I started fishing with Capt Greg Mercurio on the Yankee Capt's 3 years ago. I try to book a trip on the YankeeC 6x year. Fishing on the YankeeC is different than most head boats. Not 5 stars because this is an old boat and it does lack some conveniences, not because of the fishing, Capt. or mates. 1. If you're on a deep drop trip, you're fishing with electrics and heavy lead weights. Not everyone listens to the Capt./Mates which results in tangles. If you are on the Tortugas trip, it's going to be crowded. 2. These trips are long. You need to come prepared for the long hours. You are paying for rail time... use it to your advantage. Pack as per the instructions on the YankeeC website. 3. Prepare rigs as per the instructions on the YankeeC website. Do not try to re-invent the wheel. They know what works and what doesn't to catch fish. That goes with bait too. I have found that 5 lb boxes of whole medium squids and 15-24 Goggle Eye's works best. You can substitute the Goggle's if unavailable. 4. This is not a luxury cruise. No food service, bunks are just that, bunks. The shower is "rustic" (minimal), but it does the trick. If you remember that you're there to catch fish you will not be disappointed. 5. The mates are your best friends on the trip. Listen to your mates! Honestly, they know more about what works than you do. 6. One downside is that you have to bring your own food. The upside is that your trip cost is far less than other boats. I bring 1 cooler with food and 1 with drinks and ice. Coffee & water are available on board. 7. Capt Greg (and Capt. Marco) will do their best to try and put you on fish. Sometimes it's your time to catch, and sometimes it's your neighbor's, but you will catch fish. 8. I don't understand all of the negative comments about Capt. Greg being rude/nasty. He is not there to be your friend. He is there to safely get you to the fishing grounds, put you on fish, provide you with assistance to catch fish, and get you home all of which he does very well. If you take the time to talk with him, you will find him to be a very nice person who takes his job/responsibility very seriously and wants you to return to the dock with a full cooler. Here's the bottom line: you are going on a serious fishing trip, further offshore than most will ever go in their lives, to catch fish with some soon to be close personal friends with the same objective. If you're too independent (or stubborn) to follow the Mates or Capt's recommendations, don't book on the YankeeC. If you want a luxury cruise, don't book. If you want to catch fish... book with confidence. Tight lines! read more

See all

This is a serious fishing boat. Maybe not the choice for you if you are a beginner. Dave B. wanted a guaranty that he would catch at least two 30" snapper. No captain would ever guaranty this. He said he's booking with the Patriot, great, have them sign that he'll catch those fish or the trips for free, guess what's NOT going to happen? I guess dealing with ppl that aren't realistic is part of the business. I've been on the boat many times, some trips were great, some were average but the effort was always there by the captain and crew. read more

Yankee Capts - Kitty Mitchell grouper - Boat Charters Near Me - Key West, Florida

See all

One of these days I will fish with Capt Greg Mercurio. It's my ultimate goal. I'm saving my money for the gear I need and the trip I've seen them on TV, read through their entire webpage, and follow them on twitter and Facebook. From what I know this is the best long range party boat in Florida. Do your research. But I think IMO, that you won't find any boat that is better based only on my research, not an actual trip as I haven't been on one yet. But, one of these days I will and I can't wait. They have a 30 year reputation for being the best at what they do. One of these days, I will be able to give a review based on actual experience. Until then, tight lines to all who read this. read more

Yankee Capts - Boat Charters Near Me - Key West, Florida

My husband just got off this boat on a iron man trip. There was cockroaches on the boat. The captain has a dog he lets poop and pee and no one cleans it up. The captain is very unsocial and rude. He over booked the boat. And screwed the guys out of one over night fish. The mates cater to a select two and we not of any help. Do not recommend this boat!! read more

Yankee Capts - Yankee Capts - Boat Charters Near Me - Key West, Florida

Asshole Parked my golf cart next to the street in the middle of the day so as to pick up a piece of wood from the wood shop next door Fat guy cleaning the boat tells at me for parking sideways. "What if everyone parked like you ", bla bla bla Like I described, ass hole to the highest order read more

Yankee Capts - POS they call a boat - Boat Charters Near Me - Key West, Florida

We just got back from a pulley ridge lite trip and all I can say is wow. We were already planning the next trip before we got off the boat. These guys will put you on fish, wether you catch them or not is on you! Let's start with the boat, very clean, two heads/sinks (one with a shower). AC in the bunks, AC in the galley, plenty of room to move around the boat while fishing and PLENTY of room to store your coolers and tackle. The staff: I can't say enough about the mates. For 4 days straight these guys busted their butts for the fisherman. Untangling lines, gaffing fish, giving tips and pointers to the experienced and unexperienced. Not to mention Josh's trademark "Money Baits", dude will cut you a Bonita strip guaranteed to catch a mutton. Capt Greg checks in regularly with the mates to make sure the fish are still biting and if they aren't, he'll move to a new spot. Food/Drink: Even though we purchased the meal plan, we brought snacks, drinks and water. What a waste of space lol. Other than Gatorade (which Chad does provide in the form of powdered sticks you put into a water bottle) we didn't touch the coolers. Chad does a phenomenal job making sure both coolers are stocked with plenty of water and soda's 24/7. The meals he prepares are out of this world good. I never knew a breakfast bagel could taste so good. We had a great trip, caught plenty of fish and had an unforgettable experience. We're looking forward to the next trip in a few months! Thanks Yankee Capts! read more

