I've been out on the Helen S which offers offshore drift boat fishing a couple of times. The captain, Skip Dana, has years of experience at doing what he does so you're in pretty good hands. It generally sails 3 times a day with a morning, afternoon and evening trips of around 4 hours each. They provide you with rod, reel, bait and a fishing license is unnecessary. The times I've gone out on it were OK, but for drift fishing, the boat was somewhat overcrowded on those occasions. Hence, I would say the best times might be off season when there are fewer people around. I won't comment on the catch since that is generally a situation of the fish being cooperative, certainly not the lack of skill or in any way the fault of the ship, the crew or the fishermen. read more

Helen S Drift Fishing - Boating Near Me - Pompano Beach, Florida

I have been fishing with this company for years. They provide an amazing family experience. I love the boats, the staff, and the location. The Helen S is a my favorite boat but the Fish City Pride is a perfect alternative. I prefer to fish the morning trips so that I'm at the marina early enough to watch all the boats and marine life. The staff are like family. Very helpful and always excited to see people catch fish. The mates are knowledgeable and quick to help with fish and tangles. The captains know all the best spots to fish and will personally clean your fish for you back at the dock. Other fishing charters include a 45 minute boat ride to the fishing hole. With this company, you've got lines in the water 10 minutes after leaving the marina. This means you get a full extra hour of fishing unlike the Ft Lauderdale based charters. They provide everything you need to fish. All you need is your sunglasses, sunblock, a sandwich, and something to drink. This is a alcohol free boat so leave the beer at home. read more

We celebrated a friend of mine's birthday on a drift fishing trip with the Helen S. Recently. I have been on my fair share of drift boats and this one did definitely set itself apart from the pack. As far as amenities and overall shape of the boat, it's near the lower end of the spectrum. However, we were going fishing, not on a luxury cruise. It's needless to say, but, we didn't care much that the benches needed to be reupholstered. The mates were extremely helpful and friendly. I can not stress this enough! You have no idea what a difference it makes to have a friendly mate. I have been on so many drift boats where the mates and captains demean their customers and make them feel stupid for not being expert fishermen. The captain knew exactly what he was doing! The drifts he set us on were spot on! Perfectly parallel to the current. I'm not sure whether to credit this to the weather or to credit it to the captain, but in my non-expert opinion he was great. I caught a few nice fish, that I wish I took pictures of. I caught a decent sized Porgy and a Margate. One of the employees filleted them for a tip. I pan fried them in olive oil and breadcrumbs. So delicious! read more

It was a very disappointing experience because other than the "regulars" who take best spots at the back of boat no one else got any fish. I would not recommend this place to people with children. The equipment these guys are giving you is designed for much larger fish. The boat itself seems like it's 80 years old with tons of repairs done unprofessionally. I went on other larger boat at same marina and got 5 fish, they are $5 more expensive but it's well worth the money. read more

My nephew and I went on Friday 10/21/16 they were bottom fishing. My nephew told me to fish on the surface while he fished the bottom. Well 5 mins later we landed a 15lb or better dolphin fish. I tangled up with quite a few other lines and the mate performed a miracle untangled the lines so we can bring it in . read more

Helen S Drift Fishing - On the Helen .S. 10/21/16 - Boating Near Me - Pompano Beach, Florida

Stay away and don't waste your time! Rude staff and very unreliable services. If they don't get enough people they will cancel with no notice. read more

If you're a fisherman do yourself a favor and find a different boat to fish on, and leave this boat for the chumps. They jam the boat up with people and you have to deal with tangles the whole time and they always take you to spots that have no fish then apologize for it at the end. You catch more fish in the bathtub. read more

