Flamingo Deep Sea Fishing

I’m not sure what was wrong with the staff — everyone seemed very «off & out of it.» That along with the excessive smoking (by staff and passengers) + complete disregard for the fact that areas we sat in for hours didn’t see any fish made the rating for this joint be super low. Pay extra and go elsewhere!

This was a bad experience for evening fishing, boat was way to overcrowded. Everyone fishing over each other getting tangled on one side of the boat, since this is a drifting experience. One deck hand Garret including the Captain trying to help a congested boat, leaving some people awaiting assistance with their rods for some time. Trip was only 4 hours and it took like 40 minutes to get to our first fishing spot. Weather was a little not on our side but this was more of a boat ride experience, and since the captain knew fishing wasn’t really good, maybe a discount on future trips, but really skeptical about ever going on this particular charter boat again, not one fish caught out my party of 7.

Super fun for all! I have been out on The Flamingo many times and have always caught fish! The staff is friendly and fun, helping every step of the way. Definitely a great thing to do for 4−5hrs if you’re in town visiting or a local. Everything is included and we get to keep our catch! There’s nothing quite like fresh fish on the grille!

This was a very disappointing fishing trip, we were taken to fish in only at about 30ft of water and we were catching very small fish. It took a long time for the captain to move the boat to a (slightly) better fishing spot. I guess because he was also fishing (by casting at the back of the boat) and he was getting lucky catching bigger fish, he didn’t want to move. The people on the sides of the boat weren’t so lucky and the mayority of our catches had to be thrown back out. So this basically turned into Capt Tomy’s fishing trip. While everyone alse were not catching much. The deck hand (clint) wasnt very nice either, he killed one of the fish I caught by slamming it against the boat, and when I asked him why he did do that he just tossed the fish overboard and walked away. I supposed it was a good catch, but I would have appreciate to be told why. When we were on the dock (ready to take home the few fish we caught) the deck hand took a very long time to give us our fish. It was as simple as putting them on a bag. I would have done it myself if allowed. Several people actually left after 20 mins of waiting. Overall a lousy experience.

Overall the trip was not the best charter experience I’ve had. Danny, the main deck hand, was AMAZING. Great personality, very helpful and looking out for everyone. The captain, on the other hand, was not the best. Kept bringing us to places where not many people were catching fish. Even after 15 minutes of being in the same place, he insisted we stay because there «are fish somewhere down there». (He seemed to just be wasting time) Danny was constantly asking the captain to try a new spot. Allegedly, the normal morning captain was on vacation so this one was not aware of the best day time fishing spots. Being completely honest I would not recommend this charter… even though I’d hate to do that to Danny.
My boyfriend, who I’d consider a better than average fisherman, was visiting me from Jacksonville and joined me on this charter. He caught only 3 fish when on other charters he usually catches 15 – 20. I, on the other hand, did not even catch one and neither did my mother who was joining us on the charter. My boyfriend did end up winning the fish pool, but with a porgy and if your familiar with fish, that’s not saying much.

First off, remember this is DRIFT fishing, not deep sea fishing. There is a big difference. If you are after shark, tuna or marlin book with a deep sea outfit.
Even though not many fish were caught on our particular trip, the first mate did everything possible to help. It’s called fishing not «catching» for a reason! Most couples caught at least one fish per group, others caught a few more. However, the service from the crew was absolutely fantastic. I’d book again with them in a heartbeat, especially considering their price. It was extremely reasonable for this part of Florida.
The crew did say that the best trip to catch multiple fish is the evening charter that ends around 11:00 PM. But, we still had a great time on the morning trip.

My FIRST and will be last going fishing with the Flamingo! They use cutted up squids as bait for deep sea! The whole time everyone on board was catching Grunts! If I wanted to catch Grunts I would just go to the pier instead of spending $ 42.40 for them… Also, the first mate told me he will charge a few bucks extra if I want to keep and have the grunts cleaned. No Thanks!

