Fighting Big Tuna with Captain Rimmer Covington of the Isle of Capri Resort
The Boat with Everything
 Editor’s Note: Last week, I was fishing out of the Isle of Capri resort in Biloxi, Mississippi, with Captain Rimmer Covington of Pass Christian, Mississippi, on the charter boat, the “Peace Keeper.” We left the Isle of Capri at 7:00 am, and by 9:00 am, we were fishing for tuna in 1500 feet of water. Covington is one of the new breed of charter-boat captains along the Mississippi Gulf Coast – young, strong and fast. Covington’s the owner of the strike-force fleet of sleek, fast, open-boat-style charter boats that run 60- to 100-miles offshore to the Continental Shelf. His boat has a sound system that will rival any concert auditorium and a Sirius satellite radio with over 200 stations plus weather sonar. This boat and captain are as fast and as modern as you can get when you want to charter a boat for fishing. Covington has two undergraduate degrees in finance and also a master’s degree in accounting. He walked away from a high-paying job in the securities business to live the life of his dreams.  He’s used his education to build a modern-day charter-fishing business for today’s anglers and for the anglers well into the future. Having paid his way through college as a deckhand and a charter-boat fisherman, Covington is constantly learning, finding fish and growing his fleet of fast boats and young, strong captains. When we finally slowed-down, turned down the radio and moved close into a rig, we could see yellowfin tuna chasing bait on the surface.
Question: Rimmer, tell me what kind of boat we’re using and what type of equipment we have on it?
Covington: Our boat is a 39-foot 2007 Sea Vee powered by a 300 hp Suzuki 4-stroke engine with a Raymarine electronics package that includes a Raymarine E-Series model 120-multifunction navigation display and a DSM300 depth finder with a B260 1kw transducer. We’re using Shimano rods and reels.
Question: How fast does the boat run?
Covington: We cruise at 43- to 45-miles per hour. On the top end, we can run about 60-miles per hour. One of the benefits we have in this boat is the speed at which we can get from the dock to the fishing grounds 100-miles offshore. Because the boat’s so fast, our customers have more fishing time than they will if they charter a slower boat.
Question: How much fuel will you burn in one day?
Covington: We burn about 45-gallons per hour, and we get about one mile to the gallon. So, we usually burn about 300 gallons of gas on an average trip.
Question: What other technology do you have on your boat?
Covington: We have radar, Sirius satellite weather and JL Marine audio that allows us to pick up 200 radio-satellite stations and produces one of the best sound systems on the water. The boat also has a TR-1 Gladiator autopilot. This is a run-and-gun machine.
Question: Aren’t we seeing more of these striker-type boats replacing the old charter boats with the big cabins on them?
Covington: Yes, we are, because of the distances we have to run to find more and better fish. On a normal day, we’ll run 60 to 100 miles from port before we start fishing.
Question: What does chartering this boat for one day cost?
Covington: It costs $1300 for the boat plus fuel. With tip and cleaning fish service, it will cost about $2200 to $2600 per day for up to six people. We also have a deckhand – Jason Manton – who does a good job of keeping up with the bait and the lines, and working with the fish and the customers.
For more information about offshore fishing in the
Biloxi area, contact Captain Rimmer Covington, (601)
951-3981, rimmerc@gmail.com,
www.mgfishing.com.
Call Bobby Carter, the manager of the Isle of Capri, at (228) 436-7928, or visit the website at isleofcapri.com/Biloxi. You won’t find better food or nicer, more-spacious accommodations anywhere else than on the Isle of Capri.
Go to visitmississippi.org, or call 1-866-See-Miss (733-6477) for more information about Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
Tomorrow: Catching a Big One
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