Questions, answered the way Dan answers them.
Is the price per person or for the whole boat?
The whole boat. A Miss Chief charter is private for your group, up to six passengers. You are not splitting the deck with strangers, and you are not paying by the head.
How many people can come?
Six passengers. That is the Coast Guard limit on this 34-foot sportfisher. Six is also why a family trip works: one adult can bring five kids, and the captain still has room to teach.
What is included?
Fuel, bait, tackle, a Florida fishing license, ice, and bottled water. The crew fillets and bags what you keep. Gratuity is not included; 20 percent for the crew is customary. You bring food, drinks, hats, sunscreen, and shoes that will not mark the deck.
Do you guarantee fish?
No. The ocean has the final say. Capt. Dan baits the hooks, finds the fish, and fishes the season in front of him. Sailfish and marlin are released. Legal fish you want to keep are cleaned at the dock.
Can you cook the catch?
The crew fillets and bags it and recommends a restaurant that will cook it. Dinner is not guaranteed, and Miss Chief does not run a kitchen on the boat. Plenty of guests end the day with their own fish on a plate in town. That only happens when the fish cooperate.
What if the weather is bad?
The captain makes the call the morning of the trip. If he cancels for weather, the deposit is refunded and there is no fee. If you cancel with at least 72 hours’ notice, the deposit is refunded. Inside 72 hours, or a no-show, the deposit is forfeited.
Where do you leave from, and what time?
Key Largo Harbor Marina, 400 Ocean Drive, Key Largo. Longer trips leave at 7 a.m. A four-hour afternoon trip leaves at noon or 1 p.m. Sunset trips move with the season. If a start time is awkward, book the boat and call. Dan would rather slide a departure than waste the day.
Are the trips good for kids and first-timers?
The patch-reef intro is built for them: two to three miles out, calm water, two to four hours. The point of that trip is to teach you how to fish, not to fill a cooler. Offshore and swordfish days are longer, rougher, and better for people who already know they want that.
How far offshore do you go?
It depends on the trip and the month. Patch reef is two to three miles. Wrecks and the deep reef are six to ten miles, in 50 to 300 feet. In summer, mahi, wahoo, and tuna can sit out toward the Gulf Stream, upwards of 25 miles, which is a longer day. A four-hour offshore trip only works when those fish are close, mostly spring and early summer.
Do you offer snorkeling, diving, or backcountry?
No dive trips and no snorkel charter. On a sandbar stop there are a few masks aboard for a casual swim in the shallows. Backcountry and flats fishing are not on the book. Miss Chief is a sportfisher. She fishes the reef, the wrecks, and the Stream.