About Us
We come from families of hardcore outdoorsman. Our families have deep roots based here in South Florida. We both attribute our abilities in the outdoors to our family traditions of raising a family on the water and in the woods. It's pretty cool to look back and see how similar our families were and how our lives were lined up to cross paths. Little did we know that after 25 years of fishing and diving in the same areas that we would meet, fall in love, and run one of the most successful charter fishing businesses in SWFL. In just nine years Rush Charters has turned into a family of hundreds of customers with thousands of great memories with Captain Chris and Captain Lacey Rush guiding them along the way. Living nearby the coast we have a wonderful home with a beagle named Buck and a viszla named Sue.
Meet Captain Chris
Capt. Chris Rush grew up living and fishing in South Florida and the Florida Keys. He and his family live and work in Fort Myers FL, but spent weeks of their summers in Big Pine Key, FL. Coming from a family of South Florida fisherman and hunters his target was to become the best. Chris' grandfather first visited the Fort Myers area in a P-51 fighter pilot where he flew and trained other pilots at the Naples Airport before shipping them overseas in WWII. It was there in Naples where he met Chris' grandmother, ( who was Miss Key West in 1949), and it was love at first sight. Fishing was a way of life in the Rush household. Family night consisted of catching trout and snook on the oyster bars in Matlacha and birthdays meant a shark catching party with your best buds. Chris' fondest memories are of poling his jon boat around the Caloosahatchee catching 20lb+ snook on topwater plugs with his buddies after school. After summers of working at his father's marina (San Carlos Marine) in Fort Myers, Chris graduated from Evangelical Christian School. Spending the next 9 years of his life on the water full time guiding professionally, he started his business simply by word of mouth. Endorsed as an Orvis flyfishing guide, Chris has the patience to provide the right advice and coaching for everyone. Chris spends more than 280+ days on the water guiding, fishing 20+ tournaments annually, and commercial fishing on his days off. Guiding isn't really something you pick up in just a couple of years it takes a lifetime of knowledge and experience.
Meet Captain Lacey
Don't let her blond hair or her 5'3" frame fool you... Captain Lacey Rush is a fourth generation cracker right here from Fort Myers, FL. Born and raised down a dirt road this little southern gal is "tough and sweet". She learned how to swim before she could walk and could shoot a speargun before she could read. Lacey has always led an active lifestyle. Lacey's first paying job was working for her dad, Wayne Kelly, of Kelly Fish and Seafood Inc. She would spend her summers commercial diving for lobster in the Keys and during school pay to get her nails done with last weekends catch of gag grouper in local waters. Lacey is an experienced diver and spearfisher with hundreds of hours spent underwater. Her keen sense of the marine world enables her to put her customers exactly where they need to be fishing. Lacey has spent a lifetime operating boats up to 35+ ft in some of the toughest conditions. Following in her father's footsteps as a commercial realtor, she has began pursuing a career selling residential real estate after receiving a degree from Florida Gulf Coast University in Hospitality & Management. While managing Rush Charters and knowing her love of the water and enthusiasm for fishing, I encouraged her to also become a USCG certified captain. Rush Charters can now with the two of us together accommodate parties up to 8 customers. This dainty blond is all business when it comes to spoiling her customers on the water, and closing the deals at the table. Her hard working spirit with generations of good 'ol southern hospitality and values is what you'll love about my incredible wife, Captain Lacey Rush.
