Charter & guide directory

Four service categories, one directory — captains, rentals, guides and gear from California to Maryland. Profiles below are demo listings until real businesses join; if you run an operation, list your business.

Find charters by water

Per-water pages of real, verified local operators — direct phone numbers, home marinas and websites, listed free:

• Lower Laguna Madre fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Corpus Christi & Baffin Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Rockport & Port Aransas fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Matagorda Bays fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Galveston Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Sabine Lake fishing charters — 2 local boats & guides
• Calcasieu Lake fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• The Louisiana Marsh fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Mississippi Sound fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Mobile Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Pensacola Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Destin fishing charters — 8 local boats & guides
• Port St. Joe fishing charters — 5 local boats & guides
• Apalachicola Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• The Big Bend fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Tampa Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Charlotte Harbor fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Ten Thousand Islands fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• The Florida Keys fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Biscayne Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Indian River Lagoon fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Jacksonville fishing charters — 4 local boats & guides
• The Georgia Coast fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• The SC Lowcountry fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• The Grand Strand fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Cape Fear fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Pamlico Sound & the Outer Banks fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Chesapeake Bay fishing charters — 4 local boats & guides
• San Diego fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Santa Monica Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• LA & Long Beach Harbors fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Newport & Dana Point fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Oceanside & Carlsbad fishing charters — 2 local boats & guides
• Santa Barbara & Ventura fishing charters — 2 local boats & guides
• Monterey Bay fishing charters — 3 local boats & guides
• Panama City fishing charters — 13 local boats & guides

Certified Charter Captains (3 listings)

Licensed captains running the full trip — boat, tackle and local know-how included. Look for the USCG self-attestation badge.

• Reel Tell Charters — Capt. Marcus Boudreaux · Apalachicola, FL. Waters: Apalachicola Bay, St. George Sound, East Bay marshes. Half day $550 · Full day $850 (fuel, bait, tackle, license included) USCG self-attested. Featured listing.
• Galveston Slam Guide Service — Capt. Dana Whitfield · Galveston, TX. Waters: East & West Galveston Bay, jetties, surf when it lays down. Wade or boat half day $500 · Full day $800 · October bull red special $600 USCG self-attested. Featured listing.
• Hatteras Light Tackle — Capt. Joel Ferry · Hatteras, NC. Waters: Pamlico Sound, Hatteras Inlet, near-beach ocean. Half day $600 · Full day $950 · Evening old-drum trips (Aug–Sep) $650 USCG self-attested.

Bareboat Boat & Kayak Rentals (1 listing)

Run your own trip. Skiffs and pedal kayaks rented bareboat — you captain, they hand over the keys and the local intel.

• Cape San Blas Kayak & Skiff Rentals — Renee Tolbert (owner) · Port St. Joe, FL. Waters: St. Joseph Bay (rentals stay inside the bay). Kayak $75/day · Skiff $250/day + fuel · Multi-day discounts · Delivery to launch $25

Guides for Hire (1 listing)

Knowledge without the boat. These guides ride along on your vessel or lead your kayak convoy straight to the fish.

• Chesapeake Shallows Guide Co. — Erin Kowalski · Annapolis, MD. Waters: Middle & lower Chesapeake shorelines — your boat or kayak, her knowledge. $65/hr (3 hr min) ride-along · $200 half-day kayak convoy lead · Trip-planning video call $40

Rental Gear (1 listing)

Travel light and fish anyway — rods, combos and tackle kits rigged for local water, rented by the day or week.

• Mission Bay Gear Locker — Tony Alvarez (owner) · San Diego, CA. Waters: Serving Mission Bay & San Diego Bay shore/kayak anglers. Inshore spinning combo $20/day · Surf combo $25/day · Tackle kit (jigheads, grubs, rigs) $10 · Weekly rates available

About the USCG badge

Self-attested: holds a valid US Coast Guard license and complies with applicable state & federal requirements. Tides & Tails does not validate credentials or assume liability.

Before you book

Check what the water is doing first: every location page carries live tides, water temperature and wind for the zone a captain fishes, and the species guides tell you what is realistic for the season. Running your own boat instead? Boat safety & float plan and the state regulations are the two pages to read before you leave the ramp.

Captains: rates & founding offers publishes every rate, and the application takes about a minute.