I wasn’t overly impressed.
I took my sister in law & husband as a treat as she was here on vacation from Canada. I’ve fished before, never deep sea, but I had an idea of what I was doing — they were completely in the dark.
The boat was okay, it had clean toilets & it was pretty clean itself. But it’s a fishing boat, so I wasn’t expecting anything fancy, and neither should anyone else.
The staff. Well, at first they were pretty nice. We entered into the pool, with no expectations at all, but just for the fun of it. When we got out on the ocean & he captain announced «we aren’t that deep so let’s start with 45 arm lengths» and left us to it. Not exactly descriptive enough for beginners, but they figured it out. There was never any instructions on how to bait the rod, what «45 arm lengths» actually meant, or anything at all lol. My friend actually got yelled at for holding the rod wrong, then screamed at for not putting her bait on the floor when we were moving again. Among other things. Everyone was pretty much left to their own devices & then shouted at when something went wrong.
Out of 24 people (which made for very uncomfortable fishing as we were drifting so we were all squished up on one side of the boat) 2 people caught fish — one a black fin tuna & another lame fish. One of the kids caught a HUGE sailfish, which was thrown back, but that was cool to see. The captain did get annoyed when the boy’s mother didn’t want to pay extra to have the fish moulded & made into a mount, he was repeatedly bitching to the staff that they «were on vacation & should loosen the purse strings». Nice.
All in all I probably wouldn’t use this company again, especially if I was bringing tourists/​beginners out for the day. Possibly if I wanted to go out by myself & be left alone. But it’s doubtful.
Also — one of the staff members won the pool for the lame fish he caught. I personally thought the kid should’ve won the money for his sailfish even if it was thrown back — it was the biggest by far.

Sad I can’t even get a 0 star. He wouldn’t except our pre paid groupon. Not only that the customer service was awful. Plus he started yelling at us and telling us F&@”& us. Plus this guy was gross and wearing a speedo. You call that a captain!!!

My boyfriend and I went on the 8AM fishing tour. For the price is was OK. Basic boat, so so service ect. the reason I decided to write a review was because of how awful the tour guide was!!! First DO JOIN the $ 5 fish pool. After he takes your money he’s says that instantly 40% of it goes to the captain and by the end of it no even got the money. (Sneaky way for the crew to take people’s money) second the guy was a complete ass making disrespectful comments to my boyfriend and I. In the end we did catch a fish but the guy kept it after convincing us that he did the work because he hooked the squid? I thought we paid for the tour so that we would get help??? Anyway there’s way better yours out there for $ 10 more.

I just stept off the Flamigo Fishing. They should have their business license revoked. They will put you at risk just to make a buck. The Captain was careless and had complete disregard for customers on the ship as 7 out of 12 were seasick, and never offered a 5 year old a lifejacket when waves got to be 8−6ft. When I spoke to the owner about my horrible experience once we got to land, the owner approached me in a threatening manner and started screaming at me as his wife tried to pull him away. I’m a 26 year old woman, needless to say I have never felt so unsafe in my life.

Went out today. Worst fishing trip of my life. They overcrowded the boat making it impossible to fish & had everyone fishing off one side of the boat. None of the staff even caught a fish. Horrible waste of a perfectly beautiful Saturday afternoon. Luckily no animal abuse lol

I had a great time! My best friend got two tickets from his girlfriend as a gift, we went from 8 to 1 it was alot of fun everyone was catching fish left and right the crew was very friendly and plenty of bait. I would definitely recommend.
The price is fair baits and rods included.

Not a very good «deep sea fishing» trip. I have been on west coast deep sea trips. We go 7 – 10 miles off shore. If you can see the harbor is less than a mile away, this is not deep sea fishing. When deck hand comes to change my bait, with cigarette in hand. (Yuk), then throws cigarette butt overboard, that shows no respect for nature. Not a good experience. True, a pool for biggest fish was available, but seems like the bait fish, could have won the pool. If you want real big or average fish, find a true deep sea company. You truly get less than what you pay for with flamingo fishing!!!

Horrible fishing trip, the crew hustle you for more money for a pool which is impossible to win. also the crew has live bait but only for themselves. You would think they would give us live bait but no… they hooked our lines with old sardines. did not enjoy at all don’t not spend your money here. The only great thing about the fishing trip are the homes along the cost.

There was a special on groupon for ½ off. Unfortunately, I picked a day the boat was full and crowded and cold. The ship itself stopped at several places but very little was caught then. That’s the way it goes on most days though. Sometimes the fish never stop sometimes none get caught. There was definitely a few good catches but size limits do come into play as they should especially when it is their business. You can buy beer and soda and chips on the boat and there are two clean restrooms, one for ladies and one for men. There are benches and seats in the boats so you can sit while fishing or if you want to take a break, They do a great job of assisting and giving advice. Overall, the help was great, Sean was my favorite with a smile. Definitely I would recommend them and will try them another day!