See all

This kind of fishing takes some getting use to but when you figure it out it's a blast and the mates can help if you ask. I look forward to fishing on the Yankee Captain every year and can't wait for my trip in May at pulley ridge. Each trip is better than the year before. read more

Fishing....Great Experience Overall...Great Not-so-great...The fact the captain has zero social skills-so he never introduced himself or greeted people at the start of a $700 per person fishing trip. Even worse.... I was disgusted by the number of cigarette-butts thrown over-board by almost all of the smoking deckmates (including the deck manager late at night). I was apalled that a boat in an industry depending on this awesome ecosystem could abuse that very environment1 It broke my heart. The fishing was awesome but I cannot support a company that does not respect the very environment that supports them. GREAT FISHING WITH BAD LEADERSHIP AND VALUES read more

I have been fishing since the early 70s and have fished long range trips since the mid 90s. The Yankee Capts is definitely my favorite! I have no idea how many times I have been, but I can tell you this, I always bring home my share and, even when it is "slow", there's bound to be at least one trophy. This trip is not for the faint of heart. It is a hardcore opportunity of a lifetime. I have seen countless anglers check whoppers off of their bucket list, as I have done personally several times. Nobody knows the waters between the Tortugas and Pulley Ridge better than Capt Greg. IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT FISHING, THIS IS A MUST DO! read more

Fished the Yankee Capts in December and we had an incredible trip. We were deep dropping fishing with electric reels and we caught a lot of fish. The mates and captain give you the best service and help you in any way they can. Chad, the chef on the boat prepares some awesome meals as well. The boat is week kept and has air conditioning to boot. I will be going at least 6 times in 2021. I've been fishing on drift boats for 60 years and the Yankee Capts is by far the best one I have experienced......I can highly recommend going on the Yankee Capts !!!! read more

Great fishing trip! We went for the Mutton Marathon. The boat was fresh out of drydock. The boat was clean, and accommodations were very comfortable. The sleeping berths were air conditioned and comfortable. Bunks were about 30 inches wide and 30 inches height in between. Firm but comfortable. The crewmen were friendly, well equipped and very professional. They supplied good baits, but allow you to bring your own if you like. I had my own fishing gear, but noted that the gear provided by the boat was of very good quality. I brought my own food, but was sorry I had. The chef was serving up very nice meals throughout the trip. I think it would have been much better to pay for the meal deal, and forget about the shopping, much less eating cold meals and dragging an extra cooler around. The captain was very good, and put us on fish at every stop. There were a lot of big mutton snappers and groupers caught, as well as a lot of yellowtail, mangrove, and lane snappers. I definitely recommend this trip! read more

This was without a doubt the Worse Fishing Trip EVER! I'm really not kidding. First off, this boat either needs to be decommissioned or needs a Major overhaul. The best location on the boat is topside. This boat is seriously roach infested so if you do go on the boat, don't take your bags back into your home until you have unpacked it outside and sprayed it with a bug spray. The berthing area is Very Dark and really unsanitary. It's a sure fire death trap in the event of an emergency. One way in and one way out. Don't let the escape hatches fool you. If you go up top and look at the hatches from the other side you will see that they are blocked with gear or other debris. The bunk beds are built so close together you can hardly turn over without bumping your head or having to get out of you bunk, turn over and slide back in. There is only one flat-screen television onboard and the captain of the boat controls the channels. You watch what he watches or nothing at all. There are two restroom on the boat. They are on the main deck just off the galley. Only one of them has a piss poor excuse for a shower (be prepared to keep your cloths on for two or three days). You have to stand next to the sink with your wash cloth and soap in one hand and you have to hold the spring-loaded spicket to the on position in order to keep the flow of water going (pray the boat is rocking). The other little room has now shower, only a toilet and sink. These two closets are shared by 43 paying passengers and the crew. Hot and Filthy... This boat needs to be reported and inspected by the health department. The attitude of the Captain of the boat is down right Nasty and Unfriendly. He doesn't make the slightest effort to be hospitable and when he's not yelling or cursing at his crew, he pretty much stays to himself up in the wheel-house (which is a good thing). The trip that I paid for was supposed to be a "Snapper Marathon" but we caught very few Snapper and mostly Yellow Tail and Sharks. The captain seem to be reluctant to move the boat out of the Yellow Tail areas filled with Sharks and Barracudas. We would have to suffer (sometime for hours) while he took many naps. The only saving grace was the chef. If you could stay away from him when he first wakes up, he turns out to be an okay person for the rest of the day and the meals were decent. I talked five of my friends into taking this trip but I will Never do that again. I will NEVER recommend this trip or this boat to anyone. DO NOT believe the hype on this boat or this trip! They do a very good job of advertising. You Will be DISAPPOINTED. It's not worth the money and even if the trip were priced cheaper, it still will not be worth it. Look around and try another boat. read more

