THE TIDE u Jacksonville
U oktobru, dve reči su na usnama svakog ribolovca u Džeksonvilu: Bull Redfish. Veliki Redfish se mreste u plićacima - pazite na njihove tačkaste repove dok veslate ili gazite prema njima i vežbajte zabacivanje.
Top catches for oktobar
Fishing reports
Why do private charters cost so much.
okt 17, 2026 • Džeksonvil
Searching for a private fishing charter and wondering why the prices look so high? After 30 years as a full-time fishing guide on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, I’ll give you the honest answer.
You want to go fishing, but you have no boat, no tackle, and no local knowledge
You’re looking to go fishing. You have no local knowledge, no boat, no tackle, but you have the time.
The first thing you may do is grab your smartphone as you sit at Grandma’s house, bored stiff, on a family holiday visit. Or you have a weekend layover on a work trip in a town you know has saltwater fishing opportunities. Something you’ve never done before. You’re from middle Indiana, corn country. All you know is pond bass.
On your smartphone, right on top of your search for “fishing in Jacksonville,” you find Google Ads running. The internet is 100% ''pay to play'', if you didn't know. IT'S NOT LIKE WHEN I STARTED CHARTERING, ANY LONGER!!!
You go to that website. There are 150 charter boats listed. Or, because you’re a tech-savvy 26-year-old, you ask your phone’s AI: “I need a fishing guide on Saturday. Find me one.”
Why do private fishing charters cost so much?
I’ll bluntly answer the title of this blog straight away. “Why do private fishing charters, guides, charter boats, whatever you want to call them, C-O-S-T so much?”
Booking websites take 10% to 30% off the top! EVERYTHING IS PAY TO PLAY.
That search you just made costs!!
If you found that Google website ad on top of the page with 150 charter boats, it’s just a booking agent: web people, desk jockeys who are running a business of “lists.” They are not locals, and they charge anywhere from 10% to 30% off the top to reserve this fishing boat and guide for you. It’s all about Y-O-U. Making it easy. Just click here, click there. Add a credit card and you’re going fishing Saturday at 7 a.m.!
Same goes for if you ask your Google Gemini AI, your iPhone’s Siri, whatever…
It’s costing big $$$, either way, to that fishing guide or charter boat. I know that a “guy with a boat, some fishing tackle, etc.” is not a real business in some people’s minds (usually women, who know zero about fishing).
I can tell very easily, because they want to go on the cheap, they want the fish to jump in the boat, and because you’re a single-proprietor business, they want to haggle over price. Something they don’t do at Walmart or the gas station.
Booking sites end the haggling, but also the personal service
Yes, I remember when I’d actually talk to people on the phone and have a conversation about their possible fishing charter day.
In 2026, that’s becoming rarer and rarer. My over 50-60 yr old customers don't act that way. But the young ones do.
As a 30-year full-time fishing guide, captain, and charter boat operator, that’s the only thing that’s good about those booking agent websites: there’s no haggling or asking for military discounts! But then again, they are 100% the ruination of small businesses, driving prices higher and turning what used to be a “personalized service” into something just like getting an Uber driver to show up at your doorstep.
The real cost of running a fishing charter?
I haven’t even covered the cost of that fishing guide or charter boat’s time, tackle, bait, insurance, licensing, and fuel, travel.
I equate going on a private fishing charter to playing 18 holes at a private golf course. You have no clubs, no caddy, no golf cart. You may be a die-hard golfer, probably not, but you love it. I see absolutely no difference. Some people can afford to go golfing every week; some may go once a year. All the while, it doesn’t get any cheaper keeping that course maintained and open.
Private vs. shared fishing charters: you’re paying for what you get
You may only go to non-public courses, for many reasons. CHEAP BUT CROWDED! It’s the same reason you may want a private fishing charter: you, your wife, and the fishing guide, the only three people on the boat. Versus a non-private charter, which only departs with “X” number of people on the boat to make it worth going. Is there a cost difference? Heck yeah. Just like that private golf course, you’re paying for what you get.
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BEST, for humans and fish alike.
sep 26, 2026 • Džeksonvil
Very Soon, We’ll Be “Cool”
It’s 9/23/2026 right now, and here in Jacksonville, Florida, it’s not as bad as it was a month ago. We’re finally feeling cooler air temps. Just two days ago I was up a creek in shallow water, catching one Flounder after another, plus some Seatrout and Redfish, casting a double-rig of soft plastics on jigheads. The water temp was down 6 degrees from just 10 days earlier.
