The Killing of the Charter Fishing Industry
“I saw the writing on the wall, years ago. And then the rules kept changing.”
When I started my full-time charter business back in 1996. I had a great start. I was a long-time member of one of the oldest sport fishing clubs in Florida. So, I knew hundreds of people. They were my network. I held multiple officer positions in the club. So members saw my smiling face every Thursday evening. And as word spread. I stayed busy. And not long after, instead of fishing out of just one boat. I fished out of three. My personal 23’ center console, a 17’ shallow water flat bottom center console, I shared with my Dad. And I ran a local dealership’s 21’ center console Bay boat. In which I received a brand new demo boat, every 6-9 months. So, I had the pick of 3 boats according to what kind of charter trip I’d be doing that day. Be it offshore fishing, St. Johns River Inlet fishing, or fishing the estuaries in the shallow creeks. Each had a different rate, different passenger count, and different species we’d be targeting.
I had a friend that was a ex-newspaper man. And he started the very first monthly fishing newspaper/magazine in Jacksonville, Florida. I wrote upwards of two articles a month, and gave him photos to scan and add to the content. This also included a “free” ad in his monthly publication. And yet another network partner that referred me to others. Back then, the Jacksonville Convention and Visitors Bureau was membership based. And for $100 a year, you could be a member. I had a great relationship with the membership representative. And we talked a lot. She always recommended me. And that grew into writing blog posts on their website. Which didn’t hurt, either.
My Dad was always dabbling in entrepreneurship, for as long as I can remember. And he said to me, “get yourself an ad in the BellSouth Yellow Pages.” Does anyone even remember the Yellow Pages? It was a phone book for local business’. And the White Pages, is where your “land line” phone number would be listed. I guess you have to be of a certain age to understand the significance of how important it was to be found, by “letting your fingers do the walking, through the BellSouth Yellow pages….” Which was their slogan. There was NO internet! There was NO Google! I’m talking when the world was much better. I guess, you’d have to of lived it.
One day, on the way to the boat ramp for a charter. I got a call on my brand new cell phone my Dad got me for my Birthday. (and got himself one too) I was fueling up my 23’ center console at a gas station. The woman on the other end told me, “you are #1 as far as the terms ‘Jacksonville Fishing’ on our search engine, MSN. And if you want to stay there, we’ll be selling ads in the future.” To tell you the absolute truth, I had no idea what she was talking about, never heard of MSN, and pretty much considered her a crank call. And all I cared about was getting my customers out that day.
Later on, I talked to my Dad about that call and asked him about what she said. He was pretty savvy. He was in the corporate computer field for 40 years. At this time, he worked for a world wide chemical company, as a programming manager. And knew about the inter-webs. He told me, “I built you a one page website, playing around at work.” But even he didn’t think much about it. He got me a domain name; captdaves.com. He explained to me that the website he was messing around with is what the woman on the phone must have been talking about. To me, it was as foreign as the new cell phone I was carrying around. I didn’t even have a computer at home. But my dad did. So he started to show me the in’s and out’s of it all. Then later, I inherited an old desk top he had, after he purchased a new one.
Now, I was starting to see the writing on the wall. And how all this was starting to explode. And seeing that the old “organic search” on Google as an example, was turning into a 100% “Pay to Play” situation.
So let’s jump closer to now. All those ads on TV, for Booking.com, Hotels.com, Walkyourdag.com, vacations.com, all those B.S. websites that personally, I’d never use. And all those “down load our App” constant messages. Again, NOT interested.
WHY? Because all they do is crowd the market, cause prices to increase, and add you into constant marketing Spam, and lists you never wanted to be on.
Then, with the success of all those annoyances, here comes the Fishing Charter booking websites. They beg you to get listed on their site. And I mean “beg”. Constant phone calls, emails, spam texts. They were relentless! Even 100% foreigners. Sites developed outside the United States. Then there’s the teams of guys who obviously went to college for “coding” or whatever you call it, getting together and starting their own “booking agent” websites, because they see a few making money off of Fisherman. Fishing Guides never get wealthy. But they’ll tell you how they will increase your business, as long as you let them advertise and “promote” you. All for a fee from 10-30% for each booked charter through their platform. As a Charter Captain, all you have to do is kick on back and just worry about taking the clients out. Is what they always said.
Well that couldn’t be any further from the truth! In Jacksonville, Florida. The charter fishing market is absolutely flooded. And most are part-timers. Guys I’ve never seen or even heard of before. Every other week, I get e-mails from yet another “booking agent” website, that wants me to list with them. For them to make money it’s a numbers game. Just think, 20% of a $600 private charter, is $120. Get that happening 50 times a day, and that’s a tidy sum, for sitting in the air conditioning all day! And $120 loss to the charter Captain, because you clicked on the first ad you saw on Google. Instead of looking around, and contacting the Captain you’ll be spending the day with, directly, through their own website. But, that’s the impersonal world we live in today. So many people claim to have no time, because they are so damn busy.
The part-timer doesn’t have to know anything about business, either. All you have to do is sign up with a booking agent on the internet, and then make your boat payment each month. That’s why there’s 150 or more charters listed on just one booking agent site alone, in Jacksonville. They are all part-timers looking to make their boat payment. Because over spent on buying a boat. The ole saying is. The wife says, “you better figure out how to pay for that thing!” They try. They get a USCG license, maybe insurance, and sign up for a listing on booking agents websites. Believing their hype. Probably not realizing the more listings on one site, the less any one gets. I call it the “Hollywood syndrome”.
These on-line booking agents build you a listing. NO, it’s not a website for the Captain. He has his own. I’ve had many people tell me they were on my website, when they weren’t. They were on a booking agent website. All the while, we as charter businesses still have to pay, pay, pay, for the whole website gig, too. On top of giving up $120 (as an example) to make a charter rate from 1998, versus 2026. It’s a losing game since about 2020.
It never seems to end. Then, these booking agents act like I work for them. Literally saying if you don’t do this or that , you’ll lose ranking on their site. I truly believe they think we work for them!
In summary; do your due diligence. The booking agents have driven the rates up for everyone. Are you really going to make an appointment to have your vehicle fixed by going to some random website, where you don’t even have a conversation with the shop owner? I wouldn’t!
These booking agents want the Captains to just hit Accept or Decline on a App, at 10pm the day before someone wants to go fishing. And “whoever”, hopefully shows up on time in the morning. Believe me, I’ve had that happen to me. And the next day it’s extremely windy, the tide sucks, and no one knows how to fish! They certainly didn’t look at the weather. All they know is, they’re in FLORIDA! It’s palm trees, sandy beaches with water teeming with giant fish who eat on demand, like a TV show they saw one time.
I never went into this 30 years ago to end up feeling like some Uber driver. But that’s what many of these booking agent trips end up feeling like. Then, since ‘REVIEWS’ are all the rage today. They’ll bust your balls with a review on the booking agent site, as if the fish are supposed to commit suicide just for them.
About me
Providing real insights from my 30 years as a Full-Time Captain/Fishing Guide in Jacksonville, Florida. Via Reports, Blog posts, Youtube channel videos, and Seminars. Attempting to educate the public on how, when, and where to find someone who you’ll spend multi-hours with on a boat, pursuing your passion, a day’s entertainment, or a way to spend a day on the water, with a friend or family member.
Capt. Dave’s Sport Fishing Charters
Website: https://captdaves.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captdavessportfishing
YouTube channel: Capt Dave Fishing