Afternoon Fishing

Fun Experience

This was a fun experience for our family of 4, two adults and two teens. Two of us were not fisherman and we still had a great time. You’re able to bring your own snacks and drinks, and they have some for sale on board. Others also brought coolers to keep their catch, we were not aware of that, so keep that in mind! We did not catch anything too big, but we caught a lot. We really enjoyed being out on the water and we even got to see the Cape May Lighthouse from the water!

via Viator

Website description not accurate

After reading glowing reviews from a local Facebook group, I decided to book this excursion. Unfortunately, the only positive was the staff on board. They were knowledgeable and patient with everyone. They had to deal with a family who let their kids run all over the boat while people were trying to fish. We left them a large tip because I'm sure they don't make enough money to put up with people who don't listen to direction and disregard rules. Now to the negative . . . the bathrooms were disgusting and dirty. We went on the afternoon trip so maybe they don't clean between trips but this is no excuse. I called before booking to confirm that they had air-conditioning inside as well as food/snacks/drinks (as noted on their website) and they confirmed all. We were a party of 5 and I had a special needs adult as well as my 80 year old mother visiting. They fish all the time where they live so are fully aware of what they are doing. After 2 hours my mother needed to go inside for some air as it was very humid. All the doors were open so the indoor area was just as humid as outside. As far as a food/snack area, this is does not exist. Quoted from their website... "Full snack bar featuring beer, sodas, mixed cocktails, chips, crackers, hot dogs, ice cream, and other snacks." There was a dirty area where they cleaned any fish that was caught. Under this area, they had a box of chips. That was it. No hot dogs, no ice cream, no other snacks. Certainly no beer, soda or cocktails. They did have water thankfully. I have no problem if you are not going to offer these items but then do not list it on your website. Aside from this the boat was old and not kept up inside. The other issue is too many people on the boat. You are standing two feet from your neighbor and the fishing lines were getting tangled with your neighbor constantly. We spent more time un-tangling the lines than we did fishing. I live here full time and friends told us not to go on these public trips for this reason. They suggested booking a private excursion as you are guarantee to catch fish because you can go into the smaller channels. You also don't have to deal with lines tangled with a neighbor. Lesson learned for us. Never believe what their website says. For these reasons, I cannot recommend the Miss Chris.

Response from the operator: We are very sorry to hear about your experience on board the Miss Chris. Id like to address all of the issues you pointed out. Our Cabin Is air conditioned. The doors are open to allow ease of access to all those aboard. The system is a 7-ton Air conditioning system, new in 2024 specifically for having the doors open. If you were uncomfortable, I would like to know if you asked the crew to close the two forward doors? We do this often if anyone would like to utilize the air conditioning to escape inclement (humid or otherwise) conditions. We do clean our restrooms between trips. If the restroom was uncleaned, we do apologize. Given the timing of your trip, we were at the height of Croaker season and the crew may have been cleaning the morning catch and unable to get to the restrooms. However, this is no excuse. In most cases we always clean the restrooms between trips. Our snack bar typically has water, sodas and snacks aboard. We also do offer cocktails and additional beverages, however in July of 2024, we lost our snack bar manager which reduced our available selections. There is no excuse why sodas or snacks were not available to your party. I am confused by your calling ahead and us stating we had cocktails, ice cream, and a full snack bar. Our call center staff were fully aware that the bar being limited and we encouraged everyone to bring their own beverages, snacks, beers, etc, and that the snack bar was more of an emergency option due to a lack of staff. As far as privately chartering a boat, I find that very interesting from a local’s perspective. A group of five people can go fishing aboard the Miss Chris for around $300. A brief look at any reputable charter boat who is licensed, insured, and has a crew with over 50 years of experience (good luck) will run $800 for a back bay trip and more for anywhere near where we brought you. As far as a "private" charter "guaranteeing" fish- I think a real look at the charter boat fleet will reveal this to be inaccurate, as there are zero guarantees in fishing. This past July saw some of the worst flounder fishing we have experienced in the past three decades, and those private charter charging over $1000 per trip came home empty handed many times or with a "few" keepers at best. Our trip is recommended for first time anglers, and we concentrate on catching fish, like the croakers, weakfish, kingfish, and fluke which were open in the month of July and available in the Cape May Point area. We had an exceptional year with these tasty fish, though to some they may seem small. We encourage customers to catch and release as many of you like with average number of fish being caught around 20 per person, and as many as 120 in a single four hour trip. I have left the interior to last because this is very upsetting, to hear the boat is old and in need of updates. The Miss Chris interior is brand new for 2024, so I’m not sure what part of the boat was old but I would like to know, as the owner, as I recently spent over $100,000 on teak trim, paneling, wiring, lighting, windows, seating, tables, hatches and other items throughout the interior. A team of half a dozen people worked for three months on the interior of the Miss Chris. Your overall experience is unfortunate, as I feel that my staff may have better accomdated your requests and better prepared you for your experience. Our website is up to date. I will be addressing each and every concern with my staff to improve the experience for future patrons. I wish you had addressed this with us directly so that I could address your specific needs sooner rather than later. Captain Jeff

via Tripadvisor

The staff was awesome!...

The staff was awesome! Helpful and fun. The kids were able to catch a huge bucket of fish. Highly recommend this tour

via Viator