South Florida trip

[mudd-mann]

Hey guys in South Florida. I'm planning a vacation to the Keys the second week of Feb. Not going to be able to take my 190 with me, but would like to charter a fishing trip one day as well as do a little snorkeling. Anyone know of a reasonable charter outfit out of Key Largo-Marathon area or even Naples or Fort Myers? Never been there so I don't know what to expect. What kind of fishing is good this time of year? Thanks for whatever input you can give. Don

[LadiesDrinkFree]

Hi,

I was born and raised in Naples. It's a nice-looking, wealthy, growing town nowadays (and I believe has the most golf courses of any city in the US), and a great place to raise a family. There's a lot of wealthy retirees in condos and amazing houses there. Best of all, every part of it is just minutes to the beach.

Fort Myers is more of a blue-collar working man's town to me - not as luxurious, but the beach parts are nice.

However, the water on that coast is not too clear at all. In the Keys, you'll get an island atmosphere and clear beautiful water everywhere.

I never have chartered a boat and don't know any to recommend, but I do know that Cabela's has a huge Outdoor World store in Islamorada (even has Ernest Hemingway's fishing boat inside the store and a killer live tank that has huge grouper, cobia, etc. in it), and at the rear has dockage along with charter boats that are run by Cabela's and guaranteed by them. I bet that would be a good bet. You can probably get more info on cabelas.com. I've always been happy with Cabela's and their prices (a lot cheaper on a lot of things than West Marine and Boat US).

[mudd-mann]

Thanks LDF,
We'll be sure to visit Cabela's and check out what they have. Plan to take the clubs too, so Napels sounds good on the way back. I would also like to skip an airboat across the everglades too. If you know of any contacts there that would be good too. thanks again. Don

[LadiesDrinkFree]

I've never been on a Everglades airboat or swamp buggy tour, but one business that has been around for at least 20 years is Wooten's ( www.wootensairboats.com ). It's about 2/3rds of the way across Florida going from the Keys to Naples, but instead of taking I-75, you'll need to take US41 (which is an older road with stop lights, etc). There might be one airboat place on I-75 (smooth straight highway with no lights), but I can't remember the name of it.