Took a half day out with Captain Cook for my son’s first fishing trip. First off, we had to reschedule for weather and the captain was very flexible and wanted it to be the best experience. Once we did go out, we had a blast and his face lit up when he caught his first fish. Captain was very patient with us, knowledgeable about where we would catch, and the day flew by. Son is already asking when we will go back.  Would highly recommend this charter.

Just returned home from an outstanding day on the water with Captain Don Cook of Captain Cook Charters.
We had an outstanding day on the water with Captain Don. He is very thorough and safety oriented. Also, he went out of his way to help where he saw fit that he could.  We did get fish, not as much as we had hoped for but that is why they call it “fishing and not catching”.
Captain Don did readily adapt to a surface fish frenzy, and we switched from bottom fishing to trolling in hopes of blue fish or stripers, unfortunately they were not biting, but we certainly did appreciate the effort.
He has a fine vessel that is well equipped, and Captain Don is certainly well experienced on the water. People should be aware that bathroom accommodations are like airplanes bathrooms and can be challenging as I routinely have found, but then again, I am 6’7” tall and everything from clothes to facilities are tough for me to find never mind deem comfortable. I would reach out to the captain with any accessibility concerns in advance.
Captain Don is a straight shooter and was very responsive in responding to any questions I had before the trip.
YES I WOULD RECCOMEND. YES I AM PLANNING TO RE BOOK TO GO OUT AGAIN WITH CAPTIAN DON.  YES WE DID CATCH FISH AND HAD AN OUTSTANDING TIME AND DAY ON THE WATER WITH CAPTIAN DON AND CAPTIAN COOK CHARTERS.
I just hope this positive review does not fill his schedule so much that I cannot rebook the next time I want to go out.
Captain Don thank you for the enjoyable day and trip and for turning around for Zach’s hat LOL.
Many Thanks
Brian

Captain was very knowledgeable professional at his Position. Talk up conversations with us, helped us with our fishing rods for us to the correct places to catch fish, just wonderful day all around. Definitely going back next year, it was very professional.

Amazing experience!! Immaculate boat, rods and bait were provided, and caught a bunch of fish. The captain was great and made sure to include the whole group. He baited every hook and took most of the fish off for my daughters and wife. Absolute blast would highly recommend.

Our experience with Captain Cook Charters was incredibly frustrating and felt like a total waste of time and money. We booked this trip, driving 4 hours from upstate NY to specifically target striped bass and bluefish, but we barely got any time with rods in our hands—less than half the trip, to be exact (4 hours).

The trip started out okay with a few black sea bass, but that’s not what we paid $450 for. The captain didn’t seem prepared at all. He used sinkers that were way too light (maybe 2 oz?)—nowhere near the 5–6 oz we clearly needed to hold bottom in the current. It was clear the gear wasn’t set up right for the conditions.

We “trailed eels” for nearly 30 minutes, but the boat was moving far too fast for it to be effective. The eels were just skipping on top of the water.

We spent over half the trip driving, instead of fishing, and at no point did the captain adjust or explain what was going on. For the price we paid, we expected a professional, focused fishing experience—not a glorified boat ride. Its was not the lack of fish caught that upset us, it was the overall unpleasantness of the entire experience knowing that we wasted our money as well as time. We understand that conditions may have been unfavorable as well but there was a large lack of communication.

Would not recommend this charter if you’re serious about catching fish or expect even basic professionalism.