My wife, daughter and son and I went on a fabulous fishing trip out of Key West in mid-February with Captain Brad Simonds and his first mate Mick with Southpaw Fishing.  We caught a plethora of fish (8-different and memorable species—Porgy is a great name) and thoroughly enjoyed eating a number of them.  Our request was to catch dinner for one-night and then have a great time fishing as my daughter and bride had not been ocean fishing.  Capt. Simonds and Mick were there making sure we had a great time while engaging us with their experiences and an upcoming tournament they were going to be in.  If you get the opportunity to have Captain Brad and Mick as your Captain and First Mate you won’t be sorry and say hello from Doc Brown yelling “Marty”!!

Surprised my wife with a trip to KW From Tampa. Decided to book a full day trip for the two of us with Captain Brad and First-mate Mick.

100% would make that decision all over again and plan to come back.

Fishing with them was great and we landed a good amount of mahi, a sailfish and plenty of yellowtail snapper. At the end of the day we were both tired, so it was worth every second. Our results for the day were all the better because we did hear other captains on the radio stating how tough a day they were having finding the bite.

Mick did an excellent job. He was nice enough to answer our many questions and to teach us some of the ways he was rigging bait. He was patient and friendly throughout the trip.

Captain Brad is clearly an experienced captain. When landing bigger fish you could tell he was driving strategically to help make reeling the fish in easier. He came down when we got multiple hits and was helping out. He taught us what we didn’t know and took his time with us.

The boat is immaculate throughout and well maintained. Very large and room for plenty of people. It was great for the two of us but looks like they’d have lots of space even with 6 anglers. The docks were nice and parking was easy.

All of this on a full day trip. The day before they had a dawn to dusk trip, so I know these guys were probably exhausted, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell.  These guys were pros.l all around.

Speaking of, here is a pro tip: don’t go barefoot bc the deck does get slippery. So bring some shoes with good grip. Also, take your catch to Dante’s where they’ll cook it there ways for you (fried, blackened, pan seared) for about $10 and that comes with 3 sides.

My husband and I along with our four children had an amazing time aboard the Southpaw . Thank you to Captain Brad for taking us out and fishing for sailfish, tuna, &yellow tail snapper. We did not catch any tuna but the rest mentioned, we did. In addition, we caught Bonita fish. All of us caught more then one fish during our day on the water. The kids were thrilled to have caught dinner for that night. We highly recommend Southpaw charter boat with Captain Brad Simonds, we will be back to do this again, this fishing trip memory will be one our kids won’t forget.

Awesome experience.  Brad and his first mate Chip were on top of everything from the minute we got there until the trip was over.  If you are looking for a crew that works for you to make the trip as productive as possible these two professionals are the ones you want to hire.  Given the same respect they give you and your dream will become reality.  35 lbs of Dolphin fish along with black tuna and bonita.
Obviously they do not have control of nature but if the fish is out there , they will try their best to find it.  The boat was very clean and comfortable.  The first mate was constantly working the bait, lines,  and given you handy tips to reel the fish.

My son and I went out on this charter . The boat is excellent . The wide beam made it a bit more comfortable on the open sea, and the shaded area provided nice relief from the sun.

The captain is very skilled . We ran about 45 minutes to get to the first spot, and hit Mahi immediately . His first mate is one of the hardest working people I have ever seen. He kept us baited up and ready for the whole trip without missing a beat.

We hit our limit of mahi , and we left with a cooler full of fresh mahi filets

This was a great experience , and I would have no hesitation in booking this charter again. Well worth it