A Lifetime of Experience as A Marathon Fishing Guide
Born and raised in the Florida Keys, Capt. Jeff Rella grew up in a commercial fishing family. To help put food on the table as a kid, he fished, spearfished, and dove for tropical aquarium fish. A buddy’s dad was a guide, and Rella caught bait for him and helped out with chores, learning along the way.
Guiding came about naturally. Rella and his friends would sell their fish to a local fish house that put them out whole in a display case. Out of town customers saw the big, beautiful groupers and snappers and sometimes asked the fish house staff about going fishing. If Rella was around, the staff would say, “You ought to go fishing with those boys — they’re the ones that caught these.”
For gas money, the fish they caught, and a couple hundred dollars extra, Rella and his buddies would take them out. Pretty soon, guiding was looking more profitable than commercial fishing, and when he turned 18 Rella got his captain’s license. After a short stint commercial fishing and diving in Hawaii, he returned to the Keys in his early 20s, moved his charter boat into Captain Hook’s Marina in Marathon, and has guided full time ever since.
“I sometimes fish with people who were babies when they first came on the boat with their parents when I was 18 or 20,” he says. “Now I drink beer with them at the end of the day.”
Our Custom-Built 34’9” SeaVee Charter Boat
Our custom-built, 34’9” SeaVee center console was purpose-built as a Keys charter boat.
She features twin 65-gallon baitwells to carry plenty of bait for six anglers, even with our live bait-intensive style of fishing. Four tuna tubes allow us to keep live bonita for use as wahoo and sailfish baits. A coffin box forward provides both additional fish storage and extra seating.
A generous 10’ beam makes her stable while anchored or drifting, while a smaller console — normally installed in the 31’ model — maximizes fishing space. An upper control station above the T-top dramatically improves visibility while looking for fish, structure, and the floating weed mats and debris that frequently hold fish offshore.
Twin Suzuki DF350s push her to a comfortable cruising speed of 35 mph, while her deep-V bottom softens the ride in rougher water and her flared bow deflects spray away from the boat — all of which means less time running and more time fishing.
Because she’s permitted as a commercial fishing vessel, she carries significantly more safety gear than most charters boats, including an extensive emergency signaling kit, a life raft, an EPIRB emergency beacon, and a satellite phone capable of making calls from anywhere on the planet.
For comfort, she features an enclosed marine toilet (not a porta-potti) in a step-down compartment under the console with room to stand. There’s plenty of dry storage for your gear and seating for up to 6 in front of and behind the console. For longer trips, we bring marine beanbags to lounge in on the way to and from the fishing area.
Top Quality Tackle for Keys Fishing
We take pride in providing top-quality, meticulously maintained tackle. Rods are handmade by Biscayne Rods, which has been building custom fishing rods in Miami since 1948, and matched with Shimano spinning, jigging, and trolling reels. For deep-dropping and swordfishing, we use Lindgren-Pitman, Hooker, and Shimano electric reels.