Sponsor Party Boat Captains Suggestion

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by bigfishy

Pls go on and on....this is good stuff!!! Sounds like a whole diff world...would love to here more!!

Hope your not being sarcastic. The boats out west have a lot of deck space with no rod holders on the rail. There are notches in the rail to keep the rods from sliding. They don't have benches on the sides of the boat. There are rod racks down the sides instead. Some have rocket launchers out of the way towards the stern. When your not fishing you can sit behind the wheelhouse or in the salon or galley. A lot of boats rotate customers in the stern by number. They also do trolling rotation on Tuna trips. On the 1/2-3/4 trips they use gunnysacks with your number held on hooks in numerical order around the bait tanks. They soak the sacks throughout the day with the deckhose. On longer trips they staple numbered tags on the gillplate of the fish and either put them in the slush tank or freezer hold. I don't think I ever saw a 2 anchor setup out there. Sea lions are a pain in the fleets butt inshore. Offshore they have kelp patties and logs where we have pots and floatsom lines. I miss it but I like it here too.

[Capt Sal]

Originally Posted by Ol Pedro

First off, they have live bait. Sardines, Anchovies, and live Squid during the spawn. There's a much larger variety of fish to catch and a lot of them are line shy. I had to up my line poundage when I got out here. When I told my friends in San Diego that I was catching Yellowfin on 80lb they didn't believe me. If I fished 40lb on the shorter tuna trips out of SD it was heavy. You can overhand cast in SD. On the local 1/2, 3/4 day open party freelance trips the stern of the boat is rotated by your # to keep it fair. You can catch 1/2 day, 3/4 day, twilight, full day, day 1/2, 2 day,and 5 to 24 day charters. All reservations and walkons are handled by the office or on line. Most of the boats lease slips from major landings in San Diego and Mission Bays like Fisherman's Landing in San Diego Bay and Seaforth in Mission Bay. The boat owners have contracts with the landings to handle the reservations, check ins, and other particulars at the landing office. During Yellowtail and Tuna seasons it's hard to get spots sometimes for weeks. There are so many more differences I Can go on for a couple of pages. Hope this answers your questions.

It is all good but compare apples to apples. You would be waiting at the dock for your fillets for hours. Same in the Florida Keys. One on the ,two on the tail etc. BS!!! It would never work in Jersey.

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

It is all good but compare apples to apples. You would be waiting at the dock for your fillets for hours. Same in the Florida Keys. One on the ,two on the tail etc. BS!!! It would never work in Jersey.

Sal, we are talking larger units. We use tail tags on Tuna here they staple gillplates. Both work well. I was asked what was the difference not what I thought would fit.

[Capt Sal]

If you are fishing for porgies or sea bass you would be spending a lot of time going back and forth to the slush tank?????

[bigfishy]

Originally Posted by Ol Pedro

Hope your not being sarcastic. The boats out west have a lot of deck space with no rod holders on the rail. There are notches in the rail to keep the rods from sliding. They don't have benches on the sides of the boat. There are rod racks down the sides instead. Some have rocket launchers out of the way towards the stern. When your not fishing you can sit behind the wheelhouse or in the salon or galley. A lot of boats rotate customers in the stern by number. They also do trolling rotation on Tuna trips. On the 1/2-3/4 trips they use gunnysacks with your number held on hooks in numerical order around the bait tanks. They soak the sacks throughout the day with the deckhose. On longer trips they staple numbered tags on the gillplate of the fish and either put them in the slush tank or freezer hold. I don't think I ever saw a 2 anchor setup out there. Sea lions are a pain in the fleets butt inshore. Offshore they have kelp patties and logs where we have pots and floatsom lines. I miss it but I like it here too.

Ty...this is all really interesting info!!

[captainrich]

Get on a half day boat in San Diego, get there early so you can get the stern.

Sounds ok BUT a third of the way through the trip the stern passengers are moved to the bow, the bow goes to midship and midship goes to the stern. After another hour or so the same things happens again.

Try that in New Jersey!

[Billfish715]

[QUOTE=. The boat owners have contracts with the landings to handle the reservations, check ins, and other particulars at the landing office.

In some areas, the "fleet" is an exercise in corporate ownership. Perhaps s single family owns several party boats in that marina, or, as Pedro mentioned, there are boats which contract with the landing or marina to handle the bookings in a collective fashion. Reservations are handled by the marina office and can be booked and paid for online. Those reservations also include a guaranteed numbered spot at the rail. Those spots are clearly labeled on the online diagram of the boat. It's much like booking a reserved seat on a plane. When you arrive at the marina, you collect your ticket from the office, board the boat, and go to your reserved spot. Any unassigned spots can be booked upon arrival for fishermen who don't pre-register or pre-pay. Prepayment assures that your spot will be yours exclusively and not assigned to someone else.

The fare includes rod and reel, bait, Bringing your own rod and reel is fine but in most cases should be limited to two. Cabins are air conditioned and comfortable. There are galleys with a basic and limited menu which might include breakfast/lunch sandwiches and burgers along with drinks and snacks.

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

If you are fishing for porgies or sea bass you would be spending a lot of time going back and forth to the slush tank?????

The 1/2-3/4 day boats use gunnysacks hung on hooks around the bait tanks with your number on it. Ten Calico Bass, a couple of Bonito, a 10lb Yellowtail, a few Rockfish no problem.

[Billfish715]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

If you are fishing for porgies or sea bass you would be spending a lot of time going back and forth to the slush tank?????

So, it can't be done or it hasn't been tried? The rewards outweigh the inconvenience. Besides, the mates take care of the stringers. There are no hidden shorts buried under the drinks and food in the coolers. Everything is in the open. The fisherman's stringer is sometimes positioned close by and when the action slows down, the mate takes the stringer to the slush tank. If the mate is worht his salt, the job gets done. Mates work for tips. I tip when I get to my spot at the rail and always have great service. On the recent Florida trip, I never had to touch a fish when I brought it in. The mate was next to me as soon as my rod bent and the fish was on a stringer and in the slush withiin moments. He then went on to the next person.

[june181901]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

If the mate is worht his salt, the job gets done. Mates work for tips. I tip when I get to my spot at the rail and always have great service. On the recent Florida trip, I never had to touch a fish when I brought it in. The mate was next to me as soon as my rod bent and the fish was on a stringer and in the slush withiin moments. He then went on to the next person.

The above partial quote says everything. Money talks, BS walks! Give the mate a $20 tip for an $80 fare and watch what happens. As Hannibal Lecter said 'quid pro quo Clarice'.