This charter looked incredible, and perfectly suited for our family. This was going to be the highlight of our vacation for my husband who was stoked to fish for some larger "Floridian" fish. Paulette turned out to be our guide and she was very short and rude to all of us right out of the gate. We started out by being scolded for bringing a tiny portion of dirt on the footprint from our shoes and she walked around the whole boat mopping up after us looking annoyed to death. She informed us that no matter our intentions we would fish for whatever the least experienced angler on the boat could fish for... so in this case my 5 year old son. So my husband, who is an avid fisherman from Oklahoma paid an arm and a leg to fish for some tiny fish we could rival on any lake in the Midwest. This trip wasn't FOR the kids... they just got to come along, but it quickly became just that. Paulette was very kind to the kids and seemed to enjoy them (when she wasn't impatient with them for wasting "her" bait). She spoke down to my husband and made sure she "put him in his place" at every opportunity when he would try to ask for better fishing experiences. The kids had fun. So this summed up to be the most expensive kids activity we've ever done as a family. They'd have been pleased with a rod and reel from the dock. Disappointing, and a waste of a lot of money... especially the gratuity. read more

Key West and the fishing is amazing but I was disappointed with this charter, and I'd recommend using a different company. The guide I had was overly formalistic--he didn't want to use live bait because fishing with a jig lure was supposedly the more noble way to catch a fish. He also didn't have a net, and we lost my best fish when he tried onboarding it by hand. I asked him why there was no net, and he just said "we don't have nets." Later, when we were snorkeling and I saw a bunch of lobster, I asked if I could use a tickler from the boat to help catch one, and he again said no, this time explaining that "This isn't a lobster charter." read more

My son and I thoroughly enjoyed our full day charter. Our guide Brian put us on fish right out of the marina even though it was pouring rain and winds at 20 Knots. We booked a full day two weeks prior and because of the weather, Brian let me know up front that he would shorten the day and charge us accordingly. I appreciated his consideration of our experience. The rain subsided and we continued to fish. Brian did a great job of spending some time pursuing trophy Tarpon and working the backcountry for other species. We had a great day and I would definitely book with this outfitter again based on Brian. read more

Have you ever hooked a tarpon? Seen it jump out of the water on your line from 30 yards away? I hadn't until I hooked up with these guys on a recent trip. Breathtaking. My favorite experience on a what was a fantastic week in Key West. Captain Chris took Great care of both me and my wife, both inexperienced fisherman to say the least. We fished unsuccessfully for tarpon for an hour or so, then changed rods / lures to fish for whatever else we could catch, pulling in several footlong pike and other beautiful bay fish. Really, as good a day as I had hoped for. Then, just before calling it a day, Captain Chris yelled out as his rod bent over double. He handed it to me just before this dinosaur fish shot out of the water and landed with a splash explosion. Excited to say the least, we followed this monster, reeling him in for an HOUR. I'm not sure he knew he was hooked for the 1st 30 minutes. He jumped 3 more times, the last one only 5 feet from the boat. Cpt Chris was invaluable, shouting advice and encouragement the whole way. As luck would have it, the line broke just before we could pull him out of the water. Still, the best day of fishing I have ever had. Can't say enough about the operation and Cpt Chris' excitement and demeanor. My highest recommendation among dozens of cool things to do in Key West. read more

Straight up best fishing trip big thanks to capt nick he was awesome I'll be back next year for sure had us right on top of tarpon all day long read more

I booked our charter 4 months in advance. We decided to do the shark fishing charter. Storms were predicted that day so we knew our charter would be cut short, but felt there was still plenty of time for the experience. Unfortunately we were taken right off shore to fish for bait fish. We spent 3 hours fishing for bait fish and never came close to doing what the website stated. I followed up with a phone call and email requesting a refund as we paid $600 and never once saw shark. They offered me a $275 refund. When questioned about the amount the owner told me how he built his business from scratch and his boat is expensive and that I should be thankful for his over generous offer. With several charters to chose from in KeyWest I would strongly advise against this one. I paid 325 to catch snapper all day that I could have caught for free at any bridge. read more

Headed out with Captain Nick for a perfect day of fishing. Tried to get into Tarpon but despite seeing them rolling it might have been too early in the season. Had some luck in other shallows with Jack, Porky, Grouper, Mutton and others. Couldn't have been happier with Captain Nick and the day of fishing. So happy in fact that we booked a second day out on the water. read more

Great day with captain Nate doing back water fishing for grouper, yellowtail, snapper, shark... The boat was ready to roll as soon as we arrived, professional and friendly service, fish caught all day and the "keepers" were filleted and put on ice for us. Best fishing charter our party had ever had. We'll use them next time, not to mention the great rate!! Thanks for making our trip down a success. read more

The best place to fish in the Florida Keys! JOHN was awesome and my son and I had a great time! My son really enjoyed Johns knowledge of fishing. Thx again JOHN and Dream Catchers in Key West! read more

Best charter out there! Captain John (Cowboy) was simply amazing! Caught several fish, including the Tarpon of a lifetime!

