First Flight Charters

First-Flight Charters is a family-run charter business based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, serving the harbor and the wider New Hampshire and Maine seacoast. Founded in 2023 by Captain Brent and Elizabeth Skillings, the company aims to share the area’s fishing opportunities and coastal scenery with visitors and local guests. Captain Brent is a U.S. Coast Guard-certified maritime captain with more than 20 years of saltwater fishing experience. Elizabeth manages reservations, communications, bookkeeping, and social media.

The company offers inshore fishing trips of four or six hours, targeting striped bass, Atlantic mackerel, and bluefish along rivers and shorelines. Its eight-hour offshore ground-fishing trips pursue haddock, cod, pollock, cusk, whiting, and other species. Longer offshore trips are available for bluefin tuna and sharks, including blue, porbeagle, mako, and thresher sharks. For guests seeking a more relaxed outing, First-Flight Charters also provides two-hour scenic river and harbor cruises, as well as sunset cruises. Routes include Portsmouth Harbor, the Piscataqua River, Rye Harbor, and Great Bay, with views of lighthouses, islands, and historic landmarks.