Why do we tip the mates?

There's been many posts written about this and there's no single answer. Here's my perspective. Mates work hard to make our trips more productive and enjoyable. At least most do, an I'll get to that shortly. Remember these guys are working for a living and as someone pointed out I believe their hourly wage is low and a significant portion of their income is dependant on tips. That being said you should take care of them as best you can. Chances are unfortunately that the same people who leave a $5 tip on a $100 tab at a restaraunt are the same people who will walk of a boat without leaving the mate a thing. It's just the way some people unfortunately are. I always give as much as I can and if I hit the pool I'll give at least 20% depending on two things, the size of the pool and how good the mates are. At times I've given 50% or more of the pool to the mates because they deserved it. This however gets back to my earlier comment, almost all mates work their asses off and should be well taken care off. I have, which I would assume all of us have, experienced mates who think a tip is an entitlement and after doing absolutely nothing to deserve it throughout the trip had their hands out at the end. In those cases I've still given them something but truthfully I should have stiffed them. Again this is only in cases where clearly they didn't do anything to deserve a tip and truthfully the boat would have been better off without their presence. This is obviously a minority of cases but it does happen. My point is acknowledge these guys or gals are there to make a living and make your trip a pleasant experience so compensate them accordingly. Not everyone has the same means so there is no set answer but in general do the best you can and if your lucky enough to win the pool do something even better. If you frequent the same boat believe me they will not forget your generosity and it will be repaid many times over.

Truth be told, it seems like mating is an easy out in the sun job but let me tell you, and I have never mated, these folks work their asses off and their service deserves to be acknowledged by more than just a hand shake.

Dakota

[teddysclaw]

I always make sure to tip the mates well, but to be honest it's the mates and captains who are screwing themselves. You want the better money, then make the tip inclusive into the fare so that everyone is compensated fairly.

You guys are leaving it up to chance, that the customer will tip you, then when they don't, there's a lot of complaints. So.....seems to me the solution is to just include it into the fare.


The mates and captains chose this arrangement of payment....so don't really understand where the complaints are coming from. Nurses and doctors at the hospital are saving lives, and they don't get tipped. Doctors make a lot of money, but they also go through 12 years of education (8yrs school + 4 yrs residency). Nurse assistants make squat, but they don't get tipped. Life is hard, and whining about tipping in a payment scheme that you constructed seems kinda dumb.

Not saying mates don't deserve tips...just that the complaining about the situation is dumb.

[codkiller731]

Thanks very much for bringing up this topic. As a deckhand on a boat in AH, good tips are always highly appreciated. We work for tips. That's what our income is based on. As a deckhand, we do as much as we can to assure that we receive a good tip. Thanks very much for recognizing how important the deckhands are to the operation of the party boats.

[chef bet]

My son won the pool a few weeks back at $200. There were 3 mates that did a fine job all day long, besides taking a liking to my 10 year old. We or should I say I tipped the mates $25. each for a fine day of fishing & making us laugh a little. My son still went home with a nice little extra money & had a blast . A win win for all.

[Bobby Kojak]

I have to agree with the previous posts. Mates are definitely under appreciated and tipped. I only fish on party boats and once in a while charters. I generally tip the mates $ 20.00. But I do tip more if they have a lot of my fish to fillet. As far as the pools go, if I happen to win one, I tip a minimum of 35 %. I will give the mates all of it, if under a $100.00 and 50 % up to $ 200.00. Over that 35 %. I wish everyone would use my guidelines. The mates have taught me more about ocean fishing than I can describe here and they really deserve more than they get.............

[Kenny O]

20% at least

[PaBeerGuy]

I think the tip should be based on the fare, not the pool. 20% minimum. And if you happen to win the pool? go an extra $20.

[Pennsy Guy]

Originally Posted by NoLimit

So how much is enough for a $300 pool?

Split it 50/50....on much smaller pools, I'll take my contribution and the mates get the rest, but that's just me.....

[tautog]

If the mate is busy filleting just shove your tip right in his front pants pocket. Some guys won't even mind that you only gave them a buck and others will want you to push it in deeper.

[dfish28]

Can we change the thread start post?? It would bring a lot less anger in from the get go if it read "why we Do!! tip mates" if the average angler got one, more power to em, but there is that unknown respect , percentage is up to them, if its the pool ,... One third at least , depending on pool, boat full of newbies, questionable...good day,, good tip!!!!!