Stray Cat Charters is the top boat in our Hilton Head ranking and the editor’s pick, a 37 foot Tideline power catamaran that Captain Jim Clark has run out of Skull Creek since 2002. The catamaran hull and the twin outboards give it the steadiest ride and the most range of any charter boat we rank in the port, which is what a Hilton Head offshore day asks for, since the reefs and the bluewater are a long run from the dock. Captain Jim earned his license in 1997 and has taught for a national saltwater seminar series since 2007, and he fishes the boat himself, so the captain you book is the one who meets you at the slip.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 8.0 Stray Cat is a strong choice and the first boat in our Hilton Head ranking. It earns the top spot on the two factors that decide most days, the captain and the boat. Captain Jim’s record and his teaching reputation carry the crew score, and the catamaran is the best offshore platform among the ranked boats, ahead of the deep but older single engine boat at Top Shot Sport Fishing. The honest mark against it is price: the posted rates are the highest of the Hilton Head charter boats hour for hour, which the catamaran and the twin engines explain but which still puts a full day out of reach for some budgets. Book it for an offshore reef or a summer Gulf Stream day with an experienced captain. If the cost is the sticking point, the Captain Hook party boat sells a seat for a fraction of the price.
The boat
The Stray Cat II is a 37 foot Tideline power catamaran with twin Yamaha 450 outboards. The catamaran design is the point: it rides flatter and drier than a single hull in the Port Royal Sound chop, and the twin power gets you to the fishing and back inside the trip rather than burning half the charter on the run. It carries up to 6 anglers, the Coast Guard limit on a six pack boat, with room to fish and shade from the sun. For the longer offshore trips, where the productive water sits 30 to 60 miles out, that ride and that range matter more than they would on a port with the fish closer in.
The fishing and what you target
Stray Cat fishes the full Hilton Head range, inshore and out. The spring is the signature season, when cobia move into Port Royal Sound on their way through and king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and sharks work the nearshore wrecks. The longer trips run out to the artificial reefs and the live bottom for grouper, black sea bass, and triggerfish, and in summer the boat can push toward the Gulf Stream edge for mahi mahi, wahoo, and blackfin tuna. Captain Jim is known for steering clients onto fish that are worth keeping rather than filling the day with throwbacks, and the reviews repeatedly mention the mate teaching the fundamentals to first timers and kids.
Trips and prices
Stray Cat sells by the whole boat for up to 6 anglers, private only, and the menu runs from a 2 hour trip at $500 up to a 10 hour day at $2,700. The common bookings are $900 for a 4 hour half day, $1,500 for 6 hours, and $2,200 for an 8 hour full day. Rods, reels, bait, and tackle are included, and the captain carries the license that covers the boat. The rate is the highest of the Hilton Head charter boats hour for hour, a real consideration, though the catamaran and the twin engines are the reason and the longer offshore trips are where that boat earns its keep. Our cost guide sets these whole boat numbers against a shared seat, and the party boat versus private charter guide weighs booking the whole boat against a walk on seat.
The crew
Captain Jim Clark is the reason to book this boat. He has run Stray Cat out of Hilton Head since 2002, earned his license in 1997, and has been an instructor for George Poveromo’s National Saltwater Sportsman Series since 2007, which is a real credential in this fishery rather than a marketing line. He runs the boat himself with a mate, so the person you book is the person on the bridge, and the recurring themes in the reviews are patient teaching, getting families and kids into fish, and a focus on bringing home quality fish over numbers. The review trail is smaller than the deepest in the port, around 90 reviews on TripAdvisor rather than the several hundred that Top Shot and Bulldog Fishing Charters carry, but it is consistent and studded with repeat customers.
Booking and what to know
Book through the operator’s site or the North End Charter Fleet, by phone or email. The boat leaves from 2 Hudson Road on the north end of the island, behind Skull Creek Dockside, and runs out through Skull Creek and Port Royal Sound to the ocean. No fishing license is needed, since the captain covers the boat, and the rates include the rods, reels, bait, and tackle. Bring food, drinks, sunscreen, and motion sickness medication if a long offshore run is a question for you, though the catamaran ride is about as easy as Hilton Head offers.
How we scored it
Stray Cat scores 8.0: the best boat in the ranked port, a 37 foot catamaran that handles the long Hilton Head run better than anything else here, under a captain who has fished the island for more than two decades and teaches the craft nationally. Captain and crew and boat and equipment are its top factors. It sits at the top of a strong field rather than far above it because the price is the highest in the port and the review trail, while consistent, is thinner than the deepest here. See how we scored this boat for the full rubric and weighting, and compare it against the rest of the Hilton Head fleet.