Stellwagen Open Boat Recommendations

[Flukemeister1]

Hey U.S.,

I have been fishing up that way since the mid 90's.
I have sailed with the Relentless, great captain and crew. I have also sailed with Dave and Sandro on the Tuna.com. He is the best at what he does. Not sure if he runs open boat for tuna and cod is shut down up that way.

I have also had the absolute displeasure of sailing with the Bigfish Two with Tom DePersia.
I am going to be a gentleman and calmly describe how I feel about the experience. I will tell you he was late getting to the boat and late leaving because he was not even close to being ready. He then had to stop several times on the way out because he had a new stuffings box that had to be adjusted. His son "the mate" had to be told on several occasions to stop fishing and shuck clams. So there we stood waiting for bait. At one point in the day I hooked a Halibut and the little punk got all smart with me with his tone and demanded as to how I knew it was a Halibut. When the line snapped I looked at the line and it had been on there forever. Had to rig it up myself because he only had six rods on the boat. Finally about 1:30 we start putting some fish in the boat, it had been very slow up to then, the captain announces we are leaving so we can be back at 3. I had set up the trip, met him at the sportsmen's show in Harrisburg, so I started to complain about leaving an hour late and wasting an hour on the way out working on the boat. He says I better not let his wife hear me talking like that or he would be getting divorced. He then fired up the boat and went home. Would never waste my time or money on him again. In fact, if you said you would pay my fare, I would respectfully decline. Oh and the pictures he has are all from the sixties and seventies. Good luck and I hope you catch big.

Doc

[Blackfish Doug]

Try Eastman's & they are sponsors plus they are great fisherman & will put you on the meat. I know all of the Mass sponsor boats are great as well but you do get what you pay for. If the charters are out of your price range Eastman's may fit your budget. Eastman's also does limited load trips where the boat is limited to the amount of fisherman they take give them a try if the charters don't work out for you.

[scooter1010]

I would also say stay away from the Big Fish. He's a Big Joke in my opinion. A much better promoter then captain. Anyone who leaves a spot because your catching a lot of fish and moves to the dead sea so he can save fish for the next day is an A-Hole !!! IMO

[Mark215]

Like Blackfish Doug said try Eastmans. Very good operation. We usually do a spring and fall trip every year with them.

[UglyStick]

Thanks for the intel on Big Fish, I had heard mixed reviews and I'm glad I could get a first hand account. I'll pass on them...

Eastmans - Doesn't look like they run open boat 6 packs for for school tuna and cod but I could be wrong, their website doesn't mention anything about either. Not looking for party boat, even limited load for this particular trip.

I'll get some more info on open boat trips from Dave and .com but my wife is so dead set against them from the way they portray Dave on TV. I also don't get why he's charging $1600 for a full day 6 pack cod/haddock trip while Relentless is charging $800 for that same trip (even if maybe an hour or so shorter). I understand better boat and some may say better fisherman but how does one justify that difference.

I'll look into Relentless - anyone know why his pricing is higher for open boat trips (8hr 6 pack Haddock charter is $800 but as open boat the same trip is $210 per person).

The actual cost isn't the big deal as I can afford it, it's just the principle behind the pricing schedules that irks me.

Any other suggestions?

[Taxman]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

Thats doesn't really make sense.. I see recommendations on this board for charter boats as far away as Puerto Rico, Florida, California, Alaska, and up and down the entire eastern seaboard from anglers that have fished for them.. Those boats certainly were not sponsors... I suppose Mass. boats might be considered "local", but really that pushing it a bit far.. If we should only patronize sponsors, we should post NO recommendations here for anyone that doesn't advertise here..That would include every coastal state.....

It has always been if the site has sponsors in the local being asked about, non-sponsor information should not be posted. The site has a pm option if you really want to plug a non-sponsor

[shrimpman steve]

Hi ugly

Clear your pm's. I have a recco for you.

[UglyStick]

Originally Posted by Taxman

It has always been if the site has sponsors in the local being asked about, non-sponsor information should not be posted. The site has a pm option if you really want to plug a non-sponsor

I know how it is... just not agreeing with it... see my earlier response...

[Gerry Zagorski]

Just to clear there air, there is obviously some grey area here so I figured I'd comment.

- We get people and companies that are not sponsors here tying to game the system all the time. Unsolicited posts about their business and services are not allowed here since our sponsors pay to advertise their businesses here.
- We also have people who try to shill for their favorite non sponsor boats also not tolerated here.
- People put up reports when they are on non sponsors boats. We love reports but please refrain from naming the boat, just use "non sponsor" instead, out of respect for our paying sponsors please.
- In this post someone asked for advice and people named boats, some where not sponsors. That is much different then someone who puts up an unsolicited post plugging a particular non sponsor boat. While I would prefer we recommend sponsors, if you choose not to, you might consider PMing the person who asked.

One last thing here.... In order for this site to work for everyone, we have to maintain a balance between our sponsors and our members/visitors interests. Both are equally important... With out sponsors there is no site, without visitors and members there is no value to sponsors.

Can't please everyone but doing the best I can balancing things by trying to maintain an even keel.

[bowhunter]

Anyone ever fish with Captain Ken Roth on the Hailey Elizabeth?