Terrible Charter Experiences!!! More and more often....

[aussiebasser]

I have had recent Charters with two Gold Coast Operators. First was a one day charter, just me and the missus, with 9 other punters on Fish The Deep. Excellent day fishing with great service from the crew. We came home with an excellent feed of Trag. We then chartered Watchdog to fish the Gold Coast Game Fishing Club's Light Tackle Masters on 17, 18 and 19th of February, specifically chasing Marlin on 8kg. The knowledge shown by the crew of Watchdog was awesome, The fact that Pam won Champion Lady Angler with two tagged Marlin, and got Heaviest Other Fish with an 18.7kg Mahi Mahi pretty much sums up how good these guys are. (these were her first Marlin and Dolly) Cheyne, Troy and Lockie were awesome, and then AJ, who took a couple of days off on Fish the Deep to help us on Watchdog, without payment, is testament to his dedication. Overall, Special K won Champion Boat with three Marlin tagged, Watchdog tagged two marlin and landed the Mahi Mahi (It was a potential State Lady's Record) but was relegated to 4th place on a countback behind two boats that tagged two Marlin at earlier times than us. The Dollie didn't earn points, as it was weighed in and not tagged. Have a look at these pics and see if you think the missus was happy.

[prdesa]

Just to clarify what was it that I was complaining about because from some of the replies I have read so far I don't believe that it was understood correctly. My mistake maybe or not....

Again, the issue here is not whether I will be going home with 50 or 0 fish. As I mentioned I would be happy with 1-2 and the rest I would release. I would be happy with no fish whatsoever as well but as long as I have a great fishing trip or experience. (as explained in previous post). If we catch and release all day, I'm happy again. (though many would not be).

But, (and this is my main point), I WANT TO FISH. I WANT TO DROP THAT LINE MORE THEN TWICE IN ONE SPOT. That is what we pay for. Fishing and not riding in a boat. Or socializing on a boat. I'd join a fishing club if I mainly want to socialize or meet new people etc. I want to fish and not spend 70% of the day riding around. It is boring and exhausting at the same time. I'd hire a boat if I want to do that. (I do have boat license).

I want to fish. I want to stay at one spot for at least 30-45 min to see if there is fish there or not. Anyone experienced in fishing knows that you can not determine if the spot is good or not in 10 min. Many times we would be on the fish, not great size, but hey, we were getting bites. But all I hear all day is "your lines up fellas, last cast, we are changing spots". Little baby Jesus, I am furious as I think about.

If the charters want to take people for a social day out or fishing practice then advertise as such. Do not mislead.

Also, not to sound rude, but I do not care about your fuel costs or any other cost. You decided to run a charter business, so calculate you costs appropriately or adjust your pricing. I am sure that if pay $200+ that they are making good money. Least I can expect is to be given a chance to actually TRY and catch fish.

[aussiebasser]

When you choose to go on a "Cattle Boat" with a lot of other people you don't know, you have to accept that the Skipper will do what he has to do to keep the majority happy. Many people want to see $200 worth of fillets for their $200 investment. If they keep catching undersize fish they will not be happy. A good skipper will try to find fish, of legal size, so everyone is happy. Some days that will entail a lot of moving around looking for different depths or water temperatures. Even the best skippers are only human, and can't produce fish when they're not on the chew.

[jackson4300]

I do not protest to being a good fisherman, but I am experienced, even if it is experience with doughnuts....
But if I see a big show of fish on the sounder and do a drift or two through it for a couple of "bites", i would move on because those fish arent feeding. Of course you could chance it and hang around to see if they will come on the bite, which could be in another 10 minutes or another 2 hours. If I was running a charter I would not wait, I would actively look for feeding fish. Fish in the box makes people happier than bites.
UNLESS the boat had been booked out by one party and they wanted to stay put.

To be technical, you arent paying to specifically drop that line in the same spot more than twice.

I went on a charter boat that anchored up on a spot that we were pulling fish up from, undersize fish. I haven't been out with them and would not reccomend them. If they had moved we may have found some legal fish, or we may have found nothing but the fact that they didn't attempt to try anything else was the kicker for me.

[ben_460]

Did they say " you should of been here yesterday , we bagged out in no time "


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[Bremic]

Have to agree with Jackson. I don't anchor often, needs to be a good bite to have me anchor. If I drift a spot for 10 minutes and no decent fish, I will move on too. A find a couple of drifts will often see the fish stop biting, even though I can see them on the sounder.

In saying that, I haven't been on a charter for years, from what I have been on, it always seemed they drifted over fish, some were caught for a few drifts, then they seemed to drift in a different spot, going by lining up landmarks that could be seen.