Meet Your Captain
Born and raised in Florida, Captain Rich Van Fleet has always been drawn to the water. Growing up, fishing was a staple of life in his family and Capt Rich spent most of his childhood chasing his next fish story. He was introduced to fishing by his Father Perry Van Fleet and grandfather Richard L. Van Fleet.
Focusing primarily on inshore species his favorite fish to catch are tarpon. During the spring, summer, and fall months you can find him on the water looking for groups of tarpon to tango with. During the winter months Captain Rich fishes competitively with Team Finster on the East coast for sailfish. Tournaments are fast paced and exciting with chances of winning big money. Going on his third season in the sailfish bracket he has quickly caught on to the unique style of fishing used for sailfish.
Becoming a captain has been a long time dream for Rich because of his love for the sport. Being able to watch a new or young angler catch their personal best or first fish is what drives him to become a better captain.
Family Traditions.
Every family has history, ours was fishing. Captain Rich had two major influences in his life which drove his passion for fishing. First was his father, Perry Van Fleet, who started fishing the Gulf waters in the early 80’s. Perry quickly began teaching his boys the true meaning of fishing. Although Perry worked a full time job he never missed an opportunity to load up the family and head out to the secret spot. Being a young father Perry turned to the outdoors as a way to spend time with his family. His fishing lessons turned into life lessons integrating patience, hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Going out on the boat with Dad meant one thing, no complaining! Fish stories turned into precious memories and the drive for fishing followed both boys into adulthood.
Second influence, was grandfather Richard L. Van Fleet. Captain Rich spent a lot of time with his grandfather. Being a retired mechanic, Richard had time to take his grandson fishing. Summers were full of week long fishing trips to different parts of the state. This eventually turned into a yearly vacations for the Van Fleets, which involved renting a house boat for the family. Captain Rich always jumped at the opportunity to fish with his Grandpa, learning different ways to catch fish and listening to stories of how things used to be. His grandpa was old school and typically utilized trolling as method for fishing and his lure of choice was the “Muddler Minnow”. During one of their fishing trips Richard passed down a Muddler Minnow to his grandson and ensured him this lure would always work in every condition, “you just have to give it time!”. This lure remained in the Captains tackle box for years and always reminded him of the lessons passed down from his heroes.
