Are these party boat chartes worth going on? Do you catch fish? can you bring your own bait?

I went on one off shore two summers ago out of Port A (Deep Sea Headquarters 12 hr trip)and everyone on the boat caught plenty of fish. Mostly small sharks and red snapper. Wanted to bring our own bait(live bait)but it was not permitted.
Obviously it is not nearly as productive or fun IMO as the private charters I have been on, but it is also a fraction of the cost.

Did they clean every thing for you? How may fish did you catch?

Fish cleaning was not included unfortunately, (and has not been on the private off shore charters either btw) but DSH is next to the fish cleaning station. Charge you by the pound, but cannot remember the price.
I do not recall exactly how many fish everyone caught, but multiple keeper sharks (typically 36"-42") and multiple keeper snapper per person. All bottom fishing on the typical party boat. The boat as a whole also landed one dorado and several spanish macs. One person fought a very large ling for approx. 1/2 hour but the ling won the fight in the end.
It is a cheap "meat trip". If you want to have input on species fished for, you need to hire a private charter in my experience.

You will catch some fish but probably not a bunch. My wife went on one out of Port A years ago and caught some kings and snapper.

New shark regs in place. Some species are limited to one per person per day and others off limits entirely. Others have size limits. The deckhands will know which ones are keepers and which ones aren't.

This year amberjacks will be closed in June/July so AJ season will not coincide with snapper.

If you want a real chance at a dorado then move to the rear of the boat and ask a deckhand if he can rig you a trolled bait. A tip will probably encourage him.

You need to try it at least once. Dont wait too late in the summer though. As for using Deep Sea headquarters, just bring your sunscreen, a camera and some cash. They'll take care of the rest.

I guess everyone should go once. Personally I would rather take a beating from a mesquite tree switch.

My experience has been:
Lots of puking from other fishersman
Lots of tangles, which the deck hands are HAPPY to help you with
Many lost fish from newbies-usually the best fish of the day for me.
Overall not that many quality fish caught.

From what I recall, they charge 40 cents per lb to fillet fish. I went on a few offshore trips. Do yourself a favor and make sure to go on a charter when Red Snapper season is open. Went on a dolphin dock 12 hr trip and everyone caught the Red Snapper limit ... also a few kings and sharks and one dolphin fish were caught. It cost about $80 bucks so not a bad deal. Also went on a 36hr tuna trip for about $300. I got sick from the fumes so I didn't get a chance to fish. But, about 140 black fin were caught and about 10 yellow fin, biggest about 85 lbs.