Mates fishing during charters. OPINION

Two winters ago I was on a tog boat. It was a scratchy day but fish were there. I pulled in a keeper or two and had some life building in front of me. One of the mates came over and starting inching backwards step by by step until he was literally half way in front of me. The boat wasn't crowded with maybe only 15 fares but for the principle of it I didn't move at all. Sure enough he swings and pulls up a nice 7 or 8 pound fish from where my line would have been had I had some elbow room. Biggest fish of the day for the boat. The kicker is the capt was cheering him on standing near the wheelhouse directly over my head. I don't mind a mugging but not from the paid help. That was the one and only time I have ever stiffed a mate and haven't been back on that boat since. I also tell anyone who will listen.
But other than that situation , I really enjoying fishing with the mates and capt. I watched the capt of a boat I frequent last time I was out when he came down to fish for a few. I picked up new tips and he encouraged the educational value of that. I did what he did, selected a different size crab, rigged it a little different from what I was doing, and therefore limited out plus some and landed the two biggest of the day.

[JBird]

I agree with Derek and others, as long as the customers are taken care of its totally fine. I can't tell you how many times I have hooked a fish and passed it off to a kid or lady to reel in. I've also fished to show skeptical people that the fish are, in fact, there and willing.

[capemaymartin]

As long as their catch ends up in someone else's bag and customers are tended to, the more lines in the water the better chances there will be more meat to take home. The Captain can always grab a net if needed...Mates work for tips (and a small pay); I certainly appreciate when they add to the meat as mates are usually better fishermen than the guy next to you...

[teddysclaw]

Like with anything else in business, you first should ask the customers what they want. On a 6-pack charter a client is essentially paying for two things. Service and Exclusive Fishing space. I pay a premium so that I have enough space to fish and not get mugged when I go on charters.

As mates, they should always talk to the customers and ensure that everyone is okay with him dropping down a line to fish along with them. Personally I don't like this, as the mate fishing takes up additional space and gives less space for the other 6 paying customers. I get everyon'es point about the mate being able to catch some meat and send customers home with fillets, but to be honest a lot of people I know go out to FISH, not catch. So the experience of letting your line down and hooking up with something and bringing it in is the reason I fish, not to go home with a bag full of fillets, although that's a nice little bonus.

And there is nothing more annoying to me than a mate fishing next to my little honey hole and dragging in fish that I could've had a chance to hook up into.

But as you can see on this board, it all depends on the individual charters, so I would just ask each charter what they want at the start of the trip. It's always better not to assume anything, and ask the customers what they want. Some of my friends like it when mates fish next to them, as it helps them learn the techniques as well as talk to the mate and get some pointers that way. To each his own.

In this day and age your main goal is to make sure the customer is going to come back, and ensuring that you don't annoy them starts with making sure you undersatnd their expectations and goals.