A long line of anglers were lining up and boarding the 85-foot “Two Georges” party boat that was getting ready to depart.  The group of anglers was a collective mix of young, old, couples, and groups of friends.  Anticipation was running high among the anglers hoping to catch and keep a grouper since the season was closing the following day.  The captain and owner of Dolphin Deep Sea Fishing, Jesse Zuban, was taking Two Georges offshore to some deep water reefs that were loaded up with grouper.  Before leaving the dock, a bait man came around selling live pinfish; a tasty treat grouper love to eat.  With everyone on board, we were going offshore deep sea fishing.

Depending on the charter boat, going deep sea fishing is very affordable.  On the Dolphin Deep Sea Fishing Charters everything is supplied including rod and reel, cut bait, and license.  Anglers going out can take their own coolers with food and drink; otherwise the Two Georges has a full galley serving hot sandwiches, snacks, and drinks.  The “old timers” and regulars are easy to pick out in a crowd with their coolers and fishing poles.  “We have a lot of customers on vacation from up north and then the regulars that go out every week,” Captain Zuban continued, “the max we can take out is 100, but normally we average 50 to 60 people, today we have just 38 on board.”  Depending on the number of people going out on a charter, Captain Zuban will have so many mates aboard to help and assist anglers as they catch their fish. 

It was a two hour journey out to the deep water reef we were going to fish.  Captain Zuban worked as a mate through high school for the original owner of the Two Georges.  After graduating high school, Captain Zuban worked as a commercial fisherman till buying the Miss Virginia that is dock up in New Port Richey, Florida, and later the Two Georges that is dock in Tarpon Springs, Florida, at the Sponge Dock’s district.  He is saltwater wise, always has a smile on his face, and interacts with anglers during the charters; even giving them advice on techniques to catching the big ones. 

After arriving to our fishing destination, Captain Zuban dropped the anchor and everyone went to fish.  It did not take long and the first fish was on and soon everyone was reeling in fish.  The majority of fish were grunts and a few keeper groupers.  As anglers caught their fish, mates would run over and put them on a stringer then place them in a cooler with ice.  The mates were extremely helpful with all the anglers and without them the charter would have been absolute chaos.  When the fishing slowed at one deep water reef Captain Zuban would move the boat to another reef.  Each reef seemed to have numerous schools of fish and by the end of the day a good number of keeper groupers had been caught.

On the return trip, anglers shared stories of how the big one got away or how many fish they had caught.  The air conditioned cabin was an oasis and everyone was in a festive mood.  After docking, the ship’s mates distributed stringers of fish, mostly grunts and groupers to their rightful owners.  A number of the anglers had the mates clean their fish for a small fee while others loaded them in to their large coolers.

Like the majority of party boats, Dolphin Deep Sea Fishing Charters has a daily trip out from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but also offers extended offshore grouper trips for anglers wanting to journey way offshore.  Two Georges is also available for corporate or private fishing parties; it has even been chartered for weddings on board the ship.  The one amenity worth noting is a separate men’s and women’s restroom.  That is important when you are going, going, gone deep sea fishing.