Charter Question

Saltwater Offshore Discussion
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Ok guys I have a question for you guys about a disappointing charter I went on last week. Let me tell you the story and you guys let me know if I should be upset or not. I do understand the idea of fishing and not always catching but have some issues with customer service and communication. I reached out to a charter for a 9 hour trip for 5 guys and wanted to do a mixed trip of trolling and bottom fishing but with a focus on bottom fishing as me and my guys wanted some fish fry fish. We are asked to show up at the marina at 6:00am which we do right on time ready to roll. We throw some drinks in the cooler and off we go. As we roll out of the marina an alarm is going off and the captain says there’s a little short in the sonar, and we continue out. We head out to some beach fron looking for some live bait, it’s about 6:30, this is when the captain says keep an eye out for the pelicans as they will show us where the bait is, he then says they don’t show up until about 7:15. we hang out here until about 8:00 am no pelicans or live bait. Captain says we’ll go with plan b and troll ballyhoo. No problem, We head out and get to a spot where we see some birds working the surface where the captain and mate now start rigging some rods, by the time we’re ready to be in the water birds are gone. We troll way out and get to a rig where we see bait, still no bites and we don’t try to pick up any bait. I ask about bottomfishing and kinda get blown off but kinda a we’ll do that later. Well the long and short of it is I ask about bottomfishing 3 times during this trip, never do it, wasted a littel time looking for bait still arrived back at the dock sharply at 3:00pm without a single fish or bite, I never touched a rod. At the end of the day when I stated my dissapointment I was told we didn’t have live bait and my sonar was broke so how could we bottom fish. I believe this captain should have given me the option to cancel the trip when he didn’t have a sonar or live bait and could provide me with what was agreed upon.

What

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It sounds as though this Capt wasn’t really a btm fishing guy,but mainly did trolling charters.I know I have btm fished when my sonar went out and did very well do to the fact that I have #s that produce consistently.With modern chartplotters you can get right on your spots without using the sonar.Especially for just a partial day.Also,live bait can be jigged up at the shipping channel bouys, Chas 60,or wherever you btm fish this time of year with sabikis.Lots of btm fish can be caught @ Comanchee,Y73,Anchor Wreck,etc with dead squid and cigars.IMHO,btm fishing is more productive than trolling this time of year.I would book a straight btm trip next time and drift some bait back for pelagics while you fish.Sorry y’all had a bad day.

“Modern day Robin Hoodism-Steal from the sucessful and give to the poorly motivated.”

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I chartered for 30 years and by the sound of it you should be more than upset. The live bait issue is always a problem but a good capt will have several options if one fails, try another. You said they rigged tackle when they saw birds. The tackle should have been rigged and ready when you left the dock or at least on the way out, not at the last minute. As for the bottom fishing, they should have had backup gps numbers or plotters to locate the bottom areas, not just a sonar. I sure wouldn’t send any business to that outfit in the future. Sorry you didn’t have a good experience but don’t let one bad trip stop you from other charters, just try to get some recomendations on boats and crews next time.

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Totally unacceptable. There is no reason a charter should go as yours did. I have been chartering for 12 years and only had one instance we didn’t have success in the ocean. On that one occasion we had lots of bites but just couldn’t get anything to the boat. I do have over a 1000 loged to date including tournaments and fun-fishing. There should have been a plan B, C, D, and E to make sure the charter went with some rods bending for the client. As for this time of year…no excuse for live bait at all, it is everywhere. I don’t care who the charter captain was, especially with a mate too! This gives chartering a bad taste and a gamble for you the next time if you everI decide to take on another captain to put you on a good day and some fish.

I would like to know which charter company you used. I know posting it may not be your style but you can pm me on this site. Unfortunately I have heard many stories of torture charters here and elsewhere. Almost all captains I know bust their butts making sure each trip is the best is can be…sorry you had a bad experience.

Tight lines, Captain Robert Olsen, Knot @ Work Fishing Charters

www.knotatworkfishing.com

(843) 442-7724

Robert Olsen

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Sounds like this was in the gulf, still would like to know the name and homeport.

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This charter was out of Beaufort.

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I would Definitely be pissed off from that charter. Not finding the menhaden happens sometimes, but if you told them you wanted to bottom fish, they should listen to you. Plus you can always at least bring some squid or cigar minnows for back ups. I have mated on a boat for a few years and this is far from a trypical charter. Any of the guys around here and on this site would not do something like that, so don’t give up on charters…just do a little research on who you go with and hopefully this doesn’t happen again.

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(**()…i only fun fish and have a spare transducer on board and always bring too much bait(live and frozen).

sorry to hear you had a bad trip,next time maybe someone on here can give you some help on picking a charter.

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If the captain knew his depthsounder was not working prior to leaving the dock and bottom fishing was supposed to be a big part of the trip he should have mentioned this and given you the option of rescheduling the trip after the problem was fixed.