Where do I start..... At the beginning. If you are an avid fisherman and enjoy deep drop fishing you will likely be enticed by the pictures and videos you see on the internet related to the Yankee Capt. 18 guys from NY fell into this trap. We arranged a 3 day pulley ridge light private charter trip costing $15,000 with the Yankee capt Greg Mercurio. You would think he would greet us nicely spending that kind of money and traveling from afar. Not the case. His opening statement to us was actually an insult "You people from NY want come down here take over and throw your stuff all over my boat. Well make sure you do this and make sure you do that..." No good morning, No hey guys thanks for coming, No how was the trip down. Nothing. It was just insult after insult directed as us. We hadn't even started to unload our gear and he was already going off on us. He is not a pleasant man, he's not friendly and he can be down right rude to the guests on his boat. You can tell he has a bad relationship with the crew on the boat. He doesn't communicate with them. They don't communicate with him. He stays topside in his cabin with his dog and occasionally barks commands down at the anglers on the boat. We left the dock at approximately 10a m and sailed for 10 hours or so. At the first drop we stopped for about 2 hrs and picked up nothing. This is 18 guys who have been fishing together for over 15 years and he had the nerve to tells us we don't know what we are doing, even after we set our rigs up like he instructed. He pulled up the anchor and we sailed for 30 minutes or so to a new stop where he anchored. We stayed in this spot until he woke up the next morning at 7 am. We managed to catch 6 grouper, 1 mutton snapper, 7 barracuda, 2 king fish and 3 sand tile. He pulled up the anchor and we sailed again. At the next stop we managed to land 1 grouper and 1 sand tile. After that we had had it and I went to speak to the captain. I told him we had 18 guys on this boat who had paid almost 4 $1400 each to fly down from NY to fish with him. And this is not what we expected at all. He went into his insulting rant again "you guys don't know what your doing, your not listening to the mates, I'm the only person that fishes these waters and it not like fishing anywhere else. if you don't do exactly what I say your not gonna catch any fish on and on and on.....) I told him we want to call it a trip because we do not expect the fishing or his attitude to get any better. We asked for a refund of 1/2 of the trip cost which he did give to us but only after telling us he busted his ass to catch fish for us. He did no such thing. When I sit and think about this, I think we may have been played. It's like he wanted to pick a fight with us from the moment we arrived. We didn't bite on his initial insults so the boat sailed. But it's my belief he didn't put us on the fish intentionally. If your bottom fishing you expect the boat to be over structure, rock formations which is where these bottom fish live. We could feel our sinkers dragging on what felt like a soft sandy bottom and occasionally we would pull up seaweed. We didn't loose our rigs in the rocks or pull up coral which is what typically happens when you bottom fish over structure. I chalk this up as a learning experience. I'll never fish on the Yankee Capt again. Why? Because Capt. Greg Mercurio is disrespectful to the guests on his boat, and I think he was disingenuous about catching fish for my group. I would be doing you, the reader, a disservice by recommending Yankee Capt. We cut the trip short because we did not like the way we were being treated and he was not catching fish. So I can't tell you if he is a good captain, if he knows where the fish are, if he puts you on the fish, if you will catch a lot of fish on this boat because I didn't experience any of that. I can tell you he's rude and disrespectful to his guests. This was the experience of my group and that's all I can speak to. One last heads up. Keep an eye out for when he hoses down the top deck. He's washing the piss and crap from his dog off the deck. It splashes onto the anglers below. read more

A group of my friends and I went on the Yankee Capts Dry Tortugas fishing trip, July 2018. This trip includes fishing and living on the boat for 3 nights and 2 days. We departed Thursday night and returned Sun around noon. There were 40 something people on the boat with only one shower. The cook was good and did a great job, but they had way too many people on the boat. I don't even think there were enough life boats on board for everyone. We did not get a safety brief and the sleeping conditions were terrible. There were roaches seen throughout the boat. The berthing area which was below decks was dimly lit, the deck was wet in several areas and there were too many racks crammed into too small of an area. The racks were bunk beds which were so close to the bed above it that getting into and out of your bed was a struggle. They were so close that turning over was very difficult as well. Definitely no room for setting up in bed. I would never use them again and I would not recommend them to anyone else. read more