Venice FL Fishing Charters

As his guest, Capt. Van’s desire is to provide you with a courteous professional fishing charter, and provides quality tackle and gear, combined into an enjoyable and memorable experience while fishin in Venice FL and Englewood FL – all for a reasonable fee.

People are different, and therefore, have different expectations and needs. To help make your fishing trip a success, please communicate your ideas and wishes to Capt Van. There is flexibility with most aspects of a charter – for example – Capt. Van can make a stop for lunch or you can carry it along. The captain may target specific species or just go after whatever is biting – you will usually catch more if you target what’s biting (see the current fishing report). So please, let the captain know if you have any special requests.

Kids over 6 years old are always welcome, but young children do require FULL-TIME attention on a boat. Captain Van enjoys teaching kids of all ages to fish.

March through June is the area’s primetime and early reservations are encouraged. Capt. Van will help you try to find another qualified guide if he’s already booked.

Normal departure time is 8:00 am, but this can be customized. Fishing charters between March and November usually involve fishing with live minnows. Catching these minnows is an early morning exercise. When live bait will be caught, you have two options for departure times, (1) catch minnows with the captain leaving about 6:00 am, or (2) arrange for pick up around 8:00 am.

On tarpon trips, a 6:00 am departure is recommended. This will put you on the big silver kings at sunrise, and you’ll usually be hooked up before 7 am.

Catching is usually better on weekdays because the weekends are more crowded. If you’re traveling a long way Capt. Van suggests you schedule more than one days charter.

Capt. Van can also arrange multi-boat trips to accommodate any party size.

Charter Rates

Some fish are seasonal and only available some of the time!

We do have something to fish all the time!

Deposits

Deposit policy. Reservation dates require 50% deposits and prime time dates (like Holidays, tarpon/snook etc… seasons) are only refunded if weather is Small Craft Advisory or Boat can be rebooked. Every reasonable effort will be made to reschedule your charter I want to fish with you if possible, but have usually turned down other trips for yours. We fish in moderate rain but not lighting! Some of our best catches are in less than perfect weather conditions.

Location

Most charters depart from Stump Pass Marina, located on the mainland between Englewood and Boca Grande. The marina is located about an hour South of the Tampa Bay area, less than and hour South from Sarasota/ Bradenton, about and hour North of Ft. Myers, and around three hours from Orlando.
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Pick up at other sites can usually be arranged; any additional compensation depends on the time and distance.

Weather

The captain can’t control the weather or tides so you must be willing to work around Mother Nature’s moods. Weather can create challenges. Capt Van does fish in less than perfect conditions and will make the best of what Mother Nature dishes out.

Lighting, Small Craft Warnings and unsafe conditions are beyond the captain’s control and refunds are available for these instances, but of course, we’ll try and reschedule if possible.