Viking Gulfstar

Capt Rich,

It's me Jordan. I've been fishing with you for a long time now, at least since I was six or seven. I'm twelve now and I've been fishing so many times on the Gulfstar, I couldn't count them all. My Dad say's your the best in the business. Well I don't know about that, I don't know who's best. You see there was one trip where Capt Jerry, he took us to his secret spot. I was catching these giant scamps, and these twenty pound bar jacks would come up and eat the scamps, and then I would have to reel them in too just to get my scamp, my dad likes to eat the bar jacks, I think WHAT A PAIN. There was this one time when you took us to this spot We caught these 30lb red snappers and we had to put them back because they say there's not that many of them, I think the people that make the fish laws don't fish. These red snapper are a real nuisance and sometimes we have to leave a fishing spot because we can't get our baits to the grouper. I caught a huge red grouper and huge scamp. My dad caught a real black grouper, and a snowy grouper. Between us we caught a GROUPER SLAM. But the best was the last stop of the trip, when I caught a twenty pound blackfin tuna. Well then there's Capt Paul, he's kind of a quiet guy. I think he's the sleeper of the bunch. there was this one last spot he wanted to check out on the way home, well there was this guy he caught a 40lb Amberjack, My dad had a 300lb Goliath Grouper on, and what do I catch, a 70Lb Cobia. when the went to gaff my cobia a hammerhead shark came up and ate the amberjack.Capt. Paul video taped it, check it out on youtube. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHxfCKx4Ch8&feature=player_profilepage
 

To be honest I think YOUR the best Capt. Rich.You let me catch as many catfish as I want off the dock, you let me hang out in the wheel house with you, and you show me how to read the fish finder, your dogs Spinner and Buddy are fun to play with, and your girlfriend Alex is kind of hot too. 

 

Too the rest of you fisherman who have to vote on this. why should I win a fishing trip, because my dad is my best friend, and I would like to take him on a fishing trip.

ONLY ON THE GULFSTAR !!!

Jordan

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 I had been nervous all week about this fishing trip.   Several things:  first time with this boat ( did not know if mates were "friendly"), and i heard that mangrove snappers are really tough to catch.  My son and I fished on 2-day fishing trip back in 2007 with different boat - coming home with 1 red fish.  That nightmare still haunted me.   I brought all my rods to the boat from the lightest one to the heaviest one ( that i caught my 80# cobia last easter).

I left my office early and arrive on the boat about 5 pm.   checked in then i tried to take a nap.  at 7 pm, boat left the dock and i was called to the deck for safety briefing.  Then, one of the mate/captain (i was not sure what his role was but he held a captain license), George, wanted me to put some monofilament on top of my braided lines.   Along the way, i asked him to teach me how to tie the knot.  He patiently did it.  Wow... this was a good sign.  Actually, it was not surprising ... with my personality who can resist helping me ?

Then i went back to sleep and started fishing at 1:30am.   Boy it was tough... i tried using strobe light, heavy rod, medium rod, light rod.   Actually i got a bite with the light rod but the line was too light and it broke right away.   Meanwhile, on my left, the captain and the cook fished and they made it look easy.   One here, one there... hey... that was a big mangrove...  I was really frustrted.   Then, the cook ( initially i called him "the cook" but later i called him "da professor" ),  stopped by my place and showed me how to fish mangrove snapper:  from bait presention to hooking the fish.   30 minutes later, i landed my first fish.   That was a feeling.... Tap .... Tap .... ( lightly)  reel in ( not jerking like fishing in NC),  then the rod bent because the fish was hooked.    ( along the way, da professor evaluated my equipment and determined that i would be better off using the boat rod and reel).   That was the starting point when i caught lots of mangrove snapper.

After breakfast, boat stopped at the grouper hole and, to my surprise, i caught 2 groupers in a rows.  One red grouper and the one is either gag or scamp ( i can never tell the difference).   They are good sizes.   Captain took pictues.  Then amber jack came in.   everybody was hooking amber jack but me.   So at lunch, i mentioned it to George.  To my surprise, George said, i showed you how to catch an amberjack.  He threw the line, got a bite, tipped the rod, wait a second, then reeled in ( not jerked like in NC).   He gave me the rod to reel it in.  He made it looked very easy!

Along the day and second night, I kept catching mangrove grouper, beeline snapper, grunts, some groupers ( but too small to keep).    At the end of the trip: 20 mangrove snapper ( 3-4 lbs each),  2 groupers, 2 amberjack, 28 grunts, 5-6 beeliners.    Total weight is probably about 150 lbs ish.