Helen S or Fish City Pride What an awesome time I had with family visiting from Arizona. Not much ocean there. I live local have been on a couple other drift fishing boats out of Fort Lauderdale, they are not very good. No other drift fishing boat can hold candle to Helen S. Or Fish City Pride. They are right on the inlet to get out and fish. The other boats in Fort Lauderdale take over a half hour just to get to the inlet, so you loose out on fishing time and crew is just not friendly. We went out Tuesday 1/26/16 on the Helen S was a great day sunny a little rolling ocean the crew was awesome Chris and captain were excellent. Everyone on the boat caught fish, the locals were nice. We caught about 15 fish, gave some fish away to a father and son on the boat and the crew. The captain even fillet the fish for us when we got to the dock. We kept about 9 fish baked and fried the fish we caught that day for dinner, tasted great my wife and family had an amazing dinner. Thank You Helen S for an amazing experience. I WILL BE BACK Bradley and family. read more

Made the mistake of not looking at my reciept, found out I was charged for six instead of the four people in our party. Brought it to the attention of the first mate, Mike, who told us it would be fixed when we returned to the dock. Nobody was present upon our return and inquired the following morning about our 80 dollar refund. We were told that we actually had 5 people and they would only refund one of the two extra tickets. I don't mind paying for good service, but I resent getting ripped off. There are 1 million fishing facilities in the area and this one will never get our return business. I feel bad for them that they must rip off customers in this manner. read more

I believe there is a lot of bang for your buck here. The crew Jason and Captain Bruce were both organized, patient and very helpful. Great boat ride and fishing to boot. Probably wanted to catch more fish today but it wasn't due to lack of effort by the crew. Would definitely go again. read more

This charter boat was recommended by our timeshare. We have been on multiple charter fishing boats and have never been spoke down to as Captain Bruce did to myself and my son. The boat was clean, but boat and especially poles needed to be updated, the weighers were not heavy enough! We were short crew, one boy worked the entire boat and the captain needed to leave his post to help too, with an attitude we could have done without! Don't put in $5 for the fishing pool because they have restrictions on the popular fish caught...although the captain informed us at the end of the day to READ the rules! So, do yourself a favor...choose another BOAT! read more

The past couple of times that i have been on here, i maybe have caught one fish. Very uneventful. There is one captain that i always feel doesn't want you to catch anything because he doesn't want to deal nor the mates. If there is at least 20 people on the boat, plan on not catching anything or you can hop off before they leave and get your money back. When I was younger, it was definitely the boat to be on, the service and being talked down to has been enough. But i suggest the flamingo in ft lauderdale or the sea mist in boynton beach. read more

Miserable experience for me and my son. Boat was twice as crowded as other similar boats I've been on- 30 people on my trip. This resulted in endless tangles, causing us to spend more time getting cut off and re-rigged than we spent fishing. There were fish to be caught, but we didn't have lines in the water for much of the trip. I complained to the captain that we fished 30 seconds out of the first hour because of the overcrowding. He answered that if I thought the boat was overcrowded at the pier I didn't have to go! read more

We went fishing on 8/9/2014 and it was an extremely frustrating outing due to an uninspired captain and an extremely overcrowded vessel. Normally I would think this boat comfortably fishes 25 fishermen, but on this night we fished 35 or more. The overcrowded situation and the consistently poor positioning by Captain Bruce led to never-ending tangles, most of them occurring without a fish being hooked. This resulted in the two young mates to be stretched thin as they performed birds nest triage the entire night as well as lost fishing time bidding your time waiting for your opportunity to fish again. To make matters worse, the Spanish Sardines (bait) were so rotten that each angler was picked clean before their rig hit the bottom. This lack of attention to detail as well as the generally poor condition of the boat rods just leads one to believe that that the Helen S is all about the Benjamins and not providing the customer with a memorable experience. I have been fishing in south Florida for over 30 years and have a deep affinity for drift fishing, but I swear the only reason we still go out on the Helen S is out of family tradition and not because it is a well-run business or an enjoyable night out with family and friends. I would love for the owners of the Helen S to readjust their business model, but based on the crowds last Saturday night I doubt they feel they have to; I however will think long and hard before I board again. read more

Terrible business!! They show favoritism to who gets on the boat first. Captain was awful! He lost $600 when he lost a whole group who weren't treated fairly. read more