We went on a full 8 hour trip with captain JoJo, and couldn’t be happier. We started off by catching some greenbacks in a net, which was used to catch our shark bait. Then when we headed out to catch the shark bait, and ended up hooking a very strong Bonita. The Bonita was the toughest fight my husband has ever had with a fish (to date), and a great story to tell. The Bonita was beautiful, but quickly turned to shark bait! Next, we headed to Captain JoJo’s shark spot, and to our surprise we reeled in 5 sharks, some Spanish mackerel, and even a stingray. The stingray got away but definitely an experience to remember. There were 4 different species of sharks, including a hammerhead that we could not bring on board or keep. Captain JoJo was very careful to not hurt the hammerhead, but he did set us up to take some great pictures before letting him go unharmed. This was an experience to remember forever. After we caught the sharks, we headed to the next few spots to look for some other types of fish. We ended up catching another 4-5 species including red snapper. We even got to see a manatee, that captain JoJo tried to get closer to the boat. At the end of the trip, Captain JoJo filleted our shark and other fish, and told us about a local restaurant that we could take it to and get it cooked. Captain JoJo was extremely knowledgeable about the fish, the area, and just fishing in general. This was an experience that created memories for our family that we can look back on and talk about forever. I highly recommend a charter with captain JoJo!

What an amazing day on the water! This was the shark fishing trip we have been looking for.  Captain Jojo is an amazing guide, and you could tell he knows his stuff. He grew up on these waters of Tampa Bay, and it shows.

We started right at the marina… netting bait fish, which we used to catch bigger fish, which we used to catch shark.  We basically went through the food chain from bottom to top in our 6 hour trip.

No time was wasted on the trip, and Captain Jojo had us on fish nearly instantly in every spot we stopped at.  What a great day, and the three of us each had a chance to bring in a larger sized shark, although admittedly my son helped me by tagging in when I got tired with the Nurse shark!  I don’t recall how many sharks we caught in total, but it was probably around 8-10, and dozens of fish.  We kept a few Mangrove Snapper, Mackerel, and a couple of sharks. The Hammerhead Shark and Nurse Shark were immediately released once we could get them to the boat to free them.

If you are looking for a fishing guide in the St. Pete / Tampa Bay area, I can highly recommend Captain JoJo!

Here is the video from our trip: **hidden content**

Great day helping the kids catch sharks!