Name: Reel Escapes Fishing Charters
Address: Ruskin, FL
Price range: $350 - $1400
Rating: 4.4

Recent Reviews of Reel Escapes Fishing Charters

4.4

based on 8 reviews

Andrew

Verified Review

Captain Phil was great and we all enjoyed the trip. The fish didn't cooperate at first, but Captain Phil moved us to another spot and we got better action. We had a miscommunication with the booking but Trey at Captain Experience was very helpful and we got everything worked out. Thanks Guys! I would book here again.

Andrew

Verified Review

Scroll for more

Brent

Verified Review

We had an incredible trip with an incredible guide!!! He was GREAT with my 9 year old daughter!! He was patient, humorous and extremely helpful with my daughter, wife and myself!! We also caught a ton of BIG fish, including my young daughter!!

Brent

Verified Review

Scroll for more

Nicholas

Verified Review

Great time out with Capt. Phil. First time ever waterfowl hunting and shooting a shot gun at anything other then a clay and he made the whole process seamless for me. Answered all my questions, showed me the ropes and was very patient with some circumstances that were handed our way. We still ended up getting limit on some divers. Can’t wait for next trip

Nicholas

Verified Review

Scroll for more

Matt

Verified Review

Communication was great. Phil did prep work for our trip and gave us options, which was great.

Matt

Verified Review

Communication was great. Phil did prep work for our trip and gave us options, which was great.

Scroll for more

Chad

Verified Review

We had a great Trip with Phil. I took my kids on a family Lobster trip. Phil helped teach my kids and we all had a great experience!

Chad

Verified Review

We had a great Trip with Phil. I took my kids on a family Lobster trip. Phil helped teach my kids and we all had a great experience!

Scroll for more

Josh

Verified Review

Josh

Verified Review

We had a terrible experience with Captain Phil on our charter fishing trip in the Tampa Bay. We’ve been on a number of charters in the past and feel we know what type of guide knowledge and service we could expect. Although Captain Phil called the night before to discuss our shark fishing trip he did not bring enough equipment or proper number of rods to successfully manage the trip. As a result of a large shark taking our line and stripping pole of its line he became argumentative, yelled at our kids & adults and became very frustrated with us as the anchor line became tangled around the propeller. When we reminded him that he never explained to our party what to do when a shark struck the line, he apologized and acknowledged he missed that part. With about one hour left in our trip we decided to move closer to our launch site and fish for smaller game fish. Once again, without explaining to our kids how he wanted them to fish or what our process should be he began to snap and become very frustrated with our children. When we asked him to stop yelling and just explain to us what we should be doing and how we should be doing it he apologized again and said his focus was on safety. If you or a friend is considering a charter with Captain Phil I would strongly advise you not book your trip based on our experience.

Scroll for more

Response from Captain Experiences:

Hey Josh, I am sorry to hear about this experience with Captain Phil. We've been working with him for a while and were surprised to hear that the trip did not live up to your expectations. Safety is always the number one priority on these trips and I hope you will give us a call soon so we can find a trip that is well suited for your family.

Response from Captain Experiences:

Scroll for more

Steven

Verified Review

We would recommend Captain Phil 100%. He handled two rookies to saltwater fishing and all our questions like a champ. We truly enjoyed the day and to top it off he put my wife on a 5ft bullshark so mission accomplished.

Steven

Verified Review

Scroll for more

Brad

Verified Review

Captain Phil is Great!!’n

Phil is very personable and put you on fish. Phil shared pointers on fishing techniques to help you catch fish. A lot of fishing action in the Tampa Bay fishery!!! You can’t go wrong by chartering with Phil, you’ll leave a friends. 😎

“Phil’s a damn GOOD Captain”

Brad

Verified Review

Scroll for more

Potential Target Species

Color-coded seasonality below is based on .

View Full Species Seasonality Chart » View Recent Key West Fishing Reports »

Get it while it's HOT!
This species is in play.
You might get lucky (as long as things are in-season).
Couldn't tell ya! (no data)

Techniques

Artificial Lure Fishing

Types of Trip

Recent Fishing Reports

Early August 2026

Fishing the beautiful waters of key west

It's always an experience getting down here to key west to do some fishing and diving, and this year has not disappointed. I would have to say the theme is less people more lobsters. We are into our regular lobster season now catching our limit. Every single day conditions have been so beautiful.

We ran out to 1860 feet of water this past Tuesday landed right in a school of beautiful mahi. After we had our way with them trolling, we busted out the top water plugs and we're catching 10 to 15 pound fish on topwater.

The following day we decided to get into some 1000 foot deep bottom fishing. The golden tiles were on it along with some beautiful snowy grouper.

We're going to be here for a few more weeks so come see what this beautiful paradise has got to offer. The water is so clear if you look, you're going to see something beautiful.
Get your trips booked with Captain Experiences and we will definitely bow some RODZ and get you underwater for a amazing experience tight lines for now Captain Phil

Mid July 2026

As things change to our Midsomer patterns. It’s all about the availability of the bait. That drives the fish bite. When we get the strong outgoing tides near the new and full moon, pass crabs are flushing out of Tampa Bay in big numbers. This is one of our favorite scenarios to catch Tarpon. It concentrates the fish and they are focused on those little crabs.
Also, the second hatch of sardines has exploded, and the flats are covered. The small Bait are exactly what the mangrove snapper are looking for solid catches of snapper daily now. We are still seeing our share of Snook. And redfish the over slot speckled trout have moved out to the edge of the grass flats and have been super cooperative anytime the tide is moving.

Early June 2026

Springtime has turned to summer and the fish bite has remained red hot. We have so many opportunities in our local waters right now just jumped in overgrown tarpon fishing for trout today. This year's spring Snook season was the best I've seen. In a good long time with the number of fish in the slot.
Not that we were keeping them but people here on spring break were getting fish over 30 inches more days than not.
With the water temp being close to 90 remember to slow down your presentations clipped baits and cut baits are working excellent for red fish and tarpon
We just got our second hatch of greenbacks they're still a little bit on the small side, but the mangrove snapper are really getting fired up on them
This will continue for the next few months as the moons are approaching. Excellent time to get out there and get some tasty snapper.
The first photo is of two purpleheart recipients true American heroes I was fortunate enough to get to fish with through the wounded warriors foundation with Jeremy's 33 inch Snook

We've got another month here in Tampa Bay before we head to key west for about six weeks. Let's get your Captains Experience is booked here or join me in key west for some mahi, wahoo, tuna, and lobster just to name a few.

Tight lines for now see on the water enjoying your next Captain's experience

Captain Phil