We had a great trip with John. He put us on Tarpon early. We caught a nice one then moved on to catch some food fish. Had it not been for a lightning storm coming, we could have filled the boat. We booked another trip for tomorrow. read more

We went the week after thanksgiving and our captain Tommy Z "Jester" took me and my wife for a great day of fishing. We chose the 8 hour trip. First we threw jigs and caught three kinds of snapper, yellow tail jacks, and some good size speckled trout. Then we tried to get some baby tarpon biting( no takers; although the captain did get a bite demonstrating the technique, maybe it was me?) then we sight casted to some large barracuda and had some really chasing the bait but no takers. Then we set up to catch bigger tarpon. The captain explained the do's and don'ts of fighting a tarpon (which I had never done before) but all that went out the window when I hooked the first one and it launched out of the water. All I could do is stand there with my mouth open in awe. I redeemed myself on the second bite and successfully caught one which was about 45 lbs per the captain. We ended the day shark fishing where my wife battled and caught a lemon shark about 4.5'. This is a first class operation and have very nice equipment and boats. Check them out! I can't wait to get back! read more

We did a full day offshore two days in a row. The captain was nice enough but had no urgency to catch keeper fish. We would stay in the same area for hours without catching fish. Th few times we did catch a keeper fish, we would leave and go back to doing the same unproductive yellowtail jigging - without any chum. I would not recommend using this company for offshore fishing. read more

Although it has taken me a while to write this because I have been busy since I got back from my first trip to Key West, I felt I would be doing a disservice to Capt. Kyle Kelso and Dream Catcher Chartes if I did not post a review. During the first week in February, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and I went on a full-day backcountry trip with Capt. Kyle. The day started early, soon after picking up some bait, Capt. Kyle started us drifting for tarpon about 10-15 minutes from the dock. He said it was a little early in the season for tarpon but the weather was warm so there was a chance we could hook up. Within the first few minutes of us being in the spot we started seeing fish breaking the surface, so I was a little anxious because one of the things on my bucket list is catching a tarpon. Within about 15 minutes or so, I heard the drag start clicking and waited for the Captain to tell me to pick up the rod. He did and it was "fish on." While I have done my share of fishing, it has been mostly lake and stream fishing with some striper, fluke and blackfish fishing mixed in, but this was definitely the biggest fish I ever had on the end of the line and thankfully Capt. Kyle was there to talk me through what I needed to do to bring the fish to the boat. During the 15 minute or so fight, Capt. Kyle let me know when to let the fish do its thing, when I should reel, etc. While the fish took advantage of my inexperience once I got it to the boat and tried to get me to walk around the boat several times, I finally learned that I had some control and stood my ground. The first few times I got it close to the boat, the fish let us know it was not quite ready to give up and splashed us more than a few times. We probably leadered the fish 3 or 4 times before the fight was finally over and I officially caught my first tarpon. While it may not have been a monster, at ~50-60 pounds it was the biggest fish I ever caught and gave us a good show as you can see from the pictures. After we got a few pictures of the fish, we let it go to fight another day so that if could give another agler an expirience of a lifetime. After a few more drifts, the tide changed without us hooking up again, so we headed to the back country. In the first spot Capt. Kyle took us to, we drifted some live bait while fishing bucktails. Within the first few drifts at the first spot the drag on the live bait reel went off, my father-in-law grabbed rod and it was fish-on. After a good fight he brought a nice 3-4 ft. black tip to the boat. At this spot we were catching lady fish like crazy, even on some of the bucktails that pretty much had no hair. After I was able to reel in another 3-4 ft black tip on the live bait we moved to another spot. This time we tried to site fish for some baracuda on the edge of the flats. While my father-in-law was able to cast to a few baracuda, none seemed interested so we moved to spot #3. At spot three we again tried to site fish for some baracuda, and I was able to "cast" at a couple of fish, but the only thing I caught was my brother-in-law (thankfully it was only his shirt and I did not actually hook into him). After some horrible casting on my part, we decided to stay in this spot but go back to the bucktails. After catching a bunch of little and different types of snapper (hooking up on almost every cast) we decided to move on. On our way to spot #4, Capt. Kyle and my brother-in-law noticed a dorsal fin sticking out of the water and we went over to investigate, and there was a 12-14 ft. hammerhead. We followed it for a little bit trying to see if we could get a picture but no luck, so we continued to spot #4. Here we continued to fish the bucktails and our luck continued as we caught more ladyfish, jacks, blue runners, look downs and pompano. At this spot we were again catching fish on nearly every cast. After a little while the spot started to slow down so we moved a little further down the chanel and the fishing picked up again and we stayed here until it was time to head in for the day. In all, I think we caught something like 15 or 16 different species of fish and my for arm was starting to hurt from all the casting and fighting we did. I have been on several charters and I have to say this was the best trip by far. Not only did Capt. Kyle put us on the fish in every spot we went to, he was great at giving us tips all day. I can't wait to go back to the keys and I know when I go back I will be booking another trip with Dream Catcher Charters and Capt. Kyle. read more

