Your guide to planning and enjoying a family fishing trip—even if you get motion sick riding an elevator
Not all families are created equal, which is why family vacations run the gamut from Disney cruises to African safaris. My family of four falls right in between. One year right after Christmas, we flew from Montana to the Florida Keys for a bit of sun and to meet up with more family. I wanted to fish, but there was a catch. Our group of eight ranged from 10 to 70 years old. Plus, the two times I had been deep-sea fishing, I spent most of the time curled up in a ball below deck, trying not to fall off the edge of the earth. I don’t do rollercoasters, and even elevators turn me a tad green.
For our family fishing trip, I had some requirements. I needed a boat big enough for six of us, access to calm water, and a captain who would tolerate all of us for a half-day trip. I researched and saved money for a nice big (36′) charter boat. The trip was spectacular. We still talk about it, and I hope we can do it again soon. I don’t typically get things right on the first try, but everything worked out. Looking back on it, some key factors led to a memorable trip, which started with the captain.
Find a Good Captain
The most important element in your trip comes down to this. Get it right, and you’re a hero. Screw it up, and it will be a long flight home. I started looking around for a charter three months before we were flying to the Keys.
As soon as I knew we were staying in Marathon, I searched for fishing charters that were close to where we were going to stay. A Google search of “fishing charters marathon” brought up a Google Map of nearby charters that I could use as a starting point because when you’re herding six relatives out of a VRBO and onto a boat, the closer you are, the better.
I went through the websites one by one, checked out their boats, and compared the rates. I narrowed it down to six outfits that had half-day trips, bigger boats, and recent photo galleries. Then I checked on Trip Advisor for their reviews. And then, I started calling and emailing. Some didn’t answer or return my call. Easy decision there. And then there was this one guy, Captain Rich Smith, at Angling Adventures. He had a good-looking website, comparable rates, and stellar reviews on Trip Advisor. So I sent an email.
Talk to Your Captain
The same day I sent an email to Rich, he got back to me with the details, which included the price, what we should bring, where we’d be going, and what he would provide. He asked me if the kids were coming and how old they were. Through several emails over a month, I told him of my propensity to blow chunks by just looking at whitecaps. I told him my 12-year-old son would be coming, along with my 70-year-old father-in-law. He got back to me each time and presumably knew exactly what he was in for. I felt good about sending in the $200 deposit.
The key was communication. He was responsive, and I was upfront about our crew. I got the feeling he had dealt with our kind before, and we weren’t the worst that he’d seen. If a captain doesn’t respond and doesn’t ask questions, including what you’d like to catch, that should be a red flag.
Go for Quantity
On a full-day excursion, Captain Smith was more than willing to take us offshore for tuna and Mahi Mahi. That wasn’t happening. We opted for a 4-hour trip in the Gulf of Mexico, cruising about 12 miles from the dock and fishing in 10 feet of water for Spanish mackerel. We caught a pile of these feisty seven-pounders. They were like landing marlin to us. Remember, we’re from Montana, where catching one 12-inch trout is a thrill. My son loved it. So did I. My wife said she had a good time, too. Can you ask for more?
As the first mate baited our hooks, Captain Smith rigged up a kite to get some bait far off the stern. In no time, we had hooked into a spinner shark, so named for its ability to fly out of the water and spin a few 360s before splashing down. We caught a few and got one to the boat. It was a nice bit of variety after catching plenty of mackerel. The captain knew how to please the crowd.
Catch Food, Then Eat It
A great way to get kids excited about the outdoors is to get them to do their own grocery shopping. This includes catching, killing, and cooking their protein. Fishing on vacation is no different. When we got to the dock, we watched Captain Smith clean up our pile of mackerel. For a small fortune, the restaurant at the dock cooked up about half of it for dinner that night. The next night, I convinced my son to help me cook up a pile of blackened fish tacos.
Choose Your Mates Wisely
There were eight of us total on this Florida vacation, but only six made the fishing trip. Grandma stayed behind with my nine-year-old daughter—and that’s okay. They seemed happy to go to the aquarium and do some shopping. I was pretty sure the six of us would pull through if the weather and the seas got nasty, but I didn’t want the other two dealing with that. Trying to get everyone to do the same activity on vacation can be a brutal affair. It’s okay to divide and conquer your own fun.
Check Your Expertise at the Dock
I’m not a fishing guide in Montana, but I’ve been known to catch a few trout in high-alpine lakes and take the kids fishing. In no way does that make me an expert on fishing in the Florida Keys. As much as I might have wanted to get my kid’s fish off the hook or tie up my wife’s rig, I let the first mate do it. He does it every day, can do it better than me, and can do it twice as fast. Plus, it’s not my gear. He stayed busy with six of us hooking up all the time, and he seemed to like it. Besides, I was on vacation. You might as well let someone else have all the fun for once.
The Specs
- Cost: $1,100 includes a $200 tip to first mate
- Charter: Angling Adventures (click me)
- Where: Marathon, Florida
- Species Caught: Spanish mackerel, spinner sharks
Our half-day charter required a $200 deposit plus $700 the day of the trip. The first mate was awesome and earned a $200 tip. For our family, that $1,100 is a fair chunk of change for an afternoon of fun, but it was worth it. It took me a while to understand that family vacations aren’t the time to pinch pennies if you don’t need to. Besides, I didn’t want to be the one responsible for some kind of Captain Ron situation.
There are cheaper charters available, but I wasn’t willing to risk it to save a couple of hundred dollars. We won’t be returning to Florida anytime soon, but if we do, we might splurge and head out deep for bigger fish. I’ll be sure to pack plenty of Dramamine for me.