No, it’s not really the air temp that controls the water temps. It’s the Atlantic Ocean. As we move into the fall season, ocean currents change, and the local coastal water temps change with them. There’s also the length of the days. “Length of days, it’s all about the length of days, Dave.” That’s what my ole “sea daddy,” Capt. Randall Dyal, used to preach to me.
Sea daddy: a fishing mentor, the kind of guy who probably forgot more than most people will ever know.
Capt. Randall was a lifelong commercial fisherman and a successful “great white hunter.” He traveled North America in search of trophy whitetail deer and wild turkey, and he passed on to me the knowledge he gained. That quote was part of it. Capt. Randall is gone now, but I can still pull up on a certain spot in the St. Johns River and hear him say, “Look for that break in the bottom, and only fish it 2 hours after low tide at the Inlet.”
I Have My Own Sayings Too
“When booking a fishing charter starting Oct. 1st, always have a back-up date too.”
During the heat of summer, there can be 7 days between weather fronts. We barely notice them, because every day is basically the same: hot, hot, hot, with someone in the county getting a late-afternoon thunderstorm between 1 and 6pm that’s so wicked you want nothing to do with it out on the water.
All that starts to change around October. The days between “fronts” get closer and closer, and those weather changes can bring big winds, a fisherman’s nemesis! Say you picked a great tide day but the wind is blowing 25 knots. It’s gonna be one tough, long day on the water.
Starting October 1, Tides Matter
“Some tides are better than others, especially during the fall season.”
Not all tides are created equal. That’s why my rate is one flat rate for the day for two people. Fishing the tide, which runs 6 hours, gives us a shot at what I want as your “guide.”
Remember, YOU are picking the date 90% of the time. I’m doing my best with what Mother Nature gives me. So many 4-hour, supposedly half-day trips could have been better if we’d just had some extra wiggle room. That’s why I don’t even discuss half days during the fall, winter and spring seasons. For 30 years, I’ve always counted a day as at least 6 hours. We always want to give it our best shot, right?
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Your next Jacksonville inshore fishing g
avg 28, 2026 • Džeksonvil
Giving you the info you need.
REDFISH, RED DRUM, EVEN IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER
The most consistent “sport fish” during the hot summer months is the Redfish. They really don’t mind the 87 degree water temps. When fishing the shallow saltmarsh areas. I’ve been able to find them on both tides, high and low. But they aren’t everywhere. Just like me, they have their
favorite hang-outs. Around shell bars, Oysterbeds, and creek mouths. The only problem I’m having is that we have so much bait around. Mullet are everywhere. And that’s our competition. I’ve been casting soft plastics on light 1/8th to 1/4 ounce jigheads. With hope my lure stands out enough with all the bait swimming around. Yeah, Redfish like the slower moving “crustaceans” such as crabs and shrimp. But so do the small bait stealer fish, too. You absolutely must wear polarized sunglasses, so you can see where the underwater structure is, so not to hang up on the oysterbeds, every cast. Being able to see underwater in the shallows is so essential.
Look for the Redfish to get thicker and larger as fall approaches. And here in N.E. Florida that should start happening in September.
As far as the BIG Bull Redfish, the ones we measure in pounds versus inches. It’s so funny. I can spot a rookie in a second on Youtube. They measure a Redfish, instead of weighing it. Around here, you can’t even keep one over 27 inches (tail pinched) so who really cares how long it was. It isn’t going in the cooler anyhow. It’s “sport fishing” for sure, just for the fun of it. And by October, it’s 100% go-time for the fish that go 20-40 pounds. It’s a “bait-n-wait” fishing. They’ll bite in the river. When our tidal current is just right. And generally speaking they want 30 feet over their head. It’s nothing I spend the whole day doing. Like I said, “it’s bait -n-wait fishing”. I’d say 90% of all my customers over the last 30 years have caught their largest fish of their life bottom fishing for these Bull Redfish.
