Captain Matt is INCREDIBLE. He booked us in the day before and was extremely accommodating with our last minute request. We were scheduled on Wednesday June 17th. He was extremely professional, and his directions to get there, where to park, and how to get on the boat were so accurate and idiot proof for someone that is a little directionally challenged like me !
He was on time, and ready to go even 15 minutes prior to take off when we showed up. His boat was SQUEAKY clean. When we showed up, he had ice in his cooler already to go for us to put our drinks/lunch in.
His safety briefing was through, hilarious at all the right times, and made us feel like we were in great hands. He had a small bathroom under the deck (which was very clean!) and he gave us directions on how to use it.
When the fishing started. He was ready with dead bait, but had us fish for live bait for an even better time. We caught so much bait at the direction of Captain Matt, that we didn't even have to stop and buy any!
He was very informative of where to sit on the boat if you didn't want to feel the waves as much.
When the fishing started, he knew exactly where to go like he had Poseidon powers!! The moment we dropped the lines with the bait that he loaded up on our hooks, we started pulling up fish. At each spot, we were pulling up fish left and right! When we caught a shark, Captain Matt encouraged and coached us all the way through until the shark pulled off. He even gave all of us a chance to have a turn!
Even though he was a one man show, there wasn't 3 minutes where we didn't go without bait on our hooks. He was working hard making sure we were all accommodated and equipt with everything needed to pull in some great fish!
We caught way more fish than we kept, but we kept 7 red snapper, 2 mangrove snappers, and one fairly hefty (delicious) grouper. We hooked on a few larger fish as well, but the tax collector came along and took his share
When we got back, we took pictures of the catch that he presented for us on the dock. After the obligatory fisherman photos, Captain Matt filleted all the fish beautifully for us, put it in ziplocks on ice. We then took it to Harbor Dock per one of his dock neighbors recommendation and they cooked it for us for $14 a plate including sides! I haven't stopped thinking about how great fish tasted that you caught less than two hours before being presented on a plate to you.
Try to bring a few boxes of the gallon Ziplock brand baggies! He will happily use them for you and other customers to sort the different fillets and separate ones that you want to take up to Harbor Dock to get cooked.
I couldn't imagine going on another boat trip and even comparing to how great the trip was with Captain Matt. If you're considering the party boat, don't. If you don't go with a Captain Matt with Destin Go Fishing, you really missed out on the best guided deep sea fishing trip of your life. HIGHLY RECOMMEND DESTIN GO FISHING!!! read more