BigBendFishing.Net

Hello all
My birthday is coming up, March 29, and I will be staying in Destin that week.
The birthday gift for myself is going on a deep sea boat for FISHING!!!!
Do any of you seasoned, well traveled fisherman have any recommendations?
I don't want to stay out to long (though I want to but my wife will kill me!), but maybe about 6 to 7 hours.
I want something where I will be fishing as much as possible at a good price.

If you're talking about a headboat, there are a couple I have been out on and pretty much have done the same on all of them, American Girl, American Beuaty and Swoop. These are $75-$85 a head depening on the trip length.
On one recent trip however, the air force had closed a large area of the Gulf to fishing for some type of practice. We had to go almost due West paralelling the coast to Navarre before turning South. That was a bummer even though the Capt. made the most of it - I think he used up all his precious honey holes on that trip. That is one thing I'll check on in the future!
The headboats go out for 1/2 day, 8hrs and 10 hrs trips.

There are many charter fishing boats to choose from. Most of these are 10-hour trips. It is possible to hook up as a walk on on a trip that's already planned. Usually they take 6-10 people and the cost is divided amongst the number of fishers. You can figure on $200 a head depending.

You mentioned deep sea, however another option is to get a close-in or bay side guide trip. Probably the same money but a lot more fishing than riding I would think.

Thank you so much for the information!
I have heard about the Swoop too!
People at work and even my dentist recommended that one to me!

just a reminder, there is a fair amount of charters that support "catch shares" ......do your research before committing your dollars to those that would further the restrictions on the recreational fisherman.....

Slayer
What do you mean by catch shares?

the short and skinny is that there are supporters in the commercial fishing industry that are trying to get "catch Share" laws passed.....

You and I can not go catch Red snapper, grouper and other species, but if catch shares is pushed and allowed to become law, those "captains" that participate will be able to go out with customers and catch fish that is illegal for you and I to have....because such a a large amount of the "shares" will be allotted to the commercial and "for hire" group, the "shares" left over to the recreational fisherman goes down even more....

there is a lot of info to be found with regards to catch shares over at the PFF (pensacola fishing forum)

a question that should be asked of every "for hire" boat should be...Do you support catch shares??? if they answer yes, they are the ones that are helping to cut the throat of the weekend recreational fishermen...so, you would have to decide if your dollars should be spent elsewhere.....

The captains with integrity are the ones that are willing to lose money(short term) but save the industry....they are the ones pushing the State of Florida to go non-compliant with the new federal fishing regulations.....the same regulations that now have the red snapper season sown to 27 days.......

Your preferred species might be next, its just a matter of time before almost all seafood will have to be purchased.....there is already back room talks about "catch and release only".......

this is just a precautionary message....please do your own research on the matter