Contact Captain John Barnes at 252-659-2553 or JohnB@FishMastersCharters.com. He will help you pick the correct trip!

We suggest that customers bring drinks, lunch, snacks, sunscreen, fishing clothes, hats, boat shoes, beach and hand towels, sunglasses and zip lock bags if you want to take fillets back with you.

Everything you need for saltwater fishing. Rod, reels, bait, tackle, ice, and fishing license. Fish cleaning and great service with a great attitude.

The crew work for a daily wage and tips just like waiters and waitresses. Tips are discretionary; however, it is customary to tip the crew 20% for good service.

The price listed on our Pricing Page is for your entire group. You can have up to 4 people on Offshore and Nearshore trips, 3 people on Inshore trips, and 4 people on Eco-Tours. This is a private charter, therefore we do not group you with other people.  It will only be your group on the boat with the captain.

We have tried to arrange split charters in the past and 90% of the time, they did not work out. With split charters, you always have the risk of the other party canceling last minute and ruining your plans. You also have the chance of being paired with a group that has different goals and idea of fun than you. And, you might run into a situation where the other group is fighting a fish of a lifetime for a couple of hours and you get to sit and watch. Since we have encountered these situations while running split trips, we have decided to focus only on private charters. This allows us to provide you the best service that we can to make it an experience of a lifetime! Feel free to book a private charter even by yourself, that means that you get to catch ALL of the fish.

Usually you will have a Captain but no deck hand. Our boats are set up with auto-pilots and laid out in a manner that the Captain is able to drive the boat and provide excellent service with the fishing. Our Captains are very good at catering to various levels of expertise from beginners that have never held a rod to avid fishermen. Many of our customers have commented that they really enjoyed this style better because they get to be more hands on.

We absolutely love taking families with kids fishing. Nothing is quite as exciting or fulfilling for a captain than to help a young kid catch their first trophy and provide a lifetime of love for the ocean.
When bringing younger children we want to be able to give them the best chance of having an enjoyable day. We make sure the marine forecast is calling for mild to calm seas. If the seas are too rough, you can opt for one of our port trips. Unfortunately, motion sickness can happen with deep sea fishing and it is not very fun for parents to watch their little ones feel so miserable. In our experience, many kids actually deal with motion sickness better than adults do.
You also want to be flexible on what to fish for when bringing kids. If fishing for the big trophy fish is slow we opt to set the kids up with smaller rigs so they can drop down and get instant action from sea bass, snapper, trigger fish, grunts, etc.
Most parents think a full day trip is to long for their kids. In all actuality, the parents always wear out before the kids. It’s just like a day at the theme parks, the kids get tired and fall asleep and the parents get a break. Children over 2 years of age are welcome and encouraged. You may bring a vest style life jacket if you prefer that they wear one the entire time. We have child size life vest that are USCG approved but they are bulky and uncomfortable.
Our crew is very family oriented and will help children have a great time catching fish. When booking the trip please inform us on how many kids and what ages they are.

We guarantee that we will try very hard, but fishing is fishing and we cannot control all the factors that the ocean provides. With that said, our Captains are very good and usually if they aren’t catching fish, no one is. We are a family owned business and we strive to be completely honest with our customers.  We truly want everyone to have a great experience and we promise that we will always strive to provide that!

You can request to fish for certain species and we will try very hard to catch what you want. It is, however, always a better idea to let the captain take you to fish for what is hot at the time. We like to catch everything and love to hear the drag scream and see the rods bend. Every fish is awesome in our opinion!
Some people have a fish on their “bucket list”. If this is the case, please call us so that we can discuss the likeliness of catching that particular fish during the time you are planning a charter.
Some people only want fish they can eat and that is okay. You may keep any fish that falls within the legal limits. Legal limits have gotten much stricter in the past few years. Just remember fishing is fun and if your only goal is to fill up your freezer, you may be better off spending your money at the fish market.
Overall when you leave it up to the captain you usually end up with good action and a few fresh fish for dinner.

We always provide the best bait for the fishing style that is providing the most action at the time. Some times that means live bait, some times that means dead bait, some times that means artificial bait. If we need live bait, the Captain will stop to either throw a cast net, or to catch them on a bait rod. This usually takes 30 minutes or less but on difficult days it can take longer. Most of the live bait we use cannot be purchased so it is necessary to catch it the day of the trip. Most of the bait only stays lively for 5 or 6 hours so we cannot catch it ahead of time. The reason we have to catch bait during your charter is that the bait needs to be as fresh and lively as possible. Old and nearly dead bait does not catch fish as well as lively bait. Yes the bait catching process does count on your fishing time. Most people enjoy it and bait fishing or looking for bait often provides us with opportunity to catch bigger fish that are eating the bait. If you don’t like the idea of taking time to catch bait during your trip please give us a call and we will let you know the best months to fish with dead bait.

It varies depending on which Charter type you choose. Inshore charters do not go in the ocean and stay close to land. Offshore and Nearshore vary greatly especially in the summer months. In the Spring, Summer, and Fall when conditions are right we can have great fishing less than a half a mile off the beach. Less travel equals more fishing time. Days and weeks after we have had very large seas or tropical storm activity we sometimes need to travel up to 40-50 miles. If you are requesting to target a specific species, that will determine the distance we have to travel as well. Distance also depends on the type and length of charter chosen, weather conditions and time of year.

Yes, we will go to the Gulf Stream when it is the right time of year. We usually go there when we are in pursuit of dolphin, wahoo, and sail fish from April thru November. This is also only for our Full Day Offshore Trips.

FISHING CHARTERS: Newport River Boat Ramp on Radio Island in Beaufort, NC.

ECO-TOURS: Town Creek Public Boat Ramp in Beaufort, NC.

For maps click HERE

Most Fishing Charters leave around 6am, and most Eco-Tours leave around 9am. The return times depends on which charter you book. Please see the individual Charters to see more specific times. Click HERE and view specific Charter type for more info.