This boat and crew were great to us. My mother (72) and I did a six hour fishing trip. The deck hands were super helpful and courteous to us. The captain did a great job getting us on the fish and knowing when it was time to move to another spot. For reference, the youngest kids on the boat seemed to be around eight or nine and didn't seem to have a problem fishing with a little help from their parents. Someone else on Yelp recommended bringing a rag to wipe their hands. This was clutch. I'd also recommend bringing some wet wipes. But, at the end of the day, it's fishing, you're going to get a little messy. Highly recommend! read more

These guys were amazing. We had so much fun. They are upbeat and knowledgeable and know exactly where to find the fish. Would definitely recommend sweet Jodi's to everyone read more

Captain Aaron is amazing and he will go out of his way to ensure that you have a great time and put you on the fish! The crew is extremely friendly and helpful to ensure everyone has a great time!! read more

We went out on the Sweet Jody On monday and had a blast! We caught mango and corgie and trigger fish! The crew and captain were awesome! We will definitely do that again! read more

Smaller sized fishing boat. We went out the week after Christmas and caught oodles of fish!

Booked a trip to leave dock at 7:00 AM. Arrived at 6:15, I hate to be late. the crew announced at departure time that the trip was cancelled sir to rough seas, it happens. What sucks is that when we checked in, the seas were too rough already. They should have told us at check in that the trip was cancelled. or sent us a text at 6 telling us the trip was cancelled. Wasting 45 minutes of my of my time is what pisses me off. And we wasted 6 hours of paid parking. read more

From check in to check out this was an amazing experience. My wife and I took our family on the party boat for a day of fishing and we had a blast. It was one of the best deep sea fishing trips that I had been on in a long time. I was not sure what to expect from a party boat atmosphere but the captain and crew did a great job of making sure that lines weren't Tangled, fish were brought on board and stored properly the entire time. The two guys that were the mates and we're responsible for storing the fish and helping people with their lines and reels did an outstanding job and really made the trip worthwhile. If you're looking for the opportunity to go on your first fishing trip out of Destin at a reasonable price with a great crew this is a good boat for you. read more

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I'm not sure how our day could have been more perfect. Tips: You can bring a cooler with food and drinks. No glass. Beer is okay in cans. They sell water and soda and snickers bars. Suntan lotion up before you go and wash your hands. If you have it on your hands, the fish won't bite the bait. Shades and a ball cap are a plus. Bring cash for tipping. They deserve it. There were four of us. Our 13 year old daughter and 73 year old Mother in law. The crew was amazing. Chris and Neil made sure everyone on the boat had what they needed. They have great advice and helped all day long. We caught fish all day. This was a first time for our daughter and she is hooked. Thank you to the staff who helped make our day awesome. They will clean your fish for you at the end of the day. They will bag it by the type of fish you catch. They don't charge at all. So please tip them. We had fun. It was beautiful. Couldn't have asked for a better experience. read more

Sweet Jody - Thank you Sweet Jody! - Boating Near Me - Destin, Florida

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2 adults and my 10 year old went out on an 8 hour trip. Caught 61 snapper and had a blast! Deck hands were so patient and helpful with my son and he ended up catching more than both of the adults! Will definitely go again! read more

Sweet Jody - Boating Near Me - Destin, Florida

The fishing was decent for a five hour trip, the issue was with the time spent fishing. It was a five-hour trip and nearly 3 hours of that was used driving out and back. That would normally leave 2 hours to fish but since we left the dock over 20 minutes late and came back right on time it only ended up being a little over an hour and a half of fishing. I didn't have a problem with leaving the dock late, it's happened on charters I've taken before, but normally they just make it up on the back end. These guys didn't. We actually made it back to the dock a few minutes early after leaving 20 + minutes late because they were standing on the dock talking to other captains and mates. read more

Wonderful experience! Great crew! Highly recommend Sweet Jody! My family and I all had exceptionally experience and can't wait to book our next trip with them! read more

August of 2014 My 6 year old son and husband went on an 8 hour tour. We have gone to Destin for 5 years and Sweet Jody was great. The crew really took my son under their wing. everyone was super nice. They caught a lot of fish; all and all great day. read more

Sweet Jody - Sweet Jody Fishing - Boating Near Me - Destin, Florida

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Took a half day trip 7am-noon. I'm a west coast angler so most of the fish are new to me. We had a great trip skipper put us on the fish. I was able to land some new fish that I have never caught. Took pictures and the fish were released unharmed. Boat and crew were excellent. Highly recommended. Here are some pics read more