I just went on Sunday morning trip (mid Nov 2013). I’m giving it a overall rating of 4 stars.
Here is some fact:
— 80% of us caught 1 or 2 fish. As first time I go deep sea fishing, I caught 2!
— Everything they prepared for you is very standard, for snappers.
— I believe the chance of you catch a mahi mahi, tuna or some cool fish is very very low, unless you know what to do and bring your own equipment and bait.
— The boat is clean (I don’t know what the previous person was talking about)
— We had 9 people, so they gave us a discount 35 per person.
— The boat guy is very helpful and friendly.
I would recommend this place!
(The reason I gave a 4 stars is because most of the fish we caught is nothing special, I can catch the same on the piers. I was expecting that I can catch some big ones since its DEEP SEA, you know!)

Where to begin on this review! OMG from the beginning that I called to schedule the fishing trip I got signs that it would be bad. But being optimistic I figured maybe the trip itself will be fun. I ignored the fact that I had to re-​schedule 4 times. None being my fault. They kept giving me different excuses. Eventually we set a date and time. We leave the morning of the trip and get there. As soon as we get out of the car the guy that was in the shack that was suppose to sign us in I guess. Had the most unwelcoming face and attitude.
We move past that point get on the boat and are greeted by this horrible disgusting smell. Now being Cuban and coming from an island and having a family with boats. I have gone fishing many times and know what fish smells like and what to expect. But this smell was just awful. It smelled like putrid meat and restaurant dumpster. We start heading out and everyone on board seemed nice (not the workers).
We were told that they provided everything for us. As far as fishing equipment and bait. We finally stop to fish after was seemed like an hour ride and get set up. We start fishing and the fishing lines start getting tangled up. The crew was not helpful at all!!! Whenever something was needed it was as if we where a bother and they didn’t want to be there. There was an olfer couple along with other peopel. The older woman got yelled at for tangling the lines. It was by far the worst service I have ever received.
Of course just when I think it’s over NO. There’s more plenty more. two hours into the trip they run out of bait and we had to stop fishing. which by this point was ok by me. I just wanted to leave and go do something else to forget about that experience. The only people fishing where the captain and some other guys that brought their own bait. By the end we didn’t catch anything. Not even a nibble!!! Only the workers caught some fish. Two I believe. Be warned stay away from this place. walk around the area and trust me you will find nicer companies. We did.

OMG we should have read these reviews before coming on this trip! Tony P. and I had been wanting to go deep sea fishing to catch some tuna so we just went ahead and bought 2 admissions for a day trip with Flamingo Fishing.
We arrived on time and the boat left at 8:00AM. The ignorant-​looking people in charge were incredibly rude to everyone and treated us all as if we were asking for a favor to take us out on their 200-​year old, disgustingly dirty boat. I think «dirty» is an understatement though, because the boat literally smelled like a dumpster and it had scales of fish all over the floor. Every place I tried to lean against during the 4-​hour trip had some kind of rotten fish organs from previous fishing trips. It was truly the most disgusting thing I have ever experienced in my life.
During the trip, the staff acted like the were being bothered by us and did not try to help us in any way. There was an elderly couple who had their lines tangled and when the nice old lady asked them for help, they screamed at her and told her to not do anything if she was going to mess it all up.
There were several other incidents that made everyone on the boat uncomfortable but the worst of all happened about 2 hours into the 4-​hour trip. Their website and the lady on the phone who made our reservations told us not to worry about bait and equipment because they provide us with everything needed. We had about 2 hours left on the boat when they ran out of bait and told us that there was nothing they could do. The only people who continued fishing were men who had been there before and brought their own bait.
I’m not going to continue describing this experience because it’s reminding me of how horrible those 4 hours were and it’s putting me in a bad mood. After our trip we walked around that area on A1A and met a few captains from other fishing boats who were extremely nice and helpful. I strongly recommend everyone to stay away from this company and search for other ones in the same area.
PS.: Two fish were caught during the 4-​hour trip. It was by one of the fishermen who works there.

What can one expect from a fishing trip? It would be nice to catch a few keepers and have dinner. In the absence of fish, I would expect the crew to be friendly, attentive and accommodating. Flamingo walks the line on that side, only because, while the captain seemed gruff in a can’t-be-bothered way, the crewman, Joe, was quite friendly and helpful. Considering he was the only guy taking care of us weekend fish-​hunters, he did a wonderful job. The fishing was very poor, but Joe made himself be known by assisting in untangling countless fish lines.
One thing that always irritates me is when a party fishing boat moves around too quickly, which cuts into the actual fishing time. On this particular trip, the opposite seems to have occurred… we spent too much time over dead waters… my opinion anyway… I didn’t have a personal fish spotter… but out of 20 people fishing, we’d caught one bonito and one remora. That is it. Period.
So while the crewman put out a good effort, I have reservations about saying the same thing about the captain. Will I go back on the Flamingo? perhaps… if I forget about this trip.