Last night a friend, and I took advantage of an awesome Groupon deal to go Shark Fishing on the Ocean Obsession Party Boat. Included in the deal was a spot on the 7pm -11pm shark fishing trip, rod & reel rental, fishing license, bait & tackle, and a $5 credit to the restaurant/bar Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar all for the cost of an Andrew Jackson (that's $20 for those of you who no longer pay with cash). What a deal!
First stop of the night was Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar for dinner. The place was packed, but it only took 10 minutes for us to get a table inside overlooking Port Canaveral. They had a live band playing cover songs outside at the Tiki Bar. Their menu is reasonably priced, and offers everything from seafood, to burgers, to steaks, and sushi. I had a grilled fish sandwich (Mahi) that came with chips & a pickle spear.
Grills will clean, and cook your catch along with a few sides for a small fee. Actually, most seafood restaurants located on the water will do this if you ask them to.
After dinner we boarded the Ocean Obsession Party Boat for the 7pm - 11pm Shark Fishing Trip. They allow their guest to bring a small cooler on board with their own drinks, food, and beer (no glass).
They only go 3 - 5 miles out to sea for the shark trips, so the ride out only takes about 25 minutes, leaving plenty of time to fish. Enough talk, on to the pictures...
(click to enlarge pictures)
This reminds me, I need to get a rod for the nice reel that my wife got me for Christmas a few years ago...
Headed back in to Port Canaveral @ 11pm.
The restaurant is closed, but the tiki bar is rocking with another band playing cover songs as we pull up to the dock.
A marine biologist was at the dock to weigh, and take measurements of some of the sharks for research.
The crew will fillet your catch for tips.
I caught 3 sharks on this trip.
The captain, and crew on the Ocean Obsession were awesome. They are friendly, helpful, and run a clean boat. I have been fishing on party boats out of Port Canaveral since I was 12 years old, but this was my first trip on the Ocean Obsession. They are the best party boat in Port Canaveral, and I will definitively be back to fish with them again!
Thanks for reading, and as always, follow, comment, and share.
That looks like a lot of fun. Is there a size limit for the sharks? Some of them look small. The ones in the line up look bigger.
ReplyDeleteMost of the sharks caught are Atlantic Sharpnose. They don't get very big. Most are only 2 1/2 to 3 feet long. The crew pushes catch and release if you are not going to eat the shark, so a lot of the legal sharks get thrown back. Of the 6 total legal-sized sharks we caught, we only kept 2 of them. We threw back all the Blacktips which have a strict limit of only 2 per boat.
DeleteI have been educated on shark-ing. Thanks Robbie :)
Deletetaking that trip tonight but im bringing my own gear. do you remember what their rigs were like? looks like heavy mono with a sliding sinker then a swivel with wire leader to a hook. that sound about right?
ReplyDeleteThey use heavy mono leaders. Broken leaders are common, but the staff is quick to tie on a new leader, and get you back in the water... Have fun tonight!
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