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My husband and I went on this fishing trip after taking a few others and we were totally pleased with the crew and the fishing we caught some red snapper. And the crew was incredible and they stayed extremely busy.We felt like the captain knew exactly where to Fish . The ride to and from was long but beautiful . The crew helped in every way they could. And when the trip was over they cleaned the fish and then we took them to a restaurant that one of the crew recommended and it was cooked absolutely to perfection just like he suggested we could not thank them enough for the awesome memories. read more

I've read the bad reviews and noticed they are old. Absolutely none of the things complained about in them were seen or experienced by us, so I'm assuming those employees no longer work for Sweet Jody. We went for the 8 hour fishing trip. There were 4 in our group, and the total was $330. We arrived at 8:30 am. It takes about 90 minutes to get far enough out to fish. We were instructed by the deck mates (Issac and Johnny) how to operate the rods and reels. We were provided with buckets of bait. Once the Captain blows the horn, you're allowed to drop your line and start fishing. The deck mates were phenomenal! I think there was a total of 18 of us fishing and the 2 of them seemed to be everywhere at once. As soon as someone pulled a fish out of the water, one of them was there to take it off the hook. I needed help a few times in getting my fish up, and Issac was right there to help. Every person on the boat caught their limit. If the Captain noticed that there was a lull, he'd move to another spot. We caught an unreal number of vermillion snapper and trigger fish. Upon returning to the dock, Isaac and Johnny cleaned and filleted all the fish. These guys rely on tips, so tip well! They deserve every penny they get! We stopped on the way back to our condo at one of the many Hook and Cook places. They will cook your fresh catch for $10! Eating fish that you pulled out of the gulf an hour before is unbelievable! We highly recommend Sweet Jody and crew! Some recommendations: Take sunscreen. Dress in layers as it can fluctuate from hot to cold to hot again. Take a cooler with food and drinks. Take some old rags to wipe your hands since they get slimy from the bait (or you'll have to buy one on the boat for $2). Wear shoes that won't slip and slide on a wet boat. Finally, never grab the line by anything other than the weight at the bottom - I hooked myself three times. read more

The only thing positive about this boat was that they don't charge per pound to filet your fish after you catch them. I believe most of the other party boats charge per pound. Needless to say I wish i would have saved our money and went on a private charter. This was my first time fishing on the ocean and wasn't sure what to expect. When we first got on the boat we were told where to put are things and then advised that they will be going to fill the boat up with fuel. I would think you would be ready to go for the customers to arrive but unfortunately this was not the case. We had to waste about an hour to get to the dock and fill up with fuel. The captain assured us we would make up the time on the back end but I was still not happy about it. I chose the seats near the front of the boat which is apparently not a good choice. We had numerous tangles and all of the crew stayed at the back of the boat and pretty much ignored us. The ride out to where we were fishing took 2 hours as the boat is really slow. Which i never took into account but it was really boring! And the boat was so crowded it was hard to find a comfortable place to sit and to get around to your cooler. The rods all seemed well taken care of and we were supplied with plenty of bait luckily since the crew didn't ever come around to check us. A friend i was with spent a good 45 minutes trying to untangle a line that probably just needed cut and redone. We did catch a good amount of fish and saw a shark! But with the close quarters and unfriendly crew I would pass on doing this trip again. Also we left the normal time to head back to shore and the boat was way slower which took even longer to get back. I believe this is how the captain made up the time he lost on filling up with gas. Also I couldn't stand the way the crew kept pushing the tips. They mentioned it numerous times and made me feel like you didn't have a choice though I really felt like they didn't earn it. read more

