Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have restroom facilities on your boat?

No, but I do have a real nice bucket…

We have more than 2 people.  Can you arrange more boats?

Yes…and…No.  Although I have a couple guides I can work with, I prefer to run solo. Call me and lets discuss options.

Are tarpon the only species of fish you target?

Absolutely not! I make a living year round fishing for all of the species of game fish this area has to offer. Snook, redfish and trout just to name a few. A day fishing and exploring the backcountry of Charlotte Harbor is not easily forgotten.

However, during prime tarpon season (May-October) I do not fish for anything but tarpon. Unless windy/rough conditions keep us from tarpon fishing (and that rarely ever happens).

I am undecided on a 1/2 day or a full day trip?

Tarpon fishing I only fish full day trips.

I don’t know about you when I go fishing by myself  I want more time than that.

“A 1/2 day doesn’t mean we will catch a full day’s worth of fish in half the time. It means we get 1/2 the time to fish.”, Capt. Mark Bennett

I heard that May and June are the best months to catch a tarpon. Is that true?

Absolutely not. May and June are great months to fish, but we have lots of tarpon here from May all the way thru October.

We know it is not the right season, but we are coming anyway.  Won’t there still be a few tarpon around?

The large tarpon are migratory.  Meaning they migrate here to spawn and then they leave.

Is it ok to bring kids and small children on your charters?

My childhood was (and still is…) all about fishing.

Absolutely. Kids are the future of our sport. I don’t have a set age limit for any of my charters.

Tarpon fishing the days are long and the fish are huge. Often times adults have a hard time hooking and landing one of these giants on their own, much less a small child.

No one knows your children better than you. You need to use your own judgment.

Backcountry/inshore trips are perfect for kids. I like to tailor the trips to keep them interested as well as get them excited about the sport we love. I enjoy teaching kids how to fish and about the fish. The best part for you: Finally you can relax, sit back and actually fish for a change!

Do you do sunset cruises, bird watching or shelling trips?

That would be a no…uh…no…

What do we need for the trip?

Whatever you might eat and drink. We supply top notch tackle, fishing license, bait, waters and a cooler full of ice.. Polarized sunglasses and sunscreen are recommended but not necessary.

Why do mullet jump?

Mullet jump because they are happy.

What type of tackle do you use, do I need to bring my own?

All of my tackle is state of the art.

Spinning tackle, I highly recommend you use mine.

For spinning tackle I use G. Loomis rods and Shimano reels.

I do not supply fly rods.  Depending on how many fly rods the client brings, I usually bring a backup rod.

My personal fly rods are G. Loomis and Sage paired with Nautilus and Abel reels.

Whatever the species we are after we will be rigged to the hilt for them. If you want to bring your favorite rod talk to me and I will tell you what you need as far as line size etc

How do we book a trip?

Give me a call, text or email. We can discuss and recommend best dates/seasons or check availability for your dates. I can also recommend lodging.

How do we reserve a date or dates?

I take a deposit to reserve a date. On multiple day trips, the balance of the charter fee is due on the morning of the first day.

All deposits are 100% refundable for cancellations due to bad weather or rough seas at my discretion. For customer cancellations, if I can re-book the dates with someone else I will refund your deposit in full.

Really, I hate to take deposits and have cancellation policies, but unfortunately a few bad apples over the years have forced me to.

Do you take credit cards, Pay Pal or Venmo?

No I don’t.

There are so many fishing guides advertising “Florida Tarpon Fishing” and “Tarpon fishing in Boca Grande”, how do we choose?

Notice most of them don’t even live in this area code. Go figure…

Just on the internet alone there are hundreds of guides around Florida to choose from, but when you cut through the BS there are only a few. Here are a few things to help narrow your search.

 Question #1 when hiring a guide for anything, especially tarpon.

Ask them: How long has it been since you have caught a tarpon (insert targeted species) yourself? Do you ever go fishing just for fun?

The answer to this question is VERY important. They can say they have a fully booked season so they don’t have time etc. etc. blah, blah, blah… That is BS.

Out of a whole season (6+ months) you will always have a cancellation at some point or time early or late in the season to get after them yourself. I will always make time if I have to. I try to, at the very least, catch a dozen or more myself. I think it is imperative to remember what the client is going through on the other end of the boat fighting the fish of their lifetime.

In my opinion, if you don’t absolutely love it to your heart and soul how can you be good at it. If you have a passion for anything you make time. Just writing this gets me excited.