But at the same time, everyone wants fish to take home. So this is not going to be that fishing. We have to fish the shallower waters, casting baits in the saltmarsh for any “keepers”. I find it funny that after all these years, many customers have caught the latest fish of their lifetime, but then complain they have no Redfish to take home. I call that “looking a gift horse in the mouth.” Again, that’s why I don’t split days into all kinds of hours. Half days, ¾ days, Full days.
For 30 years, I’ve offered a one price day, for up to 6 hours. Because you may want to try your hand at big Bull Redfish, before or after a day in the Marsh creeks. If you reserved a 1/2 day, which is 99% of the time just 4 hours. There may not be time or TIDE to do any other styles of Redfishing.
And because I do a max. of 2 persons. It’s very easy to switch up and try different techniques and tackle. Besides, I fish shallow waters a lot, and we cast a lot, too. You don’t do that with groups of 3 or even 4. Keep that in mind when you book a day of inshore fishing.
You’re not putting 4-6 people on a 17’ flats boat targeting Bonefish in the Florida Keys. And I've never seen a Bass boat with 4-6 people on it, fishing for Large mouths in a lake either. Just because it’s saltwater fishing, doesn’t make ‘’Redfish fishing’’ any different.
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If ''I'', was to book a fishing trip
avg 21, 2026 • Džeksonvil
FIRST THING I'D DO, IS RESERVE MY DATE WELL AHEAD, WITH MY GUIDES RECOMMENDATIONS.
-I'D ASK, "WHAT IS THE BEST TIME OF YEAR?"
-WHAT DO YOU RECCOMEND?
-I'D WANT TO PASS ON MY "FISHING EXPERIENCE".
-I'D BE HUMBLE. ESPECIALLY IF I HAVE NEVER FISHED N.E. FLORIDA BEFORE.
- I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T TREAT MY FISHING DAY LIKE BOOKING A UBER TO TAKE ME TO THE NEAREST TAVERN OR RESTAURANT.
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TROPHY SPECKLED SEA TROUT IN 100 DEGREES
jul 16, 2026 • Džeksonvil
REPORT WITH BRETT FROM TENN.
STARTED OUT WITH SMALL CREEK TROUT, MANY OF THEM AND SUPER SMALL REDFISH, AND POTATO CHIP SMALL FLOUNDER, LOADS OF FISH, ON GULP TWISTER TAILS I WANT TO USE UP.
STEREO TYPICAL SUMMER ACTION. (LOADS OF FISH CAUGHT, MANY MANY SPECIES) JUST NOT ALOT OF ''KEEPERS'' IN STATE OF FLORIDA.
ONLY 2 KEEPER FLOUNDER.
MOVED AROUND, MANY LADYFISH IN THE RIVER, A FEW JACKS. ANY WHERE ALONG DOCKS OR ROCKS WITH FLOAT-RIGS & TINY ''LOCAL'' SHRIMP, MEANT BAIT -STEALERS GALORE.
FLOAT-RIG FISHING IN DEEP SUMMER IS ALMOST A WASTE OF TIME WITH SHRIMP....MAY BE OK WITH WITH SMALL MULLET. BUT USUALLY DON'T HAVE "TIDE" TO WASTE CHASING DOWN 2" MULLET. I'M SURE ITS MUCH BETTER 30 MILES SOUTH, WHERE THE SALINITY IS PURE OCEAN WATER. BUT I DON'T LIVE/FISH, 30 MILES SOUTH.
BY AFTERNOON, AND TIDE SCREAMING OUT OF THE CREEKS BRETT USED A LIVE ''SHRIMP-N-JIG COMBO MEAL'', AND A 23" TROUT LIKED THE MENU OFFERING.
OF COURSE, IN THE COMMUNIST FISH STATE. WE LEFT FOR THE DOCK, WITH JUST 2 FLOUNDER IN THE FISH BAG, SINCE TROUT ARE RARE, (SARCASM) ENDANGERED SPECIES IN N.E. FLORIDA AND WE HAD TO RELEASE THIS TROPHY SIZED MALE FISH. NO FRIED TROUT SANDWICHES!
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SUMMER TIME IN THE CALM MARSH
jun 3, 2026 • Džeksonvil
ITS ALWAYS "CALM" IN THE SALT MARSH CREEKS. FLOAT-RIGGIN'...aka: SLIP FLOAT AND A LIVE FRISKY SHRIMP. RELAX & FISH!
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