Charter Boat Freedom is a private sportfisher out of Capt. Anderson’s Marina on Grand Lagoon, run by Captain Jim Guinn, a second generation Panama City Beach charter captain. The boat is a 44 foot Henriques with an air conditioned cabin and room on deck for a mid sized group, and it fishes the Gulf bottom for grouper, snapper, and the rest of the reef catch. Its appeal is straightforward: a fair, clearly posted hourly rate on a comfortable boat that takes more anglers than a six pack.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 7.6 Charter Boat Freedom is a strong choice and the right answer for a specific reader: a group of eight or so that wants its own boat at a transparent rate without stepping up to the larger, pricier operations. Where it sits behind the top of the field is depth. This is a bottom fishing program first, with a solid but thinner review record than Blue Water Connection or Kelley Girl Charters draw, and without the big game range of the boats above it. For a smaller, more specialized private trip, Triple B Fishing and Hook’em Up Charters are the six pack picks; for seats by the person, the Capt. Anderson’s head boats are cheaper. The full field is on the Panama City Beach ranking.
The boat
The Freedom is a 44 foot Henriques sportfisher, a cabin boat with an air conditioned interior, ample seating, a galley with storage, a clean restroom with a fresh water sink, four bunks, and a spacious back deck for fishing. Licensed for up to 13, it is a genuine mid sized platform: more room and more anglers than a six pack, without the crowd of a head boat. The tackle is quality Penn and Shimano gear supplied with the trip. It is built for comfortable group bottom fishing rather than a fast offshore chase, so set expectations toward a steady day on the reefs and the wrecks with the occasional troll on the way out.
The fishing and what you target
Charter Boat Freedom fishes the Gulf bottom that Panama City Beach is known for: red grouper year round, vermilion and mangrove snapper, amberjack and triggerfish in their open seasons, scamp, cobia, and king and Spanish mackerel. The longer trips reach better structure for red snapper in season, and the trolling runs pick up mahi mahi, wahoo, and the odd tuna in the warm months. Bottom trips start at 6 hours and run to 8, 10, and 12, so you can match the day to the target. As with every boat on this coast in 2026, gag grouper is closed for most of the year and red grouper carries the bottom fishing.
Trips and prices
The pricing is the clearest in the port: a flat $300 per hour for 1 to 8 anglers, so a 4 hour trip is $1,200, a 6 hour $1,800, an 8 hour $2,400, a 10 hour $3,000, and a 12 hour $3,600, with a 10 percent surcharge for anglers 9 to 13. The captain, deckhand, and tackle are included, with live bait and a customary tip the main extras. For a group of eight the per person cost lands well below a head boat day once you split it, and the flat hourly rate makes the math easy to check before you book. Our cost guide and the party boat versus private charter guide put that against the head boat fare.
The crew
Captain Jim Guinn runs the boat as a second generation local, and reviewers describe a clean, comfortable boat and a captain and deckhand who keep the group fishing and run an organized trip. The sentiment is positive, and the recurring note is that the boat is well kept and the day well run. What holds the track record score below the leaders is volume rather than direction: the review pool is thinner than the head boats and the larger private operations collect, so the record is good but not as deep, and a single boat day still leans on the conditions you draw.
Booking and what to know
Book direct by phone or online, and be specific about your group size, since the rate steps up past eight anglers. Confirm the trip length and the target so the plan matches the season, and book ahead for summer and red snapper season. Tackle, the captain, and the deckhand are included, so you mainly bring food, drinks, sunscreen, and a cooler for the catch.
How we scored it
Charter Boat Freedom scores 7.6: a comfortable, transparent mid sized group boat with a second generation captain and a posted hourly rate, held below the top of the field by a bottom focused range and a thinner review record than the larger operations. Value and transparency is its strongest factor on the strength of the flat hourly pricing. See how we scored this boat for the rubric and the Panama City Beach ranking for where it falls.