6–10 miles · 50–300 feet
Wreck fishing and deep reef charters in Key Largo
Past the patch, onto structure. Six to ten miles, fifty to three hundred feet, and the fish that live on wrecks and ledges: grouper, amberjack, cobia, kingfish.
From $900 for the boat · 6 guests · Key Largo Harbor Marina
This is not the patch reef with a longer clock. The water is deeper, the ride is longer, and the fish are heavier. Miss Chief fishes wrecks and ledges between six and ten miles off Key Largo, in fifty to three hundred feet. The targets Dan names for this trip are grouper, amberjack, cobia, and kingfish.
From October through May, this is the heart of the calendar. Cooler months, the fish are inshore, and the wrecks get live bait. Summer still produces on the deep reef, but the offshore pelagics pull the longer days toward the Stream. Dan will say which way the week is leaning when you call. The website should not pretend every month is the same trip.
Four, six, or eight hours. There is no ten-hour wreck trip. The ten-hour day on this boat belongs to swordfish. You will not find a deep-drop tilefish charter here either. Dan’s read of those grounds is that they are ruined and hardly produce. Selling that trip would be a brochure, not a fishing plan.
Bottom fishing, live bait, and the odd kingfish or cobia that shows up over the piece are the work. Tackle is conventional and spinning gear from Shimano, Penn, and Daiwa, matched to the depth. The crew handles the rigging. You handle the rod. Legal fish are filleted at the dock.
What this trip is aimed at
- Grouper
- Amberjack
- Cobia
- Kingfish
Aimed at is not the same as promised. The ocean has the final say.
Know before you board
- Six to ten miles, 50–300 feet. Not the shallow patch.
- Best as a plan in the cooler months, when Dan is live-baiting wrecks rather than running 25 miles.
- No deep-drop tilefish.
- No catch guarantee. Sailfish and marlin, if one wanders through, are released.
- Morning six- and eight-hour trips depart at 7 a.m.
Bring
- Sunscreen, a hat, and polarized sunglasses
- Soft-soled or non-marking shoes, or bare feet
- Food and drinks for your group
- A light layer. The ride home can be cooler than the dock.
- Motion-sickness medicine if anyone needs it, taken before you board
- A phone or camera
Anglers who want a real fight and a cooler that might mean it, without a full Gulf Stream run. Deep reef and wrecks, 6–10 miles, 50–300 feet.