As a young boy Jose Rodriguez spent countless days staring out at the ocean. As a child growing up on the island of Cuba all he could do was dream, boats were strictly controlled by the government. Even at that age he knew one day he would be a sea captain plying his craft on the waves. When Jose was just seven his parents won the citizen lottery and were allowed to emigrate to America and become citizens. With a small sense of sadness and a great sense of the wonders to come Jose and his family took their first charter. Once here Jose took to the water like a fish, literally, spending all of his free time diving in the waters offshore his new home in Miami.
As he grew, he became more and more proficient in swimming, snorkeling, and catching fish. Once his prowess in the waters became known, Jose was introduced and mentored in the skill and sport of spearfishing. For the next 20 years, Jose spearfished competitively, recreationally and commercially.
At 16, he purchased his first car and first boat a 12 footer, he named “The Dream” from that, on the weekends, he could only be found diving and fishing the waters throughout the Florida Keys. As he continued to excel in catching fish either above or below the surface Captain Jose, realized his dream, he could finally make the sea and fishing his livelihood. For the next 25 years Captain Jose has made his living exclusively from the Sea, through the catching fish. While a successful Fisherman and Captain must know what is going on above the sea and must also know where the fish are, Captain Jose, having spent so many years below the surface, “living” with the fish, not only knows where the fish are but where they go, what they do, how they react to different baits, weather, temperature and seas. At an early age, under the water, Captain Jose learned to speak fish.
However, as time rolled on, with age and wisdom, Captain Jose began fishing above the water much more than below and over the last decade he has worked at every level of the commercial fishing industry. He was the owner proprietor of his own retail fish market selling the fish he caught, to be being a supplier to the top suppliers who sell to all of the restaurants in South Florida.
A few years ago Capt. Jose was diagnosed with cancer and underwent aggressive treatment and had a very successful outcome. The stress and uncertainty of such a diagnosis provided the motivation to focus on what he truly loves, fishing. Since that time, Captain Jose shut down his thriving retail market and dedicated his life to fishing commercially. He also passed the rigorous Professional Sea Captain Licensing process and is a Licensed Sea Captain, he is also completely United States Coast Guard compliant.
Once fishing full time, it wasn’t long that his talents attracted attention once again, namely the guests and other boaters at mile marker 38 were constantly seeing Captain Jose bringing in hundreds of pounds of fish on a daily and weekly basis. After months of fending off pleas to “take me fishing” Captain Jose decided to start a charter business and share his love, knowledge and experience. Since then, the name Captain Jose has become more and more synonymous with “Catching Fish” and word of mouth has spread, IT’s TIME to go fishing with Captain Jose.
For a great day catching fish, call It’s Time Fishing Charters as far in advance as possible. As a commercial fisherman Captain Jose works with guests but is not always available every day for charters. When you hire Captain Jose you are not getting a charter Captain who also fishes; you are getting a fisherman who also charters. Unlike many other charters Captain Jose still earns a living catching fish.