Sure, in a pinch you can bottom fish off your GPS #'s without the use of a depthsounder but not nearly as effectivley as when you can see where the bait/fish are holding.

You, as the charter client, should not be put at a disadvantage right out of the gate due to a known/exising problem with the boat’s electronics.

If an electronics componet or piece of equipment fails out on the water, you adapt and do the best you can with what you’ve got. But I would not start the trip out without my depthsound unless of course the client knew, understood how this could impact our sucess, and still insisted on going.

As far as the bait goes, sometimes it can be tough. Two days ago I had all the bait and chum I needed in 10 minuets with two throws of the net. Yesterday it took almost an hour and 20 throws to get enough bait to fish with.

That being said if I’m running an offshore charter and plan to bottom fish I carry plenty of frozen bait just on the off chance that live bait is hard to come by. I also catch and pen up live pinfish on a regular basis so it’s rare that I leave the dock with no live bait already in the live well.

The way I look at it is…It’s my responsibility as a charter captain to make sure all my equipment is in top notch condition, my rods are rigged prior to leaving the dock, I have all the neccesarry tackle on board for what ever type of fishing we may be doing, and be as prepard as possible to give my clients the best shot at a great days fishing.

Do I ever have slow fishing days? Sure…every now and then the action is not as good as I, or my clients, would like it to be…but I can guarantee that it is not because I’m not prepared.

The majority of charter boat captains I know feel the same way as I do. Unfourtunatley there ar

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This captain needs to be exposed. Completely unacceptable. Lack of bait and equipment issues are not an excuse…you are a captain and a business owner!

Iain Pelto
Sea Hunt Triton 160
Native Manta Ray 14

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I too am a captain/guide and it does hurt our industry when others dont seem to take pride or professionalism in our business.

Sorry for your experience.

Like Robert stated, most of the captains we know work hard to make sure you catch something. Posting a name may prevent someone else from repeating your experience.

I am no bottom fishing expert but in most cases, all you have to do is get near a live bottom area and drift baits, the fish are there. You dont need a sonar for that as long as you have some idea of the gps coordinates.

Sounds like this captain was ill prepared in more ways than one

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I’m no capt… But c’mon that is a joke! I’ve never had a bad charter experience and I am sorry u had to deal with that. I would be pissed!

I always remember what my shop teacher told me in middle school about the five p’s… Proper planning prevents poor performance… No excuse for not being prepared for a PAYING charter… Geez

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I’m sorry but if your chartering a boat to go fishing…and the fishing never happened…I really would demand a refund. I mean come on fishing is fishing and some days are tough, but if I’m on the water for 9 hours, I think that’s sufficient time to find something swimming. Especially if its what I make my living doing! Some days even the best in the world have slow days, but to not even touch a rod is absolutely ridiculous.

-Wishes Charlotte was 3 hours closer to the ocean…-

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Sorry for your bad trip experience. It sucks when this type of thing happens as it could sour your thoughts towards the entire industry. I recently heard a story of guy that was on a corporate trip that was setup by one of the booking agencies that claims to use the best captains in town, they should claim to use the best captains available willing to work for cheap. His experience sucked for him to the point of him almost canceling his family charter he had booked for a few weeks later. Thankfully he went with an accomplished guide that put him on fish and showed him and his family a good time.

www.advoutdoors.com
“I have tomorrow open!”

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Very poor communication from the Captain. All major point on what-the-captain-should-have-done have been covered. I would write a letter to the captain and/or affilitated marina/resort (if there is one)with some type of reasonable demand.

Sea Hunt 207CC,Yam 150
www.abfishcharters.com

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I too had a bad experience when i first moved down here 9 years ago. Took a charter out to the hilton head reef. I really didnt know any better at the time but pelicans and bait were poppoing everywhere. Never saw a cast net and we were told that the area we were going to in august produced many fish and we would have dinner.

He had frozen squid and shrimp so all we caught were baby sea bass

No chum no freelines or corks at the rear only 2 lines on bottom. The sonar was never turned on he just pulled up and dropped anchor. Hell we were lucky to even catch what we did.

The issue is that some guys just dont care and it is a rarity considering that the charter guys are basically living their passion and getting paid to do it.

I am not a charter captain but I work hard to perform as my fishing days are hard to come by with my work and 4 kids. I have had it take 2 hours to get bait before but finally found it and the day was a success.

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What is the name of the Charter?

Red X Anglers, If you dont know about us ask.

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Did you tip the Capt?

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Getting a Captain’s License is a whole lot easier than becoming a good fisherman. And just because someone passes a couple paper tests certainly doesn’t qualify them as a person who deserves to be paid as a professional guide or be paid by an owner of larger boat to be a captain. Kinda like real estate agents and contractors, no real world experience is necessary, but the people who have the experience BEFORE they get licensed are the ones who are usually the most successful.

Captain Jamie Holcombe
Waters Edge Charters
843-209-1895
www.watersedgecharters.com

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AMEN