Queen Fleet Deep Sea Fishing — Attraction in Clearwater

I do not recommend. First, our captain kept jumping from one location to another within 10-15 minutes, and we only caught fish at the very first spot which he departed even though we were still catching fish. Between the two of us in our party, we only caught six fish on a whole-day trip, and all at the first spot. Second, only one of the multiple crew members actually did any work (both during the fishing trip and after arrival - he was the only one fileting the fish). The poor guy was running around like a madman while the other crew members just watched him, fished, or smoked cigarettes. Third, another crew member (who smelled like he smoked significant amounts of hash - probably enough to down a bull elephant) spent the entire time fishing, and he was catching fish at every spot even though the rest of the actual customers were catching diddly squat. It's probably because he was using shrimp and those of us who paid to catch fish only had cut up bait fish or sardines that fell apart as soon as you threw it in the water. Not a lot of fun catching nothing while watching a crewmember catch dozens of fish all day. They don't even offer shrimp for sale on the boat when fishing conditions make bait fish useless. And the same crew member laid down on one of the benches sleeping (both on the trips in and out) while there were several paying customers who had nowhere to sit (especially on the return trip when they were washing all the outside deck area). In fact, I didn't even know the guy was a crew member until I saw him cook a burger for another customer. Fourth, they need to give the boat captain some lessons on how to pilot the boat in a straight line (maybe he was enjoying some of the other crew member's hash). We spent over two hours going from the pier to the fishing grounds (and again on the return trip) on what should have been an hour ride at most because he kept zig-zagging back and forth when the sea conditions did not require such maneuvering. That's a lot of wasted fishing time, or time we could have used to go further out (this was the first time I went on an all-day trip and could still see the shoreline the entire time). Fifth, they don't allow cigars onboard, but they allow cigarettes and vape pens. My son and I had to choke down cigarette and vape smoke all day from multiple smokers, including the crew members and the captain who smoked constantly. I don't care if people smoke, but there were no measures in place to prevent it from becoming a horrible experience for us non-smokers. I tried Queen Fleet for the first time, and it will be my last. I'm going back to the other deep sea fishing boat (I'm sure you savvy Google users can figure out...

This is my second experience on Queen Fleet. First trip (4hrs) was fantastic, but the full day trip left me feeling a little extorted. For the half day charter, Larry and the crew were phenomenal! He was very personable and prior to heading out, he gathered everyone on the boat to go over fishing and safety tips. At the end of the trip, all the passengers were given the option to have their fish filleted by Larry and he was quick and we gave him a tip in which he was very appreciative of. Since we had such a great experience on the first trip, we decided to book a second trip, but for a full day with this same charter... and what a difference. With the exception of the young man (forgot his name), the crew members were not very personable. There was no meeting to go over safety tips or instructions on how to use the fishing poles. Overall, the fishing was great, we all got a decent amount of fish and it couldn't have been a more perfect day to go out fishing. As we were getting closer to the dock, a woman holding out a tip jar and went to every single person asking for tips. I have no problem tipping especially when the service is great, however, this overly-pressured panhandling technique led me to give less than if the tip jar was left at the exit, like it was done on the previous trip. Once we docked, we decided to have our fish cleaned at the dock so we could take them to be cooked at the Salt Cracker restaurant in the marina. There were no price guidelines for the service, just informed that the crew appreciates tips. It seemed like everyone caught a lot of fish on the trip, and unfortunately Tim was the only crew member doing the filleting and cleaning. We patiently waited about 2 hours before he got to our string of fish and after he was done, we handed him $30 for his time. It seemed fair considering we had about 30 fish and he was able to clean all of them in about 20 minutes. Tim quickly unfolded the money to count it and without hesitation say that it wasn’t enough. He said that most novice or inexperienced fisherman are ignorant to what fair compensation is for cleaning fish. He said that $35 was fair for his work and asked for more money. We gave him another $20 and still was unappreciative. Hubbard’s Marina out of Madeira beach (which we’ve been on) clearly states on their website the fees or cost to have your fish cleaned. They charge $1 per 3 fish for smaller fish or .25/lb for larger fish. If you are going to complain, demand more money, and make customers uncomfortable for a service that is based only on tips then maybe you should charge a small fee per fish and allow the customers to tip on...

The full day trip was horrible. Before we even got off the dock. The the first mate was joking about the last time they had caught a keeper grouper and being negative overall. The sad part is he was right. Not one keeper grouper with 30-40 people actually fishing. They provided poor quality frozen bait. The squid was Humboldt squid. That was cut into extremely small pieces. The sardines and pilchards were soft. Their boat rod and reels are junk. They were spooled with 50lb+ test mono. Then had a snapper rig with a 4oz egg weight with swivels cast into both ends, one 4/0-6/0 circle hook, and a short leader made from the mainline. They don't have a live well on the boat. So you have to bring your own. If you want live bait.

On their website it say "Fastest party fishing boat around - more fishing time!". That is an absolute lie. Out of the 8 hours on the boat. We were moving at least 5 hour. It was a calm day too. No rough weather and the wind was less than 5-10 mph. The cabin and the heads were dirty. The website says the cabin has the capability to have air conditioning on extended trips, but they don't use it on the all day trip. The galley is filthy and cluttered. The appliances are rusted. When they are cooking it's​ hard to sit inside due to the odor of the grill.

Overall it's not worth the money or the time. If you want a decent fishing spot. You need to show up over a hour and a half early. The captain goes over a bunch of rules. That no one enforces. Half of which I couldn't hear. Due to the fact that the people around me were loud, drunk, and obnoxious. They had already been drinking for at least an hour. Before we left the dock. I couldn't even hear where the lifejackets or other safety equipment was. They sell beer on the boat and people bring their own too. The biggest keepable fish was a spanish mackerel that was maybe 16" long. That didn't weigh more than 3lbs. I don't know why they use such heavy gear to catch such small fish. You could catch bigger and better on the fishing piers in the area. It is less expensive even if you have to buy fishing poles. You can also move if your next to some obnoxious people and not be stuck on a boat with them for 8 hours. Some people might say that's what you get on a group charter, but I've been on them from California to Key West. This is the worst...