Chip's Coastal Charters

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Ponte Vedra, FL
Chip's Coastal Charters

Providing anglers & outdoorsmen with the most immersive charter fishing experience in North Florida.

07/16/2025

Summer break and tarpon = July in FL 🍊

07/03/2025

Consider this my entry into the arena.

I knew speaking out on social media and opposing the Guana Swap could place a target on my back. But, getting cat fished by a fake “producer” pumping me for information was not on my radar. It was a slimy move by someone who was not happy about the light I was shining on them or the things I was saying on social media… but, it worked.

With that said, I’m not going into detail about the circumstances surrounding the story. That’s not the purpose of this post. This post is a notification to the people of Florida: our state, our land, our water and our way of life is being threatened. Over the last four years Governor DeSantis and the departments he oversees have opened up the flood gates. Every single day a new development threatens our land. Every single day a corporation is polluting our waterways. Every single day we lose another piece of what makes Florida so special.

Backdoor deals, favors to political donors, circumventing the public, lack of transparency and borderline corruption are far too common. I’m a native of 39 years and I’ve never seen this kind of exploitative behavior from the people at the top. FDEP has become a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Their purpose is to protect our ecosystems, secure conservation land and maintain our wild spaces. They have shown their priority is to do the opposite. The State Parks development debacle and the Guana Swap are perfect examples of this. They endorsed these initiatives under the rule of DeSantis. FWC commissioners are under constant scrutiny for their ties to developers and the decisions they make are dissected relentlessly because they are losing our trust.

I encourage you to pay attention to what state and local officials are doing. The more eyes they have on them, the more awareness we spread, the more power we have. And that scares them. It should. The swap woke me up and I’m here to say I will be continuing my advocacy and activism for conservation within the state of Florida and my local community. I have joined the board of directors for Save Guana Now and will be working to secure that land and keep it healthy. It’s time to use my voice and yours.

07/02/2025

Checked off a bucket list species in Wisconsin with King Salmon ✔️

Side Note: If you think you’re running too many lines trolling… you’re not running enough. These boys have 12-15 lines minimum! 3-4 downriggers, handfuls of planers, flashers, dipsy divers, spoons… it was impressive.

06/19/2025

I’m thrilled to finally partner with Mirrolure

Those of you that have fished with me or listened to my seminars know I’m a Mirrolure disciple. When it comes to hard plastic and soft plastic twitch baits/jerk baits you’d be hard pressed to find anything better. I’ve been using them religiously on my trout charters for nearly a decade. They’re absolute killers. Their action is pure and the design is tried, true and tested. If you’re lucky enough to sneak a peak at my tackle box you’ll find two sleeves completely filled with Mirrodines, Duke Dogs, Top Dog’s, L-30’s and Paul Brown’s. Simply stated, THEY WORK. And those custom colors… don’t get me started, they’re beautiful.

If you have questions about their products, applications to your fishery, rhythm, technique etc. feel free to reach out. I will do my best to get you dialed and “Turn on the Bite”.

06/15/2025

Reeeaaaallllyyy could have used this fish yesterday. Used up all my big fish JuJu three days before the tournament with this stud 40 lb range king. Still had a good time with the fellas We got a small fish early and despite loads of bait with a perfect spread there wasn’t much action for us to capitalize on. 695 boats total in the tournament, that’s wild. Thanks for the shots

06/09/2025

Matt with a pair of beauties. Thanks for making the trip again bud. Looking forward to next year.

06/05/2025

“We’re in bonus time now, the sun isn’t up and we already got what we came for. Everything after this is just extra. Let’s fish.”

Only a guide or tournament angler understands the cathartic relief that a quality first-light fish can bring. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to produce results and stay dialed in. That’s stressful. I used to lose sleep before charters and I still take it too personally when the fish are not cooperating. Shame, embarrassment, anger… we may not show it, but those emotions are there. I have gray hairs on my beard that can be directly attributed to finicky fish. But, when the stars align and the hours spent patterning the bite culminate in an immediate hookup, that rewarding feeling far outweighs the periods of struggle. The pressure is purged, your anxiety disappears and you get to enjoy the rest of the day on the water with your anglers. Conversation flows naturally, the mood is light, you’re back to fishing, not forcing.

06/04/2025

McQueen needs to change his name to McTrout. Another year another pair of gators for the big guy.

06/03/2025

Chunky Trucha

05/28/2025

One of the many reasons I stood up and fought for the ecosystem. 31 inches 10 pounds of pure motivation.

I can’t even begin to describe the week I’ve just had. Lowest of lows followed by the highest of highs. Extreme anxiety, sleepless nights and anger fueled determination. News stories, press conferences, petitions, protests and social media campaigns. An endless barrage of phone calls, emails, DM’s and text messages. It was grueling, both mentally and physically.

But, in the end, the community came together. The state responded and sent a very clear message to the governor, his officials and developers: WE SEE YOU, WE KNOW WHAT YOU’RE UP TO and WE WILL FIGHT BACK.

Admittedly, I lost some faith in our governing agencies. The system is flawed. It can be played and abused by those in power. It’s non-transparent and too often self serving.

But… I gained trust in my community- local and beyond. I’ve never felt so supported, so unified and so fused to the person standing next to me. The world is a divisive place these days. Culture wars, politics and greed have placed walls between us. However, there is still some common ground. There are still some core values we all share. For the first time in my life I witnessed the power we hold when the barriers are broken. If you can tap into that power, amazing things can happen. Like they say, “It takes a village.” And let me tell you, there are still a lot of good people in that village.

Pictured: Robert Hale with the largest trout of the season so far.

As always, the fish was caught on artificial and was released for conservation purposes.

LONG LIVE GUANA !!

05/14/2025

“That’s my PB.” I take a lot of pride in that statement. It’s a fish my clients do not forget and a moment they will replay in their head for a lifetime. Being a part of that memory brings me great joy.

with a beautiful breeder PB.

As always the fish was caught on artificial and was released for conservation purposes.

05/13/2025

Word of advice: bring two, maybe even three pairs of pliers with you on the boat. If the only ones you have take a swim and you’re left staring at a twitch bait lodged inside the mouth of a full grown gator trout…things are going to get sketchy. Neither trout fangs or treble hooks are finger friendly. Needless to say, both the fish and myself were bleeding by the end of the morning. Redundancies fellas. Redundancies.

As always the fish were caught on artificial lures and were released for conservation purposes.

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Ponte Vedra, FL

Website

http://chipscoastalcharters.net/

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