Meet Captain Kit Carson

Captain Kit Carson is a Florida native, born and raised in Fort Lauderdale. He graduated from South Plantation High School, Class of 1999, then earned his Associate's degree in Digital Media from Full Sail in Winter Park, FL.

After Full Sail, Kit moved back to South Florida and dove straight into Miami's electronic music scene. He built the first website for Ultra Music Festival in 2000 and 2001, ran video on the main stage in 2001, and handled the Space nightclub stage in 2002. He held VJ residencies at Amika, Crobar, Space, and Nocturnal — the biggest rooms in Miami at the time.

From there, Kit became Creative Director for the Winter Music Conference, then moved back to Fort Lauderdale to work in Michael Egan's think tank, primarily on his publicly traded company The Globe (TGLO). After that, he joined the Sun-Sentinel — a locally owned newspaper under the Chicago Tribune umbrella. Within a year, they moved him up to the parent company where he applied his digital media skills across all their major publications: the Los Angeles Times, Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, and the Chicago Tribune. High-pressure environments where you either perform or you're done.

Eventually, Kit took a buyout, got his captain's license, and moved to the Keys. The rest is history.

That mindset followed him to the water. In August 2015, Kit signed on as a mate under the legendary Joe Saba on the original DirtyBoat. Three years of hauling lines, rigging baits, and learning every current, hump, and edge in the Florida Keys. When Joe was ready to pass the torch, Kit bought the boat and the business. No hesitation.

The name DirtyBoat isn't marketing. It's a philosophy. "If the boat's clean, we didn't fish hard enough." Blood on the deck. Scales in the scuppers. Fillets in the fridge. That's what a good day looks like.

Kit doesn't just run charters — he competes at the highest level. The Gold Cup, the Islamorada Sailfish Tournament, the Cheeca Presidential, the Islamorada Fishing Club Tournament — these aren't weekend hobbies. They're where you test your skills against the best captains in the Keys. DirtyBoat has taken home the daily win at the Cheeca Presidential one year and Top Female Angler another. Kit also competes in charitable tournaments like Fish for Holly, giving back to the community that shaped him. Every tournament sharpens the blade — reading current breaks, finding bait, knowing when to move and when to grind. That tournament edge goes directly into every charter.

With nearly a decade at the helm and thousands of trips under his belt, Kit runs the DirtyBoat 2.0 — a 42' Liberty Express with 900 horsepower of twin turbo Cummins diesel. She's docked at Robbie's Marina in Islamorada, minutes from the Gulf Stream. While other boats are still running to the grounds, DirtyBoat is already hooked up.

What drives Kit? Simple. He wants every angler who steps on his boat to feel the rod double over and hear the drag scream. First-timer or seasoned veteran — doesn't matter. You're here to catch fish, and he's here to put you on them. No excuses. No fluff. Just fishing, done right.