Let's review the Sweet Jody, out of Destin, FL, or as my crew fondly dubbed it, the "Vomit Comet" June 2014. The good- The Captain did call the night prior and warn it would be a bumpy day- 1-3 foot swell. (+) On this day lots of wildlife, 4 sea turtles spotted, lots of dolphin who put on a show after they cleaned all your fish off your line- that's fishing. Dolphins like Snapper too:) Lots of flying fish. (+) Deck hands were so -so, not the worst I have seen and certainly not the best. What I did not like; and as a local, pretty upset about. The best place to fish and most stable on a head boat is the back quadrants of the boat. these spots were unavailable due to the 4 quasi-Deckhands who claimed them before anyone hit the boat. I say quasi because these guys fished the whole day then were begging for tips and they were not the two "Deck Hands" on the charter. Now they could have been regulars and probably were, but they got treatment and demanded treatment not available to all. My next tidbit is the deckhands and helpers trolled going out to the fishing grounds and when they slayed a Bonita or undersized king fish, they reeled them in, did not hand the rig to a kid who would have loved the experience. The reason they gave is to get some good grouper bait, while this is very good grouper bait, make no mistake none of it ever hit a paying customer's rod. The other excuse we got for not letting a kid reel one in was that we did not want to "slow down" the boat getting out to the fishing, but we stopped FOUR TIMES on the way out to let the deck hands reel in fish. So if we are stopping let a tourist kid reel the fish in- it would make his or her day. By the 3rd Bonita slaying stop we had about 1/3 to 1/2 half the boat hugging the rail calling on Ralph, Pontiyak, and Buuuik! No big deal, this is a tourist head boat right? We did appreciate all the free chum and buddy we saw a lot! Our two yellow shirted adults (our favorite hurlers) threw up in the trash can, the cabin, the deck, and FINALLY made the rail - Yeah! The Captain did a good job for the 48 total minutes we got to fish, it was bumpy and hard to hold the boat over the spot. Good job CAP! And I do mean that - been there done it - it is hard to do. My take on this is we only found good fish once (first hole) and pulled off after 11 minutes. By good fish I mean more than 5 people of 40 caught a keeper fish on the drop. After that pretty much down-hill. It was hit or miss on the next couple of spots with one or two Red Snapper coming in and that was it , we headed in. My favorite part of the trip - Last hole of the day- young lad hooks what he thinks is a monster grouper, it was bending his rod double and our larger deck hand, (Over 200 lbs) quickly took the rod away and a titanic battle ensured, after a minute and my 25 years of Destin fishing, I realized a) he had a wreck hooked, or b) he had the bottom of the boat, or c) It was not a fish! The Caps wife assured all close it was a monster fish, I think not says I! I walked to the back of the boat and what did I see? One of the quasi-deckhands was also in a titanic struggle with a denizen of the deep! At one glance the story was apparent-as one of the 200 lb men would reel down hard, and raise the rod; at the other end of the boat, quasi-deckhand would nearly be pulled over board! After my crew laughed itself so hard WE almost hurled I manged to gasp out "You mighty Quinns have each other you knuckle heads" at which point one yelled to the other "I think you have me hooked". THAT epic sweaty and furious 5 min battle was our highlight reel for the day. Tipping- a locals take, if the deck hand does a good job - by all means take care of him, they hustle and they do keep you safe, they do clean your fish. So do the right thing. That is how they get paid. Don't be cheap. If, however, he is a hungover, surly, not friendly or not helpful deck hand - you have no obligation to tip. My take on Head Boats, you are getting what you pay for, the cheapest, entry level deep sea fishing trip available designed for the out of town tourist. If you don't know if you will like it or if you will get sick, for your first time, not a bad deal. If you do get sick - too bad; the Cap will not turn around and take you back- The other paying customers might chunk him overboard. So if you get sick you are stuck the entire trip. You might think your dying, and that is sad but you ARE NOT coming back in until the trip is over! Plead, beg, cajole, cry - baby you are there. My recommendation- If you really want to fish deep sea and have a really good chance on a big fish, (Grouper, Snapper, Trigger, Amber jack, Scamp, Wahoo) save your trophy money and charter a boat like the Back Lash or, Reel-Em In. I have fished both with out of town family and never have had a bad trip, expensive yes, but you will have a lot better time, catch more and bigger fish, providing you have sea legs. read more

I went on a charter with Sweet Jody Fishing with my brother and a friend. The fishing experience wasn't exceptional nor poor, but the deck hands we had to deal with. . . WOW They mention at the beginning of the charter that the initial price is cheaper because the deck hands work for tips, and tell you that $35 is what is expected from each person on the charter. Ok, fine. The five or six times they RANTED about it through the trip were unnecessary. More than once myself, or someone I saw, had a question for one of the deck hands. Species identification, catch limits etc. . . They generally offered rude responses if any at all. I caught a fish, brought it up and asked one of the gentleman what it was. He didn't answer me, only proceeded to club the fish five or eight times (still on the hook! the fish wasn't flopping around on deck or anything) and then fling it back telling me 'not a keeper.' I knew it wasn't a keeper, but I still asked a question! As we began heading back, someone obviously said something one of the deck hands didn't like. This threw him into an at least 20 minute (we timed it for 20, not sure how long it was going before we got there) rant about how his services are unappreciated. He kept going on about how 'if ya'll don't like it you can go somewhere else.' This wasn't a conversation that he had with a few people, I went up on the upper deck to get away from it, and even with him leaning on the back rail of the boat, I could still clearly hear him. We get back to shore. . . fish cleaning is included in the charter, and everyone knows it's going to take awhile. The fact that the deck hands were taking swigs of Crown Royal aside. . . the guy goes on ANOTHER RANT! He spent a good 12-15 minutes cussing and going on about how 'ya'll don't need all this f*ing fish.' He also complained that people kept too much fish saying 'it's about the experience, not feeding your family for a f*ing month.' One of the deckhands was slightly less vulgar and rude as the other, we were glad he was the one who cleaned our fish. . . the other guy was leaving obviously large portions on the carcasses. Yes, he was fast, but he was leaving a significant amount of meat on every fish he filleted. Again, our big issue was that all these items were not side comments made to one or two people, these were discussed in a raised voice for everyone to hear. If this had been an establishment we could've walked out of, we would have! read more

