Western Cruise & Fishing excursions questions

[nuts4sn00py]

I would like to know if anyone has ever done any fishing excursions on the Western Cruise, other than CC. My DH & I love to fish & he would love to get to go out & do some fishing. I am interested in all ports & would love to have any recommendations on any Charters anyone has used. I'm sure there will be more questions once I get some basic info. TIA Kathy

 

[snelsonbrown]

Hello Kathy,
Now I am being partial ok, but the fishing in and around Key West
is awesome - Norm is an avid fisherman from there and we have never ever been disappointed - now of course we are ol' conchs and do know the areas good - you can go out on the Blvd and take short trips out to either the Atlantic or the Gulf - to me the Gulf has the best fighting fish, but then the Atlantic has sweeter fish - now you have to realize we have never done fresh water fishing, we have done very little fishing out from around the keys so this is just my feelings about fishing in a certain part of the USA - I am sure you will get a lot of feed back on this to help you even more.
Always
Shirley

 

[RellingTwin]

Kathy, I looked into this on both Eastern and Western cruises. There are LOTS of charter boats, the problem is the timming. Most charter boats I looked into do either half or whole day trips, and leave the dock before we could reasonably get on board, or get back too close to the departure time for me to be comfortable with. They will "custom" a trip for you, but then you have to pay for the "whole boat" usually $500-600.
Cozumel was an exception because the ship is there until late into the evening.
DH and DS have done the CC trip several times and enjoyed it very much.
Sorry I could not be more help.

 

[tkd lisa]

We chartered a boat in Cozumel. It was $400, and was just one of the ones along the walkway. Bad bad bad idea. The person who we chartered with spoke great English. Guys on board didn't speak any. There were 4 poles on board, 1 for each person in our family. No bathroom, etc. And leaving at about 1pm meant that no fish were biting. We couldn't explain to the guys that we wanted to try catching anything, they just assumed we wanted to catch a big fish, so we couldn't get them to move out of the deepest water. We kept trying to explain that with kids, they don't care how big it is, they just want to catch a fish.

Finally, I got violently sea sick, and we managed to convince them to just take us back in. We were probably out about 2 hours, and paid for 4.

On the other hand, my DH did the CC excursion and had an absolute blast. He caught lots of fish, including a very big shark. That's the excursion we're taking in the future!

 

[nuts4sn00py]

Thanks everyone for replying. Shirley I understand your allegiance to Key West! I would be the same way. I'm hoping my DH gets in touch with a friend of his who lives in KW & maybe he can take take them out fishing or recommend someone reliable. I figure while the men are fishing my girlfriend & I will take the kids to the Butterfly Conservatory & the Aquarium, etc. Rellingtwin I will have to show my DH your response & see if that changes his mind. He thought CC was very expensive, but from what you & tkd lisa have said this might be the best option. I'm still hoping for my replies, but at least I have a base to start with! Thanks, Kathy

 

[nuts4sn00py]

bump...still looking for more input! Kathy

 

[snelsonbrown]

Kathy - if you decide to go to Key West - get the Key West packets from me - it will help you gets a heads up BEFORE you get to Key West - the only cost you have is the postage and large manilla envelope - Norm and I are going "home" next month and will be picking up a bunch of new stuff - let me see if I can find someone down there that would take you all fishing.
Meanwhile imput is always good
Always
Shirley

 

[nuts4sn00py]

Shirley, Thank you very much! I will try to send out the manilla envelope to you by next week-end. I will be on the 8/28 Cruise, so if you are not able to send the packet out in time I will understand. I'm not usually a last minute person, but I find it overwhelming sometimes to work full time, deal with all the housework & kids, & than plan everything for the Cruise. There are just not enough hours in the day for all I need to do! LOL. I also am surprised that no one here has done any fishing outside of CC. Where are all the fisherman/women? I don't think I'm the only one out here! Anyway, thanks again! Kathy

 

[Michele25]

bump........I'd like the same info too!

Thanks!