Do you really want to go fishing with a guide that just drives you around and goes through the motions??? Or even worse one that spends all day on the phone booking trips and talking about other things not related to your trip? Somebody that would rather be doing something else???

Why would you hire a guide who doesn’t love to fish?

I have been in this business full time for 30 years. My seasons are fully booked. If you think I treat this just like a regular job you are sadly mistaken. Being a tarpon fishing guide requires very long hours. I get very little sleep, but it is so worth the reward.

During tarpon season I get up at 2:30am and go to bed at 6:30pm.  I am tying knots and getting ready for the next day while most guides are still sleeping or holding up a bar stool somewhere.

It is in my soul. No I don’t have much left in the tank after 8pm, but at 4am I am on fire!

You know the saying, family first. That doesn’t apply in my house during tarpon season…lol

YES, it is that important!

This business is not regulated by anyone. Anybody can get a captains license and a website. Then they can make any claim they want. Many outright lie to people just to attract clients.

Be extra careful of ANY website advertising more than one guide, such as Fishing Booker.  This is a sure way to end up hiring a part timer.  Also tackle shops that book guide trips.

Sites like Fishing Booker charge the guides a percentage of their charter fee for placement on their site.  The higher the percentage the higher the guide is on their ranking.  Some pay as much as 45-50%.  They also allow guides to pay them to remove bad client reviews.

Almost every fishing guide on the internet claims to be a full time guide, 20+ years of fishing/guiding experience and/or claiming to be the best in the area.

How many of those years were spent as a professional captain, actually guiding clients for money? Most didn’t even live in the state of Florida that long. I know one that claims well over 30 years full time guiding experience that hasn’t even owned a boat that long. I can count on one hand the guys that have guided 20+ years around here.

A lot has changed since I got into this business back in 1992. When I started guiding we didn’t have the internet, email, cell phones or GPS… The finest custom built flats skiff on the market cost a whopping $20,000 or less brand new. Gas was less than $1 a gallon. Cameras actually had real film in them. You had a real good day and it was off to the one hour photo on the way home. Fishing guides used to know how to fish before they started taking paying clients. They didn’t try to “learn on the fly” like so many do today. We had to pay our dues to attract clients, not hire a advertising/web guru. The boat ramp in Placida only had room for about 15 trailers back then. On a Saturday in June you could still get a spot at 8am most of the time… Yeah, it was a long time ago.

There are a lot of part-timers in this business. These guys are just looking for someone to make their boat payment this month.

Most all of them claim to be a full time guide, very few actually make a living at it.

I get a kick out of reading some of the crap on their websites. For instance: Capt. Zero graduated from so and so university then heard his calling so he went on to travel the world in search of giant fish…right after winning Olympic Gold in the summer games…then decided to be a fishing guide because he was drawn to the water by God… In reality it should say: Capt. Zero went to school, got a great job, retired to SW Florida and decided it would be best to have you make his boat payments…plus then he can write off all of his fishing vacations…lol… Or Capt. Zero was born rich, went to so and so university, spent all of his summers traveling to exotic destinations to fish and thought being a guide would be fun after his trust fund kicked in.

What does any of that crap have to do with catching you a fish anyway? Last time I checked tarpon and trophy snook don’t give a crap…lol

Me?..I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks at a very young age, have lived along the West coast of Florida my whole life and haven’t done much of anything except fish. Shit, other than guiding, I never had a real job. (OK, you got me…I do hunt and shoot guns a lot too…)

“Remember we are in September.”

“The month when the great fish come,” the old man said. “Anyone can be a fisherman in May.”

Earnest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

Photos don’t lie. You can tell when they are old, new, good or bad. How big and how many.

They might say they don’t take many photos these days or don’t have the time, right…

How many people do you know that catch 100#+ fish daily and don’t take photos?

It is easy to talk the talk, but to walk the walk…tough for most.

 

When planning a fishing trip, selecting the right fishing guide is the number one most important decision there is to make.

To put it simply, some catch fish and many don’t…

Choose wisely.

Many come into this business with a big mouth and fancy boat.

(Heck, I got fishing poles older than a most of them.)

You will see them all over the TV, social media and the internet.

After a couple years they always dissapear just as suddenly as they showed up.

I have been saltwater fishing my whole life.

I am a full time guide. Fishing is how I have made a living for over 34 years, my entire adult life.

I am not a booking service. When you hire me, I will be the guide taking you fishing.

I can promise you this, there is not a person on this planet that loves tarpon fishing as much as I do.

 For me it is all about the tarpon…It always has been…

 One day out will let you know,

I live for this!!

(I really do!!!)