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 SeaVee Charter Boat Fleet
Superfish Charters operates two SeaVee center consoles — a 34 powered by twin Suzuki 350s and a 39 powered by quad Suzuki 300s. Both have been extensively customized specifically for service as Keys charter boats.
SeaVee 390B
Our flagship SeaVee 390B offers an extraordinary combination of speed, comfort and range, making her ideal for fishing the Marathon Hump and remote structure spots far into the Gulf.
Quad Suzuki 300hp outboards yield a fast cruise around 40 knots and an eye-watering top speed near 60 knots, while an expanded fuel capacity of 770 gallons means range is never an issue.
A massive 11-foot beam keeps her stable while anchored or drifting and provides plenty of room for everybody to fish. For running to and from the grounds, there’s ample seating for 6 adults including an aft-facing cockpit bench with its own drink cooler.
The full-suite of state-of-the-art electronics includes twin 22” touchscreen displays at the helm, a 12” display at the upper station, 72-mile open-array radar capable of detecting working birds from miles away, advanced sonar, and FLIR night vision.
A marlin tower with upper control station dramatically improves visibility while looking for fish, structure, and the floating weed mats and debris that frequently hold fish offshore.
SeaVee 340B
Our second boat, a 34-foot SeaVee, does everything the 39 can do — just not quite as fast or comfortably. She’s powered by twin Suzuki DF350s for a comfortable cruising speed around 35 knots and features twin 65-gallon baitwells, a generous 10’ beam, and a smaller console — normally installed in the 31’ model — to maximize fishing space.
Like the 39, she features an upper control station for better captain visibility, seating for 6, plenty of dry and cold storage, and a full complement of safety gear, including a life raft, EPIRB, and sat phone.
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.