An accidental mega-yacht captain. That’s how Capt. Mike Souther describes himself. He took command of the 157-foot Trinity Miss Christine back in April 2024—and set out with the yacht’s owner to create one of the greatest charter opportunities on Earth for guests who like to hunt big game.
“I came from the fishing world,” Souther says. “My father was a captain for 50 years in the sport-fish world back in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. I was born into the sport-fishing thing and traveled all around the world. In the beginning, he wanted me to earn my spot. I had to start at the bottom and work my way up on other boats. I succeeded, and then got into the private sector and started fishing a bunch of tournaments and traveling all over the globe, catching big blue marlin.”
More recently, Souther spent about a year running the Hatterascal program at Hatteras Yachts, as well as two years running a 75-foot Viking for the owner of a 164-foot Westport. While fishing in Mexico, he met the owner of Miss Christine, a former owner-operator of a Buddy Davis who was trying to retool the mega-yacht’s charter operations to be more in line with his personal passion of fishing. “This owner of Miss Christine kept getting captains that didn’t quite understand how to be a mothership for sport fishing,” Souther recalls. “He approached me in Mexico and said, ‘I need you to come work for me and fix my program.’”
That reimagined charter setup is now establishing a home base in Costa Rica, which is widely regarded as one of the best places on the planet to chase powerful fish that fight back. Anglers flock from all around the world to challenge themselves against various species throughout the year, often landing marlin, sailfish, tuna and more.
To get in on that game, charters on Miss Christine can be booked with an array of tenders that include the 66-foot Spencer Conspiracy, the 34-foot Jupiter known simply as TT Miss Christine, and a 21-foot Novurania. The Spencer is a boat purpose-built for offshore angling, while the Jupiter has triple 300 hp Yamahas and is rigged for deep-dropping, wahoo fishing, live-baiting and trolling for billfish. “It has a full Garmin sonar system,” Souther says. “It’s rigged to do everything and anything a sport-fish can do, and it has a full head.”
Miss Christine’s charter program, he says, is now kitted out and crewed for anglers of all skill levels, including beginners. “The fear of not knowing what to do is not a worry for anyone,” Souther says. “I’ve taken 4- to 6-year-old kids out fishing who’ve never done it before and caught them a sailfish. We’ve got the special harnesses, so if you’re not strong enough to hold the rod, we can put you in a harness or in the chair. I’ve had 90-year-old customers who just had hip surgery sit in the chair and catch a 300-pound blue marlin.” In fact, Souther adds, he is eager to get newbies into the action: “For guests who’ve never done it before, come on,” he says. “I love beginners. They don’t have bad habits.”
For guests who want a break from fishing—or who don’t want to fish at all—Miss Christine is stacked with other toys so they can play all day too. “We’ve got the Jet Skis, the Seabobs, we do beach picnics,” Souther says. “We’ve got snorkeling gear, spearfishing equipment, towables, and tubes and wakeboards. I even travel with surfboards in my personal stash, and I let guests use them. We have paddleboards, kayaks—you can’t run out of things to do.”
The mothership, meanwhile, is built for relaxation. Miss Christine is a 2006 launch previously known as Never Enough, most recently refitted in 2022. Management company RJC Yachts says this Trinity has been maintained in top condition since it was new. Favorite onboard spots include the sun-deck hot tub, sunbathing spaces and gym equipment; a sky lounge with a sit-down bar and game table; and a shaded main deck aft with guest seating. There also are multiple dining options inside and out for the fresh catch of the day or any other type of cuisine that guests prefer.
“It’s a comfortable boat,” Souther says. “And being in Costa Rica, we had an internet tech guy come on board and mess with our Starlink so we can stream DirecTV in Latin America. A lot of boats can’t do that. Our boss refuses to miss a NASCAR race or Fox News.”
Souther says he’s excited to bring Miss Christine’s program to Costa Rica, especially because of the diverse fishing experiences that are possible. He hasn’t fished the location with this yacht’s owner, he says, but he has fished it in the past. Costa Rica is the kind of place, Souther says, where no matter what week of the year charter guests choose to book, the odds will be good of a successful outcome with the rods and reels. “From December to April, that’s the dry season, that’s sailfish,” Souther says. “Then you’ve got the season that starts in mid-May and runs until August, and that’s blue marlin, black marlin and striped marlin. And then you get into the wet season in Costa Rica, it starts in August, that’s hanging out to see what hurricanes are doing. You can still catch blue marlin, the occasional sailfish or black marlin. Tuna is good that time of year.”
Costa Rica is also a well-situated jumping-off point for Miss Christine to move into other bucket-list fishing destinations. “In late December, the boat will likely move to Panama to fish for a few weeks before returning to Costa Rica,” Souther says. And the plan includes setting a waypoint for Mexico in April 2026.
In all of these destinations, the thing that truly sets Miss Christine apart is the mega-yacht’s ability to offer fishing not as an occasional option for charter guests, but instead as a full-on fanatic’s dream if that’s what the guests desire. “Some other mothership programs, it’s more of a yachting program that has a sport-fish,” Souther says. “Our program is a fishing program with a yacht. The yacht is the hotel. That’s where you get your meals and lay your heads at night, but you’re out fishing all day on the sport-fish.”
On the Menu
Capt. Mike Souther says charter guests who book Miss Christine in Costa Rica can fish for blue marlin, sailfish, roosterfish, mahi, wahoo and tuna. “It’s a good fishery all year-round,” he says, adding that now is the ideal time to book for one species in particular. “The peak for sailfish is December through April.”
Spencer Yachts
Miss Christine’s 66-foot tender Conspiracy was built by Spencer Yachts, a North Carolina yard founded in 1996 by Capt. Paul Spencer, who was active in tournament fishing. Spencer Yachts has built about 125 boats, including some 80-footers intended for serious big-game pursuits.
Take the next step: rjcyachts.com
