Happy New Year to my guests and followers! This is the place for the latest info on what I do and what is going on with my business. Thanks for reading! Likely, you are ahead of the curve on knowing what’s happening in real time if you continue reading. So, looking back is not my thing at all. Everything I do is forward looking. I learn from the past and move ahead with knowledge and preparation. I refine my craft and bring to you a better experience. If I didn’t want something better, these words would not be here. I want the best experience possible for each trip, so there is great thought, consideration and effort that makes your trip successful.

I’m pretty confident I have polished my program to the best I can do my program within the normal daily operations of my business. I have been doing this for 13 years and have gracefully made my way through every extreme condition and situation imaginable. I made it through all of these challenges by adjusting. Learning. Figuring a better way to do it. Engineering answers to issues. That IS what fishing IS.

I have had some pretty interesting guests in December and going into 2024. I do everything I can to help you and the members in your group have the best experience possible. I have a refined simple system of operation in place and a ton of experience working with every kind of group in every type of situation. Somehow, not sure how, I’m having an unusual disproportionate amount of customers struggle with repeated 2 or 3 step instructions…….in English. Learning to tie your shoe laces is comparable to the totality of the instructions I teach and repeat to present a bait to a fish and reel it in properly to the boat. Again, somehow hours later, we are stuck on and struggling with step one. About me and my trips; you are an active participant. You are my crew. You are doing the things involved in the type of trip you chose to book. Anybody can do this. Learning really simple stuff is involved. Observing and repeating a pattern is part of it. Only way I can adjust for what is or isn’t happening is for me to catch your fish on your fishing trip. I will demonstrate and instruct you through everything. You play a role in your success. Everything I do and have in place is designed to be easy. I can’t make it any easier. Within the context of trying to trick a fish into eating something with a hook in it that is attached into a line…..some reasonable effort has to be invested into presenting an edible item to where it doesn’t look like a human on the other end of the line is zero percent invested. That’s fish rules, not mine to be clear. Those rules can’t be broken. I teach you the rules. I teach you the techniques. We working together to make something great happen.

So 2024 for my business….. All is going fairly well Fishing has recovered from the devastating affects from our record summer heat. December into January trips have been really good. Lots of catching and plenty of diversity in species, which is typical for this time of year. Reef trips have been the majority of my business. It has been firing on all cylinders shallow and deeper. Bay side trips have been an option when the wind is up or from the wrong direction. I have not run an offshore pelagic trip in a very long time. Tuna are out at the humps 27 miles offshore. Watch the weather, as offshore trips need to be 15mph winds max or less to operate. Offshore trips outside of good weather turn into shorter closer to shore prorated trips. Snorkeling trips have not been a regular activity. We had a really windy December with poor conditions that has leveled off for now. We are in windy season, so visibility for snorkeling is day to day. The visibility is good now, but the water temperatures are also the other significant consideration. We are well into wetsuit territory now as water temps have been in the low 70’s for a few weeks on the main reef. There has been some closer in spots with visibility , but lower temps in the mid to high 60’s. That’s pretty chilly for most people. Combo trips we will start fishing and snorkel on morning trips and afternoon trips we will snorkel first and finish with fishing to optimize the angle of the sunlight.

I wish I had a power statement going into this year. It’s not my reality and I’m not there. I have watched a couple of charter people go out of business the past few weeks. It is certainly a volatile business climate going into our busy season. I am an established business and I play by the rules and manage my ups and downs. I operate 100% legally, have the the licenses, permits and insurance to be operating the trips I offer. If cutting corners means survival, I promise you it’s happening all around me from others doing things similar to me. I will say, upon reflection, I am proud I did not raise my prices for 2024 and I have kept my boat to the highest standard and have not compromised the integrity of the quality of the trips I offer. That is risky for me, as a business, for a strategy right now. For you, it is something that means nothing until you are on the other side of the fence wondering how you got where you are at. If the operator shaves costs and the customer shaves costs, there is an end result that is predictable. My goal is to not price my customers out of the best day of your vacation.

I’m super thankful to be in business as your charter captain! I’m doing my best and I hope to see you on board soon! Side notes, I do have longsleeve shirts for sale that can be ready for your trip and I did have an amazing recent batch of 20lbs of premium smoked fish that sold out in 3 days when I made it public locally on social media. That will come back around again and is all limited in supply as demand is high. I’ll try to keep a bag on board when it’s going strong. As always, any time you want to shoot me some on the water pics of your catches or leave a short review about your experience with me, it is always greatly appreciated! For example, I get pictures from what we caught during the trip once a month. It’s difficult for me to stop everything to grab a picture on my camera. Online reviews are less than one a month now. When nobody has anything to complain about, it’s quiet out there in review land. We are a team A through Z of the entire process. It ALL matters. From the time you place your reservation to the time you walk away from your trip, you and I are working together. Your participation and willingness to be involved dictate how successful and easy your trip will be. More is more. Less is less. I would like 2024 to be more of my program because it works really well.

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