Home Forums Fishing Saltwater Looking to go deep sea fishing…

Open to recommendations. Looking for a 3-4 day trip from late Feb to the end of March. Prefer Florida but can go anywhere in the US on the SE coast. I will be bringing my three teenage boys. We couldn’t do a hunting trip last year so this is Plan B.

Any recommendations?

RAS

Bottom fishing or trolling?

Yankee Capts. (Boat name) fishs the Middle grounds out of Key West. https://yankeecapts.com/

San Diego has the long range fleet. 3 to 21 day trips depending on boat. https://www.fishermanslanding.com/longrangefishing.php Not in your specified area but I thought I would list it.

Venice La. also has a ton of charters that will fit your bill.

Probably bottom fishing but open to anything.

There are probably 2,000 registered guides operating out of Florida ports. I'm going to the Crystal River area in May for snook, reds, and trout. Bottom fishing runs out of the Keys/East side are shorter than on the gulf side so you'd spend a LOT less time just boat riding during your paid hours. (The west shore of Florida drops only about a foot per mile.) The Destin area is very good, however. Tampa Bay has tarpon, snapper, snook, reds, and lots more. Cape Canaveral area can be spectacular.

Pick a port or area and search for fishing guides.

Kings are biting out of Sebastian, FL. Snapper and grouper season is closed.

We were scheduled to do the Yankee fleet mentioned above and do a three day to the Tortugas. Unfortunately the boat broke down and the trip was canceled so I am hoping to reschedule. Sleep on the boat wake up and start fishing

Nice! A cockpit full of mercury missiles LOL. Bandit reel and a string of 3 1/2 drone spoons? They do bring good money though. I comm. fished for several years (on the side). Mostly Bluefin.
Never figured out why a King Mack would bring more money than a dolphin (Mahi Mahi) . The big kings are cat food as far as I'm concerned. The small ones 25-28 inches or so are pretty good fresh.

Went with Delph fishing out of Key West for a full day in the Dry Tortugas back in October. Would certainly recommend.

35 years ago we used fish off of a Head boat out of Stock Island.

BTW... avoid Key West.

I've been on three "deep sea" trips. All of them to Kodiak, AK.
I know, a LOOOOONG way from the SE U.S..
But it's a remarkable place. The guide we used has since retired.

Maybe you don't like fishing the Tortugas but 8hrs of nonstop action and never seeing another boat on the horizon was well worth a full day in the Keys.
Certainly better than any party barge fishing I've ever had...

Stock Island is the next key up from KW.

KW is a tourist trap chithole... least it was last time I went.

Stock Island was not.

We fished Ft. Jeff also and you are right about the action.

Try the Yankee Capts. I've known the owner/operator for decades and have fished with him probably 100 times, although mostly in Gloucester when he used to fish there during the summers. It is a first class operation. Big, comfortable boat with good food and crew.

This thread is fun and funny. Guy asks for deep sea fishing advice, prefers Florida but can go elsewhere on the South East coast. Gets advice such as Alaska, San Diego, and Louisiana 😀.

The only thing I’ve fished in that area was a head/party boat out of Destin on a 4 hour afternoon trip (twice). It was a fun trip and we caught lots of fish, but I would opt for either a longer trip on one of the party boats or a charter for a ‘destination’ fishing trip. Mine was tacked into a business trip with a free afternoon.

Used to be a man could rent a cabin and ferry a Jeep to Cape Lookout and Portsmouth Island in NC...

Surf fish and have fun.

We do well offshore fishing out of St. Augustine but the inlet can get tricky at times.

Ras, funny you post this . I have been looking for the same thing. I am happy fishing Green Bay for the rest of my days. However , my daughter lives in New Kingston, Jamaica and I am sitting here in Montego Bay where we met looking over the bay. We are going to go ocean fishing tomorrow morning so I stopped by here to see what others are doing.. . I doubt it is worth going to Jamaica , to fish,, but I am here anyway.

We only caught one Blue Marlin.. It was at least 7' long . They said it was 220 lbs . but I dont think it weighed that much.. What do others think it weighed? We didnt keep it .

How deep does it have to be to the"deep sea fishing"
I rarely fish water deeper than 125' myself