Critter Fleet

Took the half day trip in late December with the whole family — an hour to get to the fish, two hours fishing, and an hour ride back to the dock. Captain put us right on the fish, and the mates were very helpful for us newbies (including the kids). Caught Red Snapper (which we couldn’t keep because they weren’t «in season»), Mutton Snapper, and one other kind which I can’t remember the name of but was tasty when fried. Two of us fishing brought home five fish totaling ten pounds.
Things to know:
1) As soon as you arrive at the dock, tie a towel around the boat’s rail next to a fishing pole to reserve your seat. The «best» spots are at the back of the boat. We didn’t know this, so ended up near the front of the boat. Still caught a lot of fish, so I don’t know that there’s a «bad» spot.
2) If you are prone to motion sickness at all, use Dramamine. Once you’re on the boat, it’s too late. Five of us went, only two got to fish — three were too sick. Saw several others — adults and kids — get sick as well. Mates suggested taking Dramamine at bedtime the night before, and again in the morning before heading to the dock, to give it time to get into your system.

Took a group of 20 employees on the boat. Overall was very happy with the experience. Couple things to note:
— regulars do get preferential treatment, back of the boat privilege, and live/​cut bait that everyone else catches. They should share the fresh caught cut bait instead of just giving it to the regulars. When they sell the pot for who catches the biggest fish, it’s not fair when there is not a level playing field.
— the captain is flat out rude. I experienced it first hand, watched him mistreat someone who wasn’t fluent in English, it was a shame and had he gone any further, I was going to speak up. It’s been mentioned in previous posts I’ve seen. Had it not been for the captain, I would have rated four or five stars. He was barking orders at customers, like they were his hired help. While on the intercom, his tone and energy was dead. Overall very disappointed with the captain. With a few different ideas, I think this is an area that has the potential for being so good, but instead was so poor.
— mates were attentive, fast and very good. They are well worth the money.
— they are very stingy on the bait. You get as much squid as you want, only get a couple ballyhoo unless your a regular. If you ask for more, they say they are out.
— I was partly serving as company photographer on this company outing. Because of that I got around the boat a lot. I notice often when someone caught something the mates would say, sorry it’s not a keeper, but then they would carry it to the back and then cut it up. Eventually the cut fish would end up on the regulars line as bait. Didn’t feel like a fair situation.
Again, was overall happy with the experience, but if you are booking with them, know what to expect. SP

The mates were great and helpful. There seemed to be some regulars in the charter, and they definitely received preferential treatment. The regulars were able to use live bait fish while everyone else didn’t. When I caught a live bait fish I refused to let the mate take it although he tried a few times. Also a young pre teen caught a huge amber jack the biggest fish of the day, yet one of the ‘regulars’ received the biggest fish of the day pot. Kinda shitty.

I want to start off by saying I go on a lot of head boats and this turned out to be one of the better ones. I went in a full day trip (note half the time is travel time).
The boat was very full of passengers which is to be expected on a head boat. We got a lot of or lines tangelos but the mates on the boat were very attentive to untangle lines, get fish, and re-​rig the tackle.
The boat captain was great and when the fishing slowed down or no one was catching he would move the boat.
All and all a great experience only reason I did not give 5 stars is that when I got off the boat at the end of the trip I went to the office to ask to purchase ice for the fish we caught. The attendant told me that they did not sell ice. She did not offer free ice instead she directed me to 7 – 11. I had a small cooler and we had a party of 5 at $ 75 per person some ice is not to much to ask for.

I went out with my family on a half day trip. My boys are 8,9, and my 11 yr old nephew went as well. The trip was fun and we caught several keepers. I did notice the captain in the back constantly catching larger fish, which I though nothing of until the end. When we got back and unloaded my boys were on the Dock checking out everyone’s catch as they weighed in for the biggest fish pot. The captain was getting ready to filet fish and made a very uncalled statement about my boys standing there. This ruined the whole trip for me as I will NOT go out on this boat again. The mates were great, the captain is a jerk and there is no way I will pay to fish, then tip, then pay $.50 a pound for them to filet my fish and a captain call my kids SOB’s because they wanted to watch. As a group we also kept up with our keepers and we were a few short in the end. Must have went home with the captain.

Went for a full day trip (about 8 hours) the other day with my brother and sister in law. We had a great day! Perfect weather, great crew and caught plenty of fish for dinner. Will definitely do again the next time I’m in Daytona.

My family drove 2 hours to do the half day fishing. When you drive that distance and they tell you there was a cancellation of a party of 5 and they’re not going out because they were not able to collect enough fees is very UNPROFESSIONAL. Fortunately, several people ponied up so they could collect the $ 220 deficit for a cancelled party why don’t you consider the potential of income/​tips? IMO our family would never use this company again. There are plenty of other reputable companies that will go out despite a FIVE passenger deficit. Yes, the crew were nice hence the three stars. Also, why don’t you get off your rear lady and clean the restrooms? The lady helping us, not sure if she is part owner, is extremely lazy… she explicitly said she would contact us regardless if the boat was going out. Never received a call, In fact I had to call to listen to their recorded message to verify if they were going out. Step up your game folks because there’s plenty of competition. Three stars is generous. The booking lady needs to be replaced. Replace her and you may get four or five stars since the crew was on top of their game. The only suggestion I have is to start your cruise earlier and replace the rude and unprofessional booking agent.

Pretty ok

With the money that I paid I assumed I would be taken to the fish. Did not even catch a single thing and not many people on the boat did either. Staff wasn’t very friendly as well. All around not a very good experience. Will not return.

Have gone out three times over the years and couldn’t have asked for better experiences. You have to know what time of year to go out or you’ll catch… nothing. All three times we caught fish all day, the most exciting was trolling for sailfish. We caught so much grouper and snapper another time we could only keep a quarter of it. I don’t know why you would only go out 28 miles, we usually go out at least 40, probably some misinformation there. I’ll upload photos of a couple fish I caught on separate occasions.

Had an awesome day of fishing. The crew was helpful and everyone was catching fish all day.

The Critter Fleet is a marina located in Ponce Inlet. They have large «party boats,» which take dozens of people out fishing for half– and full-​day trips, as well as smaller charter vessels which focus on sport fishing of larger beasts, such as marlins and sharks. I can’t say I have experience with charter fishing as an adult; my father was a captain here, and I spent many a happy childhood day here.
What I can say is that this is a great place to stop by, even if you’re not planning on fishing. Around 4 or 5 each day, the boats come back in. As they unload and clean the customers’ catch, large groups of pelicans gather around to inspect the work and snap at scraps. It’s a really happy scene, and one that is entirely Florida. I love coming here to take in that ambiance, as the sun is setting over the intracoastal and the happy, sunburnt fishermen are heading home. This is old Daytona Beach at its finest.