Had a great day on Sweet Jody. We had a group of 7 and two were teenagers who had never fished before. Deck hands were very attentive, patient and helpful. We all caught fish and very much enjoyed the day. The captain took pictures of everyone with their catch and the crew filleted the fish for no extra cost. Only complaint would be I wish they would hold a reservation with a credit card. If I return to Destin I will return to Sweet Jody. read more

I thought these guys did a great job. It was my six year olds first trip and both of the mates went way out of their way to make sure he caught fish and enjoyed the 8 hr trip. Keep in mind these guys are extremely busy keeping everyone catching fish, two mates - forty fishermen. Great job guys. We'll be back to catch some snappers with you on the next visit. Great prices here as well. read more

Had a wonderful time fishing on the Sweet Jody today. We caught over thirty vermilion snapper on a six hour trip. Captain and crew were amazing. We will be back. read more

Sweet Jody - Over thirty red vermilion snapper - Boating Near Me - Destin, Florida

I've been fishing with Sweet Jody for a few years now. Whenever I make the trip to Destin I go out a few times a month. The guys always help me get my stuff on the boat. I prefer to fish off the side so I can sit if I get tired. It's always a great day and they make sure they take you to fish filled spots. I took my family with me this last trip and they loved it. We caught over 40 fish. Very worth the money. read more

The crew was really unfriendly, which sucks, because otherwise our trip was fantastic. (And before thinking I'm just sensitive & looking to complain about something, let me assure you that this definitely is NOT the case!). We had great weather, no seasickness that I saw, good instructions for baiting & casting, good equipment & bait supplies, and most importantly . . . we caught LOTS of fish! In our group of 4, we caught 8 "keepers," and 3 of them were mine (one triggerfish & two red snappers. BUT like I said, the crew's attitude was TERRIBLE, right from the very beginning. The girl checking you in at their little office on the dock didn't even look up at anybody as she sold/processed the tickets (who cares, right?), but it got far worse. The ship "mates" ("Chris" and "Drew") acted as if we were a huge inconvenience to them. They wouldn't look at you when you asked a question, and would pause for a long time before answering -- as if they were trying to decide whether to even answer you. The worst part was when my brother-in-law tried to buy a Snickers (they have a little "snack bar" where they sell crackers, Snickers, towels, and waters for 1.00 each), and the Chris guy just stared at his money for a second like he didn't really want to bother with it, and then he finally handed the Snickers to him without looking at him (as if to say, here's your damned candy bar). Then the same thing happened to my father-in-law, except this time "Chris" just stared at him for a second before taking his money. It was weird. It was as if he wanted to convey that he was "too good" to sell snacks. Then why even have them on the boat?!! Some other customers noticed & commented about this. And what is CRAZY about this is that these guys work for tips. (And KNOW this!!! Between several signs on the boat, the captain's announcement, and then Chris holding a tip jar in our faces at the dock as we disembarked, they make VERY clear to you that you are expected to tip $15 to $20 per head for the crew.) And I'd have no problem with this, whatsoever, if the guys were friendly. In fact, the tip is considered to be mostly for their "free" service of cleaning your fish for you when you get back to the dock. But I feel like tips are for the hospitality industry & are EARNED, and these guys were NOT hospitable! In fact, they made me feel like an idiot who had tagged along on their boat without being invited. Anyway, like I said, besides the attitude of the crew, we had a GREAT day & caught lots of fish, so I give credit to the captain for finding the fish. I just wished the crew wouldn't have tried to ruin our experience. Bottom line: Would I recommend this place? I wouldn't NOT recommend it, but if I were to go sea fishing again, I'd try a different outfit solely because of the crew. And that's too bad. read more

Professional party fishing boat. Nothing fancy,just git out there and fish. Bring your beer and water cause hey go out about two hours for the first fishing spot then make two more spots on the way back. Two heads,not air conditioned(not that you really need it unless you probably shouldn't be going fishing offshore anyway) Costs about $85 per person for an 6-8 hour trip, they suggest you tip $20 per fisherman and filleting is free, the filleting takes about two extra hours or more after you get back. Went July 2016 read more

I have fished this boat often over the past 7 years. Have had good days and bad days of fishing, but always have enjoyed the trips. IMO there is not a better party boat to fish with in Destin. I have always caught fish... the service from the crew is good... Sometimes your fishing "neighbor(s)" can be a pain. Overall it is a great affordable experience. read more