Laura Lee Fleet — Attraction in Town of Islip

I recently went on a night fishing trip with the Laurla Lee from 6 to 10:30 PM, hoping for a thrilling experience targeting striped bass and bluefish. My expectations were high after seeing the impressive photos from previous trips. However, my excitement quickly turned to frustration when, just 15 minutes in, we stopped to fish under a bridge. While I tried to remain calm, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease as we spent an eternity at that spot without a single catch.

As the hours dragged on, it became painfully clear that we were not going out into the open ocean as assumed. Instead, we were confined to just two locations throughout the entire trip, clearly a cost-saving measure by the crew. The captain showed no initiative to seek out better fishing spots, and after two hours of nothing, someone finally pulled up a shad. Instead of trying to salvage the trip for the adults, the crew decided to hand out sabiki rigs exclusively to the kids, leaving us with ineffective lures while they shifted their focus to hickory shad.

The utter lack of effort from the captain and crew to find striped bass left me and the other adults bewildered and disappointed. It was obvious we were not equipped for bass fishing, and the crew offered no solutions. The only semblance of entertainment came from the shared frustration among the passengers. On top of that, crew members constantly smoked on the boat, and one crew member had a short temper, which only added to the negative vibe.

The real kicker was how the crew completely ignored the glaring absence of striped bass, instead choosing to cater to the kids with hickory shad, which they also found underwhelming. After enduring 4 and a half hours of fishing, the whole boat managed to catch one pathetic 14-inch striped bass. When the final horn finally sounded, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. This trip was far from family-friendly, and I can confidently say I will never fish with Laurla Lee again. Save your money and find a charter that actually knows...

Honestly I wasn’t impressed with the Laura Lee. The rods are old and kept getting stuck, wasn’t even able to fish properly with the ones they provide for us. The crew was half asleep. I’m a regular on the Captree Princess but for the 7/4 tour it was booked solid. We decided to give the Laura Lee a try. Big disappointment. Every time we went back and forth to the same spots and we dropped our lines for 5 minutes the horn would blow to reel in. Half the boat wasn’t able to be used (including the back) because the crew was cleaning the boat for half the time we were on it. It was unprofessional. On the Princess they clean in between each tour. Everyone was stuck on one side of the boat to fish shoulder to shoulder with others. It wasn’t even the fact that we didn’t catch anything. We know it’s a gamble every time we go out. We had alot of bites, not sure if it was the lure they provided us with? The mates just didn’t look happy to be there, frankly they were straight up duds. They all hung out inside the cabin in back and when we did need help they were nowhere to be found. You can tell on the Princess that the crew and captain love what they do. They make it fun, are always right there to help and are willing to teach you. It was like pulling teeth on the Laura Lee and they could care less about anything going on. Save your money, skip the Laura Lee, it was a waste of $$ and quite the disappointment. Oh and to top it off it wasn’t even the full 3 1/2 hours we were supposed to be on it for, they went back to dock and let us off early. They clearly don’t care about their customers and just are in it for the $. It...

I am a frequent flyer in the Charter fishing industry. I enjoy boarding commercial boats from Freeport to Montauk and entrusting their Captains and Crews with providing the best service and professionalism as possible. My 1st experience here was awful. After coordinating with several other couples and selecting the trip that attracted us the most, we decided on a combo (fluke/sea bass) trip. After boarding and about to set sail I overheard another patron voice her complaint to others that we would not be going into the ocean for sea bass during our 4 hour charter. After a quick inquiry I then sort confirmation from a crew member, whether this was accurate or not. I was informed that it was true, and that the ocean waters were rough. I then asked how come we were not informed and given an opportunity to reschedule. We considered exiting the boat but were uncertain if we would be refunded. On our trip we navigated the bay for several hours. This resulted in only 4 +19in fluke keepers The last hour we headed under the bridge with Hope's to catch some blue fish. Did not happen. The next day I emailed the owners to expressmy dissatisfaction only to be told "the target species can be changed at any time..." I replied that I understand but integrity and honesty go a long way and that communication was key. No one told us about the changes. No reply since. It appears that the owners Neil and Donna are more focused on $$$ than customer satisfaction/experience...... I must admit I did not communicate with Donna to my knowledge. Not sure if I'll give them a 2nd chance at...