REEL Viking Charters with Captain Experiences

About Your Guide

A Certified Damn Good Guide is someone who goes above and beyond to show you an incredible experience on your trip. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

John Holman

Certified Damn Good Guide

Independent Guide 13 years of exp.

Talkative

Instructional

Laid-back

Beginner Oriented

Comfortable

Quality

About Your Guide

John Holman

Certified Damn Good Guide

Independent Guide 13 years of exp.

Fishing out of Panama City, and Panama city Beach FL, Captain John will make sure you have an enjoyable day on the water. No matter how experienced you are, you’ll find a worthy opponent around these fisheries. Come chase Spanish Mackerel and Shark, or go after Snapper, Grouper, Amberjack, and Mahi.

Captain John has been fishing for 35 years and has been taking people fishing forever. He is local to the area and loves seeing his customers get their dream catch. Your safety onboard is Captain John’s top priority and he will also work to turn your fishing trip into a lasting memory. You will decide how you want to spend the day on the water but the captain will help out with any questions about techniques and species available.

You will be fishing from a 28’ Cape Horn center console powered by twin 300 HP Yamaha engines. She features navigational electronics and has room for up to six anglers. The boat features a live bait well, has a large ice box, carries Penn gear, as well as one electric reel for the elderly or anglers with disabilities when requested.

Fishing trips with Capt. John will see you fishing inshore and offshore. You can choose to explore inshore fisheries or head into the bay slow trolling for Mackerel, or bottom fishing for Snapper and Grouper.

You can purchase live bait on board. Catch cleaning may be available, but you best talk to the captain about it. Trips normally leave out of Bayside Marina on Panama City Beach, but pickups at other areas may be arranged. The captain also runs specials throughout the year, so please check back.

We can accommodate anglers of any level of fishing experience. You can use all types of bait and fishing styles to get the best chance for the best catch. Capt. John will work to make you happy and give you a trip of a lifetime. Hope you come back again to go after a bigger one! Fishing it's what we do.

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Recent Reviews of REEL Viking Charters

4.8

based on 15 reviews

Angela

Verified Review

Captain John was the absolute BEST and the guys had the most memorable day fishing with him! They are already planning to do another day out with Captain John.

Angela

Verified Review

Captain John was the absolute BEST and the guys had the most memorable day fishing with him! They are already planning to do another day out with Captain John.

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Response from John:

Thank you'll can't wait to do it again

Response from John:

Thank you'll can't wait to do it again

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Jeremy

Verified Review

On August 1st. My 15 year old son and I went out with Captain John John on a 3 hour shark trip. We caught 9 sharks and multiple other fish. We had a great time. Captain John John works hard and knows what he’s doing. He was very safety conscious and I would absolutely recommend him. Hopefully we will be able to catch up with him on our next trip.

Jeremy

Verified Review

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Jacqueline

Verified Review

Captain John John and deck hand Drew were awesome. It was exactly what my son and I were looking for.

Jacqueline

Verified Review

Captain John John and deck hand Drew were awesome. It was exactly what my son and I were looking for.

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Michael

Verified Review

I had an amazing time with captain John and his deck hand. They were very knowledgeable. I caught a hammerhead, shark and three smaller sharks. Definitely would recommend them. Very cool experience.

Michael

Verified Review

I had an amazing time with captain John and his deck hand. They were very knowledgeable. I caught a hammerhead, shark and three smaller sharks. Definitely would recommend them. Very cool experience.

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Jeffrey

Verified Review

Had a really good trip. Caught several shark and other types of fish as well. John and Drew were fun and knowledgeable.

Jeffrey

Verified Review

Had a really good trip. Caught several shark and other types of fish as well. John and Drew were fun and knowledgeable.

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Trent

Verified Review

Had a great time with Captain jack and his deckhand . We went shark fishing caught 4 small ones and had something big on the line but it broke the line .

Trent

Verified Review

Had a great time with Captain jack and his deckhand . We went shark fishing caught 4 small ones and had something big on the line but it broke the line .

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Greg

Verified Review

Had a great time with capt John. He put us on a ton of fish. Him and his deck hand Drew worked hard keeping all 5 of us baited up and fishing the entire time . We caught a boat load of great fish. Will definitely call on his services again!

Greg

Verified Review

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Mike

Verified Review

We had a great time. Captain John John and the deckhand Drew were very courteous and friendly. The bite was slow but they did everything they could to put us on fish. We ended up with a good catch and everyone had a great time. We will definitely be back next year.

