Welcome To Griffin's Guide Service

About Griffin’s Guide Service

USCG Captain

Stephen Griffin

USCG Licensed Captain Steve Griffin has lived in the Chesapeake Bay region for his entire life. He spent his 20s and early 30s restoring the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a stream restoration specialist. His understanding of the local waterways, currents, tides and hydraulics gives him a great advantage in fishing situations. He has a passion for showing people the incredible experiences the Chesapeake has to offer.

Capt. Steve prides himself in his ability to teach his refined fishing techniques to anglers of all backgrounds and skill levels. He believes there is so much more to a charter fishing trip than what is usually offered. Capt. Steve is a loving family man who finds great satisfaction in coaching young clients into success on the water.

USCG Captain

Drew Grahame

Capt. Drew is a lifelong fisherman from the Chesapeake Bay area, born and raised with a fishing rod in his hand. Drew secured his first job as a mate on a charter boat when he was just 16 years old, and his passion for fishing only grew from there. He has worked on several boats throughout his career, gaining extensive experience in different environments and conditions.

Drew's love of fishing goes beyond just catching fish. He has also dedicated himself to restoring the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a stream restoration specialist. It was through this work that he connected with Capt. Steve. They quickly formed a lasting friendship, bonding over their mutual hobbies and fishing experiences.

Our Boats

The "Dialed In"
and "Dialed In Too"

The Seahunter 28’ Floridian is the ultimate light tackle fishing vessel for the Chesapeake. They are versatile in their ability to fish the shallows and provide unmatched safety and comfort in open water. We have set both boats decked out to maximize their fish-catching abilities.

Twin 2019 Seahunter 28’ Floridians
Open and comfortable layout (6 anglers)
360º walkaround fishability
Powered by twin ultra-reliable 300hp outboards
Half Tower for sight-fishing
Trolling Motor and Power Pole
Garmin GPS and Sonar, Airmar Transducer, Hummingbird Imaging

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Our Story

At First, I hated fishing...

My story is a little different than other anglers, mainly because I hated fishing when I was first introduced to it. My first time fishing was trolling, where you go out and drive around all day, it’s like watching paint dry. It’s boring. I was probably 8-10 years old. Dad would take me pond fishing in bass ponds with worms. My dad wasn’t a great angler by any means, and I was never too excited about it.

From teens to 21 I raced ATV motocross up to a professional level. Injuries kind of slowed me down and life took over. I met my wife and we bought a house that was three houses from the bay in a waterfront community that had a pier and a little marina in the neighborhood. I looked at the water every day, so we ended up buying a boat. We knew we had to get out there.

That’s where the addiction took off.

The Trout of the Pennsylvania Mountains inspired me

I was working in Western Maryland with a good friend. He brought me back into fishing, and raised in the mountains trout fishing. I went to Walmart, bought an ugly stick, and went fishing for trout on our lunch breaks every single day. I learned again, that these guys that were soaking bait for fish, it wasn’t for me. But being able to fool a fish with an artificial lure, it blows my mind. The challenge is what lured me to it. I learned how to cast, artificial tactics. I’ve always had a nack to pick up things. This was an accepted challenge.

I took those tactics from those streams and brought them to the bay, a place where people use live bait. People still don’t realize how successful artificial lures can be in the bay.

"We all worked full-time jobs, had to work an hour away at 7am, wake up a 3am, go fish, be back to the dock by 6, and then go to work. All we did was fish."

I almost accidentally stumbled on the Bull Redfish

After catching my first Chesapeake bull red (the largest in the world), that’s all it took. It was all I thought about. They’re almost like a ghost here, nobody was trying to target these species. For almost a decade, we’ve consistently targeted these fish, working hard to pattern these fish and dial in these tactics. When and where to find this fish was a huge challenge.

This is how we built our reputation, as kids on the bay that slay redfish.