It was a great trip not only because fishing was great but the crews made the trip especially fun.   Attached is the u-tube video that the captain made. (  My nick name on the boat was Hop Sing.   One of the guy caught a jewfish - giant grouper.   then, i mentioned about goliath grouper with indonesian  pronounciation.   everybody was puzzled and a russian guy finally understood and explained to everybody.   Hahaha... Hop Sing needed to learn english, da professor said.   )  

At the end of the trip, da professor gave me a "diploma" that i passed Fishing 101 but next trip I needed to pass math 101 because i kept catching mangrove snapper and needed to give them away so I wasn't over my (20) fish limit.

Well, any of you guys wants to go fishing in this area, please let me know - after all, I have passed Fishing 101 and probably I can teach a trick or two.

 

Rubin Bahar

Captain made youtube video of the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGlNwLhpSgc

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Hi,

My name is Donald Campbell, I'm from Ontario in Canada.  Over the past few years I have spent time in Florida every winter, and have had the pleasure of fishing with you, on your charter 3 times.  I have been on the 12 hour charter twice and done one 44 hour trip, which I would really love to do again this spring; when I have my next visit planned.  Here is my testimonial of the 44 hour trip which I hope will win me my place on my next outing!

   December 2009, I was staying in Naples.  I was on my own, as I have been many times in Florida.  I really enjoy taking some time out and travelling around the state, doing what I love most; Fishing.  I drive down and take all of the vital things: fishing rods, tackle and my canoe!!  I spend hours, days actually, travelling around springs, rivers, and the gulf (weather permitting) in my canoe in search of as many different species as I can possibly find. It was getting close to the holidays and I was thinking about doing something fun for new years.  I saved up $500 to spend on a big night out!  Then, lying in my bed the night before I thought to myself, "What am I thinking?......what would I rather do, blow this money on a night out or do something that I would love and remember forever!"

    So I decided to spend my money on buying a ticket for the 44 hour charter trip with Gulf Star Fishing.  New Years Eve, I spent alone in my room just thinking about the fish I could catch.  Then New Years Day I woke up at early, packed up and drove to Tarpon Springs.  Although I was there 10 minutes before the scheduled time for departing, to my surprise everyone was already aboard and had been waiting to leave an hour earlier than planned.  I rushed and got on the boat.  Imagine my disappointment when all of the other passengers seemed frustrated and a little angry that I had not also arrived earlier.  However, the crew were extremely welcoming and helpful and assisted me in getting all of my equipment ready.  I was happy just to be there!

    It was a lonely journey out to sea as the other fishermen were still giving me the cold shoulder.  I went to sleep in my cabin.  I woke up at 4am when the fishing finally began.  We were cathcing Mangrove Snapper almost instantly along with Grouper.  Throughout the day the bite continued.  I was having a great time.  About 8 hours into the trip I had almost reached my limits!  People were surprised that a Canadian could fish so well in Florida!!  I had done my homework and put in more than enough hours of practice!  I had also done other charters before out of the Clearwater area, but nothing compared to my Gulf Star Fishing experience.

     At the end of the first day, with lots of fish in the box, everyone else decided to call it a night and retired to their cabins.  There was no way that I was going to sleep and lose valuable fishing time!  I stayed on deck and fished all night, accompanied by the first mate.  Thank god I made the right decision, as soon after I caught a 12lb Red Grouper, which was the largest Grouper I've ever seen!  Then the first mate suggested that I try to fill up the live well with 'Bee-Liners' so as we could fish for Amber Jack the next day.  True enough, I fished all night and did fill the live well.  This gesture went down well with the other passengers and their opinions of me defintely changed! They were no longer cold towards me, and everyone enjoyed the fishing together as the Captain took us to the wrecks  to find some Amber Jacks.  The Captain knew all the good spots! It was amazing! 

    Almost instantly multiple people had Amber Jacks on, some even 30-40lbs.  I caught a 25lb Amber Jack, I was so delighted!  Definite bragging rights to my friends at home!!  I had been on other 44 hour charters before but never experienced fishing like this.  I was so happy to have found this boat and to realise just how good these charters could be.  Never in my life had I stopped fishing because my arms hurt so much!  I had my limit (Snapper and Grouper) and had also helped other people to make their limit.  It was a perfect trip thanks to the Gulf Star Captain and Crews' knowledge, experience and hospitality! 

   I had planned to go on  a 44 hour trip every year after that.  Unfortunately, the following year the weather put a stop to my plans and the following year after that, the oil spill stopped the Gulf Star Fishing Charters out of Tarpon Springs.  I tried a different charter but it was disappointing to say the least after my Gulf Star Experience.  I was thrilled to hear that you had returned.  I am counting the days now until my next trip to Florida and my 44 hour fishing trip.  I have been telling my friend (also a fishing fanatic) all about this for years now so I hope to bring him with me. I'm so excited about it!

 

Thanks for a great experience and see you in March!! Hopefully you'll enjoy my story!

 

Best Regards,

Donald Campbell