This is a tough review to post as I really wanted to provide a good review, but after speaking to a local guide on my 2nd charter trip, I feel like I may have not only lost an entire day of my vacation, but a good amount of money for a fishing experience that is well below the standard here in Florida. I honestly feel scammed and its the reason why I am writing this review. If I had not done a second trip, this might have ruined Florida fishing for me based on the experience.

I am an experieced freshwater fisherman, own my own boat, and noticed some red flags from the very beginning. The first was the captain only brought 2 rods for 2 guests to target tarpon. After 1 reel blew up on a cast, we were then down to 1 rod to share and trade off for the remainder of the trip. He did not have any back up rods available which the captain today said was highly unprofessional. I also booked the trip in Summerland Key hoping to explore the local mangroves, but we instead traveled 45 mins north to area that ended up being “too shallow” to fish because of the low tide. A simple tide chart would have saved us a ton of uneccesary transit time that cut into our 6 hours. There was no back up plan to target tarpon in other areas and we were essentially stuck in the middle of nowhere. We were then forced to fish for sharks as a back up. I had paid for a backcountry flats trip, not a shark fishing trip on a flats boat. And we ended up spending more time shark fishing than tarpon fishing which was very disappointing for me. We did encounter a school of permit by chance, but the captain decided to cast and hook the fish himself instead of letting us try to land them on our own. Instead of trying to boat the fish, the captain cranked down the drag so my friend could reel him in and “feel the power” of the fish. My initial though was that’s going to snap the line and it did almost immediately. The captain also casted and set the hook for us on the first shark—not ideal for guests who are trying to “catch” not reel in fish. I’ve done over 20 guided trips and this is the first time I’ve had a captain cast and set the hook multiple times instead of letting the customer do it themselves.

I also grew suspicious when the captain leveraged a circle hook on a fluke lure for tarpon. I have never seen anyone use a combination like this as it creates an unnatural and very odd presentation. The local guide today confirmed that it is something he has NEVER seen someone leverage before and likely why we did not hook up on the 2 tarpon bites we did have earlier in the day. The circle hook/lure combination was also impossible to cast because it would constantly slide off the rounded hook. He said he had forgotten his super glue at home so we should cast “lightly.” I had to reset the lure after every cast which was beyond frustrating and felt almost amteurish. So after paying $500, we were basically throwing a chunk of plastic on a catfish hook that would not stay on correctly. Almost all guides in the area leverage live bait or crab for tarpon. My guide on the second day did and we had fantastic luck.

The captain also talked about himself for almost the entirety of the trip which really ruined the peaceful atmosphere i look for fishing. He told us to be very quiet to not startle the tarpon, but his phone would ring on the highest setting while we were fishing.

This was honestly the worst experience I’ve had with a guide and I feel like a full day was stolen from my short vacation which was meant to be a celebration before my first child. Even with these experiences, I did the right thing and tipped him 15%. But after speaking to the local guide, I feel like I should be refunded my money. I lost alot of money on this trip, but the worst part is I lost alot of time I can’t get back.

I never give bad reviews like this and never want to hurt anyone’s business. But I feel like I needed to write this to protect others from losing their valuable money and time.