| Choosing
the Right Captain
Choosing the right captain is the most important part
in determining whether or not you and your group will have a great
experience. Let me start off by
saying. Every charter fishing captain that I have ever met wants
to catch fish and come back to the dock with a good catch. That
being said you don't
want to pick a captain that is learning on your time and your
dollar. You also want to pick a captain with the total package.
You want a captain that
knows how to fish for every species in his area and you want him
to have a great attitude and to be a overall fun guy to hang out
with all day. I have
talked with people that have been out on charters and caught tons
of fish but had a miserable time because the captain was rude,
barked orders and was
a jerk. I have also talked with people that have been out and
only caught a few fish but the captains personality and the fact
that he left no doubt in
their mind he tried everything possible made it the best trip
ever. I guarantee every captain listed on this site is a total
package captain!
You want a full time captain. You want a guy that is
on the water every day the weather is nice enough to go. That
is the only way for a captain to
know where the fish will be the next day. A guide that has another
job or only captains on the weekends can't have that insight.
A lot of captains
will claim to have 20 or more years experience or fishing the
area all their life. What they don't tell you is that being a
charter captain was what they
wanted to do when they retire and in fact they have only been
a charter fishing captain a few years. It doesn't matter if a
captain has fished the area all their life "it's a good start"
but any person that works and has a family knows. The things you
like to do that are considered recreational, you're lucky to do
20 times a year. I don't consider that to be relevant
experience. It doesn't matter the age of a captain or the experience
they claim to have. Experience is what you put in and it comes
down to how many
days you are on the water, what you are willing to learn, and
the passion you have to be the best. There are several different
ways to tell the
experience of you're a captain just by looking at his web site.
Look at the photo gallery.
Do you only see pictures of mostly 1 or 2 types of fish?
If so what happens if those species aren't biting the
day you have reserved!
Do the pictures all seem to be of guys that look like
they fish all the time or do they have pictures of family's and
different groups?
It is easier to take local experienced anglers to catch
fish but can they help & take you and your family to do that
same great fishing!
Do the pictures look old?
Let's face it 20 - 30yrs ago it was a whole lot easier
to catch fish.
Hopefully with the rules & regulations we have in place now,
we will get
there again.
Do the pictures even look like they were caught on the
boat they have advertised to take your group out on?
This goes back to experience. Did they go with someone
else and have a good trip. You can tell by looking at the width
of the boat in the picture. Look
at the layout in the back ground. Look at things like rod holders,
coolers and colors of the boat.
Once you have determined a captain you like from his
website or for any reason you picked that person. Go ahead and
set up a trip or email him with
questions and general info. At some point either call that captain
or request that they call you. You can get a good feel for a person
by talking
with them. Ask as many questions that you want. Throw some off
the wall questions at him. Ask about his experience. Ask about
what you will most
likely be fishing for. Whatever you can think of. Remember your
are spending a lot of money. You want a memorable trip for all
the right reasons.
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