You can smell the salt rising on the air. The waves are breaking slightly against the boats in the harbor, you lookout across to the islands thinking quietly to yourself I’ll be out there fishing soon. Don’t let this moment in time pass. Pick up the phone call a captain. Charter one of our fine boats and enjoy the Mississippi Gulf Coast. If you can take a kid fishing. Please do that.
If a captain or boat don’t measure up to my expectations he is not going to be in mentioned my articles, period.
This week I fished with Captain Travis Paige owner of Goin’ Coastal Charters. The first thing that I do on any fishing trip is check the condition of the boat. Captain Travis has a fine boat that easily fishes 5 adults. His boat makes a ride out to the islands is about as comfortable as it can get.
Most importantly, the boat is safe and Travis is a safe captain. As far as fishing goes, these two qualities trump everything else.
The next thing that I look at does the captain carry plenty of the correct tackle and bait. Sometimes rods and reels break even the best of them (god only knows how many I’ve broken). Captain Travis keeps full racks of fine working rods and reels. Running out of baits is unacceptable and not to mention makes me very unpleasant. You will not have to worry about running out of baits with Captain Travis. He keeps the live well full with the correct baits or if its artificial baits used, his tackle boxes are packed with them.
The better charter boat captains have there own ways of approaching fishing each slightly different from the other. Travis starts out with a great attitude about fishing and he really enjoys what he does. It seems like he is always laughing and smiling. The right personality makes a long day of fishing a lot more fun. Captain Travis knows where the fish are and he knows how to get them. Travis specializes in trout and redfish but he will take charters for other species (I would suggest calling him and checking). He comes out gunning for fish and he just doesn’t stop. Travis is not a afraid to move to a better spot if the fishing slows. Captain Travis is more than willing to take the time to show novice fisherman how to bring in a trout or a big redfish. He is very patient and generous with his time.
I always check out charters references before I fish with them. I spoke with a gentleman from Mobile that had chartered Goin’ Coastal
during the Carl Legett Fishing Tournament. The bottom line question that I asked him is this: “given the chance would you charter this captain again?”. The gentleman replied “absolutely!”
Before I go I would like to change subjects just a bit. If Im going to put name beside a product then the product has to meet two criteria : one, the product has to be durable and reliable(as mentioned before I break a lot of things). Two, the company has to support the sport of fishing. For these reasons, I wish to thank Orca coolers for their contributions during the recent Carl Legett Tournament. Orca coolers has definitely stepped it up for sport fishing and they make a “damn fine cooler.”
When I say that Goin’ Coastal Charters of Biloxi, MS runs a first class operation you better believe it.
I’m Ron and I’m all about fishing.
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