The Cheap Charter Versus the Charter Adventure!

When I started fishing with Chris and Walkabout charters, I started off with lower rates than he is used to quoting. Since I have been doing this for quite a while, I know pretty much what works for my regular clients. They want to catch fish. While they would love to catch the mostest and biggest, they mainly are more concerned with the tastiest. I have no problem with that.

So the cheap or economy charter is bare bones but not a bait and switch charter. By bare bones, I mean that the range is limited to about 8 miles from the dock because fuel costs money and travel takes time, which is money. If I am pretty sure I can catch fish in that range I say so. If I think I can't, I say that too. I am pretty honest since my memory is too bad to lie. Other than the full moon or banana excuses, of course. I am even dumb enough to tell people before hand what the moon may do, the banana no, that is always the final backup excuse. :)

Another part of the cheap charter is gear. I am replacing my rods and reels with nice but not expensive stuff. So don't expect to see Shimano Stellas on custom Cape Fear blanks. Those cost a little over a grand a piece, If you want that kinda gear, bring your own, not on the cheap charter list of ingredients.

Bait is what is available. I catch my own bait most of the time, but I am not going to spend two or three hours chasing bait for the cheap charter. We catch our own bait on the trip and trade that up. Basic baits, shrimp, ballyhoo, and chum are of course included. If a customer has a line on some bait, bring it on, not a problem.

Tackle is pretty old school for me. I rarely use store bought lures or a lot of expensive stuff that most folk think are require to catch fish because they saw Roland Martin using it. Roland Martin's job is to sell stuff. My job is to catch fish. Most of the stuff works, I just don't think they work well enough to justify the cost. It is hard to beat live and "fresh" dead bait in my opinion, but lure can be fun, so bring your favorites if you like.

People that have fished with me know that I am not a stickler for many rule and I am a little vain, so if the bite sucks, I will bend my rules enough to not suck. If that is going to really get into my pocket, I will let you know, but most know when I have to go above and beyond and tip accordingly. After all that is what a tip is all about.

So after talking it over with Chris, $425 is the cheap charter rate. That is a half day rate if I am booked for the afternoon or the bite is off the hook, or about five or six hours if I am not booked or the fishing is a little slow.

The not so cheap charter rate is $650. There you get the heavier gear, we spend time catching bait and the range is more flexible. That is for about 6 hours to allow for more travel time in reason. Some times when the dolphin are way offshore, we may need to add a little for extra fuel and that would include a hump trip for tuna which is $100 more for fuel, since the round trip to the humps is nearly 60 miles. All that $100 covers is fuel by the way.

Most of these prices are to save y'all some money and me wear and tear. I am trying to limit my fishing days to around 6 hours or so. I have Chris for the guys that want the sun up to sun down adventures.

I thought I would post this just to make the rates more official. Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas