FISHING
26
CAPT. TRISTRAM COLKET, FORT PIERCE
TREASURE COAST BOATING
Longtime offshore skipper Colket recalled a hiccup in booking
during the first few weeks of the pandemic, but said that
business has generally been better than ever since those days.
Colket’s Last Mango charters originate at the Fort Pierce
City Marina downtown. It’s a prominent location between
two popular waterfront restaurants that doesn’t hurt his ability
to attract customers, Colket said.
“We have a constant flow of people around us,” he said.
Colket notes that most of his business comes from repeat
customers and is generated largely by word of mouth.
“A charter is not a spur-of-the-moment purchase,” he
said. “It is expensive.”
And it’s getting more expensive with rising gas prices.
Colket has raised his prices by around $100 a trip, he said.
A three-quarter day trip now costs $1,300; a full day. $1,600.
However, so far, he’s seen no customer resistance to the
higher prices.
Colket fills his large 40-foot offshore vessel up at the city
marina pumps with up to 400 gallons of diesel fuel. He’s
seen the price go up by 50 cents a gallon recently. He fears he
may have to add a fuel surcharge in the future. Typically his
charters run between 12 and 15 miles offshore. Even though
a diesel boat is more efficient, Colket said, it’s the journey to
and from the reefs that really eats up the fuel.
TRISTRAM COLKET
Tristram Colket, left, captains the Last Mango, a roomy 40-foot offshore
vessel that can comfortably accommodate up to six anglers at a time.
Rising fuel prices are also causing Colket some concern when filling the
boat’s 400-gallon diesel tanks.
TRISTRAM COLKET
A group of anglers shows off their haul of mahi-mahi at the city marina fol-
>> lowing a successful day of fishing aboard the Last Mango.