So I’m working my job, fishing every chance I can, and that’s when I met Drew at work. We were both foremen on job sites doing environmental construction. We’ve always cared about the bay, doing stream restoration, helping tributaries, and working with organizations like Trout Unlimited.

It got to the point where we were getting pretty damn good at fishing. We had a close group of friends and we introduced a few friends to our way of fishing. We quickly realized we enjoyed getting these folks on fish. That feeling, that excitement, we got to relive that moment every day through their eyes. It was awesome.

That year, we had a rough year and it hit me, I don’t want to work seven days a week and retire when we’re old. We’re going to live life, start a business, and take people fishing. This is my calling.

The Light Tackle Community

We’ve always been good to everybody we encountered on the bay. We’re all neighbors here and there’s a great community of anglers. We call it the light tackle community.

We worked to break the mold of the walk-on charter trolling with live bait for fish—realizing and teaching people how much fun it is to cast a lure. To entice a bite. It’s more exciting, more thrilling, and a more fun fishing experience overall. If you hone this skill, you can actually catch more fish than trolling. It’s hands-on and takes skill, patience, and concentration, but it's well worth it.

The old-school charters got away with booking a six-hour trip, fishing until they had a limit, and then going home, whether that limit was caught in 45 minutes or a few hours.

We knew we had to share our passion with more folks on the bay. This is such an incredible fishery and we wanted to prove that you could have an exciting fishing experience, packed with action and epic fights.

So, We Started A Guide Service

In 2021, I decided to turn this passion into a business. I wanted everything to be top-notch. We use the best boat, the best gear, and the right electronics. Everything is 110%, backing up all of that gear with our work ethic.

When I got started, I wanted to keep my construction job, taking trips on the evenings and weekends, and using sick days to book trips. All of a sudden, the business took off and it got to the point where I needed to quit my job.

So I went full-send.

That fall we won one of the largest tournaments on the bay, the Rock the Choptank tournament on one of the biggest tributaries in the bay. What’s cool about this is that you had to focus only on this river and this is where our tactics shined. We knew we were going to dominate, and we won 19 of 21 classes. People couldn’t believe how many fish we caught using artificial lures, and that got us a lot of attention.

Fast Forward to 2022...

I had a chance to do a public talk about red drum fishing, which definitely helped my reputation, but I’d already started booking well that year for Red Drum—filling my entire first season of Red Drum trips. We showed everyone the potential for this kind of fishing on the bay, and they wanted in.

Word got out and we started booking for 2023, and I had to start turning down trips for the first time.

Drew had always been a mate when I needed him, always lending a hand as a deckhand with larger groups. I knew this had also been a part of his dream. From the beginning, he’s always been a big part of the business.

I asked him, "If I buy another boat, will you run it?"

Enter Capt. Drew Grahame

I couldn't just put someone on a boat to take people fishing. It needed to be a particularly fishy breed of Chesapeake, and Drew fit that mold. He is the fishiest person I’ve ever met in my life. When he's not fishing, he's fishing.

He knows how to find fish, has an incredible work ethic, is a great people person, is the first person to lend a hand, and cares about everyone else more than himself.

Drew came in to work overflow for 2023. Well, turns out, Drew was booked every single day.

Changing The Game

Together, Drew and I are an absolute powerhouse. The way our boats are set up is a huge advantage over anyone else on the bay. Our fishing skills paired with the range we could cover in our boats...Now multiply that by two. Now, we cover different regions, talk to each other, spread out, divide and conquer, and it has changed the game.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us, our story, and our passion for fishing the Chesapeake Bay. Drop us a line and let's talk fishing.

- Captain Stephen Griffin

Real Reviews From Real Clients

Client Testimonials

From Bull Redfish to Stripers and everything in between, we've had the pleasure of showing some incredible folks how we fish the Chesapeake Bay.

The knowledge these two have of this fishery, paralleled with unbeatable gear, top-of-the-line electronics, and unmatched teaching ability for light tackle anglers is why we come back for more and more every time. Couldn’t recommend a better experience for light tackle anglers of all levels.