Had a great trip with Our guide Brian. He was nothing but professional and put us on a number of different species. We will be back.

My wife and I went out on a 6 hour back country / flats trip with Capt. John. Great time, caught a lot of small jacks, mutten snapper and a nice speckled trout despite crappy weather conditions....... very cool (60's) and 12-14 mph winds. John worked hard to get us out the the wind as much as he could and on fish. We asked to use baitcasters - which of course is not common here and they were very accommodating! Capt. John said my wife was his first client to ever catch a fish on a baitcaster with him! VERY professionally run operation. Extremely nice boats and equipment (we were in a 24' Action Craft, dual power poles, I-Pilot trolling motor and 350 Verado). I will indeed use Dream Catchers and Capt. John when I come back to the Keys after tarpon!!!! read more

Captain Nate was awesome!! We had a blast on our 8 hour tour. We did snorkeling, fishing, site seeing, etc. We would definitely come back and do another trip through them, cannot say enough good things about our captain and our experience :) read more

Fished in July with Cowboy. He was great. Very patient with my young son who was on his first saltwater trip. Cowboy put us on a mixed bag of fish and made sure to try to accommodate everything we had asked for. We will most definitely be back. Lots of fun. Very friendly and professional. read more

We have fished with Dreamcatchers several times and they are the best! We had Paulette (Dory) this Christmas and she was great! Professional, knowledgeable and fun read more

Had a great day with Capt John aka Merlin. He provided us with a variety of fishing experiences and was very knowledgeable. He always put us on the fish! Excellent gear and top notch water craft. read more

Glorious day in Key West made even better by Captain Kyle. We picked up our live bait & learned how he finds the spot where he left the trap, how the fish get in there & how to get them out. Then we zoomed out to attempt to catch some tarpon (instead they "caught" our bait) & went off to catch many more fish & try to lure sharks. We were schooled on all the life we saw below (sea turtles, giant rays, a nurse shark) and I learned how to cast my line & reel in my catch. Go bend some rods! read more

Went on a four hour trip, the total weight of fish we caught was about 3 pounds. They didn't use any fresh bait or chum, just jigs. Really disappointed. read more

This is our 4th year with DreamCatcher and as always, it was fun and we caught lots of fish. Captain Kyle was very knowledgeable and helpful, making the trip a blast. read more

I have been on several charter boats in the keys and a ton around the U.S. And Dreamcatchers Charters with Capt. Wiley is by far the best. We caught Grouper just about every kind of snapper and even a Shark that Captain Wiley worked extremely hard to draw in. The boat was clean and well equipped and the company was very professional... HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!! read more

My family and I went lobster diving on two boats. Both captains "dory" and Sean were amazing and helpful. We had sooo much fun! Saw all kinds of fish and caught at least 60 lobsters. We only caught one keeper but we didn't care because we had tooo much fun! The lobsters were hard at first to catch but we caught on quick with our guides advice! Best thing I did in key west! read more

I would give it ZERO STARS if that grade existed. Backcountry fishing trip. . Nice boat. "Know it all kid captain". We fished 4 hours for $650.00. Caught 8 tiny fish. One of mine was about 3" which was counted by the captain as a species. Total weight of fish caught might have reached 4lbs. My daughter asked the captain if this was a typical day and he replied "yes! We caught 7 species of fish". This was a Scam. A total ripoff. Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. Save your money or go somewhere else and for certain do do out with captain Hugh. read more