Mike

Verified Review

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Eric

Verified Review

Even though the weather did not cooperate at first, Captain John John was able to work things out and get us out on the water for an amazing trip! Had lots of fun, heard some crazy tales and caught many species of fish. Our deck hand Drew did an fantastic job as well. Such an amazing experience, thank you guys, we will definitely set up future fishing trips with Kingslayer Charters.

Eric

Verified Review

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Jose

Verified Review

Captain John and is mate did an excellent job in making sure my family had a very good experience in the golf fishing.
Withing the first hours we already had all of the fish we could take. I would give it a 6 star but it looks like it's not possible so 5 it is.
If you are still thinking about booking with Cap John don't think twice just go for it, him and is mate will...

Jose

Verified Review

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Delaina

Verified Review

Amazing time! Great great great fishing. Knowledgeable crew who love to fish, had us on them all day. Will 100% be back #kingslayer
#John #mike

Delaina

Verified Review

Amazing time! Great great great fishing. Knowledgeable crew who love to fish, had us on them all day. Will 100% be back #kingslayer
#John #mike

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Response from John:

Thank you'll. We work hard for you'll. Can't wait to get you'll back on the water

Response from John:

Thank you'll. We work hard for you'll. Can't wait to get you'll back on the water

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Debbie

Verified Review

Disappointing! They did not get one bite the whole time. I was hoping for a small refund of some kind. The boys had looked forward to this and to not see a shark or get a bite really let them down. Would love to try again next year.

Debbie

Verified Review

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Hope

Verified Review

John and Tyler were phenomenal during our shark fishing adventure! We caught 4 sharks and had 3 additional ones that got away. It was a fantastic experience!!!

Hope

Verified Review

John and Tyler were phenomenal during our shark fishing adventure! We caught 4 sharks and had 3 additional ones that got away. It was a fantastic experience!!!

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Dan

Verified Review

It would have been nice to be able to reschedule or adjust the trip in some way due to high winds. Couldn’t bottom fish in the weather we had. Very disappointing trip. I moved the day I originally set up at the captain request. The day that I originally set up the ocean was super calm

Dan

Verified Review

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Response from John:

Weather was rough on the original date as well we had been dealing with storms and rough weather. Also I did cut the cost of the trip due to rough fishing. I do apologize for the weather but I did offer to cancel all together as well with no cost to you.

Response from John:

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Response from Captain Experiences:

Hey Dan, thanks for this feedback. We do trust our Captains to make the best judgement calls with the weather information they have at the time. Safety is their number one priority, and Captain John was kind enough to offer a discount on a future trip with him. I hope that you will call us so that we can try again for better weather this time around!

Response from Captain Experiences:

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Kyrie

Verified Review

The best fishing trip ever! Caught a 6’ 160 lb shark and approx 80 fish.

Kyrie

Verified Review

The best fishing trip ever! Caught a 6’ 160 lb shark and approx 80 fish.

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Response from John:

Thank you'll can't wait to do it again

Response from John:

Thank you'll can't wait to do it again

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Potential Target Species

Color-coded seasonality below is based on .

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Amberjack	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good
Barracuda	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Not Ideal	Good	Good
Black Drum	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Black Grouper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Black Seabass	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Blackfin Tuna	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good
Blacktip Shark	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good
Blue Shark	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Not Ideal	Not Ideal
Bonito	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good
Bonnethead Shark	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Bull Shark	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good
Cero Mackerel	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Cobia	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good
Cubera Snapper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Gag Grouper	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Not Ideal
Goliath Grouper	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good
Grunt	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Not Ideal
Hammerhead Shark	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Hogfish	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Kingfish	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good
Lane Snapper	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good
Lemon Shark	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good
Mahi Mahi	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great
Mako Shark	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good
Mangrove Snapper	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Not Ideal
Mutton Snapper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good
Nurse Shark	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Red Grouper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Red Snapper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Redfish	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good	Not Ideal
Scamp Grouper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Scup	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good	Not Ideal
Skipjack Tuna	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Spanish Mackerel	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Not Ideal
Speckled Trout	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good
Tiger Shark	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good
Triggerfish	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good
Vermillion Snapper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good
Wahoo	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Not Ideal	Not Ideal	Good	Great
Warsaw Grouper	Good	Good	Good	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good
Yellowtail Snapper	Good	Good	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Not Ideal	Good	Good