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Charter fishing advice request
susie
Member Posts: 7,687 ✭✭✭✭
Heading to Panama City first week of June. Don't want to pass up the opportunity to do some charter fishing. I've never done it. Any and all advice is welcome. Will be 5 adults and one 5 year old. We will be in PCB for 8 days so we are flexible.
Driving down and staying in condos so we will be able to keep what we catch.
Comments
Take some motion sickness pills and use them.
I was a First Mate on a Charter boat in the 60's.
My worse parties were where people drank too much and I had to spend my time baybysitting them from either falling off the boat or getting hurt on the boat, especially in choppy seas.
Tip the mate well for filleting any fish or anything else they do. I made most of my money from tips not what I got paid from the Captain.
^^^^THIS^^^^
And take em the day before. Get your Doctor to prescibe some, they work great, and follow the instructions(starts a day or 2 before you get on the boat)! Also, Dont drink too much the night before, ask me how i know LOL. I am trying to find the one we used a few years ago, it was in Anderson Marina. There are a TON in that one marina. Best to google em, look at pics, prices(some let you add more people for smaller amounts of $). Look at the BOAT! You want a nice boat with a cabin and bathroom. Even with best laid plans, you could get sea sick and a bed is NEEDED! I got sick for about 30 mins, we had 8-12 foot waves all day. See if they give refunds for weather, most will not cancel unless its real bad!, but SOME do not offer refunds at all.
I took my Paster deep sea fishing out of crystal river Fl this fall and we did ok. Three gag grouper and a cobia. The fewer on the boat the better. Don’t forget to tip the first mate as he can make or break a good fishing day.
Some charters are set up to troll and some do bottom fishing. Be sure to say which you think you'd prefer. That's all I can add to the excellent suggestions above.
Oh...and never, ever bring bananas aboard.
ive lived on the Gulf since 1969 and have never been on a charter boat, always used my own. there are plenty of charter services that offer all kinds of fishing. Im sure most all offer fairly equal service for about the same money. best bet is to read the on line reviews. also decide what type of fishing you want to do, from bottom fishing to trolling. if you really, really want to fish book you a charter out of Louisiana. those guys in south La. can put you on a lot of fish. Me, im saving for a tuna trip out of La.
Get the captain that stays out until you've caught your fish, not just keeping an eye on the clock so he can turn around another boatload. Out of Kasilof we go deep sea for halibut and many of the captains take clients to the "chicken" hotspots. You'll catch your limit of 25-35 pounders in no time, then they bring you back. I have a guy that goes way way out past that nonsense to his secret spots and we'll spend a couple hours looking for some garage doors. His boat is named "Good Ethics" for a reason.
That is a good point about the type of Captain. Of course I used to like my Captain. When it was really rough seas he knew it was going to be a tough day.
He told the party that we could go out but if they wanted to come back in we would keep their total fee. AS SOON as we cleared the break wall and the seas were so rough that most could not even be out on deck they would beg to go back in. That was fine with us becuase we kept their fee and they were so sick they did not want any of their beer so we kept that also and sat in port all day drinking beer.
Have in the past fished Charter out of PC many times with lacking results, Destin, FL. has been my best fishing waters and 1st. choice. PC boat Captains are known to spot/scout fish for the commercial fishers then get a kickback for doing so (collecting money on both ends) . When you get on top of a nice school and start catching, they want to crank up and leave 🤔, pier fishing may be your best bet as well and least expensive.
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
If anyone in your party starts to turn green or get quizzie, get them up to the bow/forward part of the boat. Plenty of fresh air there. It's also easy to see the horizon which helps to ward off seasickness.
Went out of Morehead City, NC with a charter. 6 of us, Gulf Steam bound, three hours of uuuupppp and dddooown headed in to the current. Caught our limit of nice Yellow fin tuna, one each. I snagged a * fin that the mate said would get a citation for but nah, not interested.
One of the fellows had hurled several times and he came by and said I think I am through, nope I said you got at least one more good heave. sure enough he did.
He got the patch before his next trip.
I did not get sick but the bed rocked for a day or 2. Asked the mate what would happen if we fell overboard. One, we will get you out or second, you will be eaten pretty quick.
On a note it is amazing when you cross into the Gulf Stream, water turns from a dirty green to a nice clear blue almost instantly.
One of the first times out of Savanah Beach i didnt do my research and found out its a long ride to the fishing spot, I have visions of trolling and wound up anchored over a sunken boat bottom fishing. Wound up riding back and forth to the fishing spot, longer than we fished!
Do some research ahead of time for what species and type of fishing you want to do. Fla. has some short seasons and small bag limits on many of the most popular species. Huge difference between chartering a cruiser for a day off-shore for billfish and hiring a flats boat for inshore tarpon & redfish.
gjshaw-Used to try to catch cobra in the shallow waters on the way back in from fishing out in the golf stream. Never caught one. Suppose to be good eating. Fishing off the w. coast was always "drop" fishing the reefs. Lots of snappers.
This is from another charter I did last summer in the gulf. We were very tired and sore but we got our limits. Tipped the first mate well.
Some real sticky fish! Don
Make sure the CAPT is USCG licensed for charters. There’s a lot of operations down that way that are not licensed and may not have proper safety training and equipment.
Before you go make sure you have plenty of freezer space.
...Are you going on an actual charter, or is it a "party" boat? If you go on an actual charter boat you will usually be fishing for one specific fish, like Red Snapper. If its a party boat, you generally catch "junk" fish, which make a lot of the non-fisherman on the trip happy...like 20+ pound Amberjack, garbage fish. Here on the lower Texas coast, snapper trips usually run 12 hrs...4hrs out, 4 hrs fishing, and 4hrs back...🙂
Ask the people you are renting the condo from. They usually know who the best charters are, and will surely want you to make a return trip, so will try to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. When we went to Alaska, the camp owner made all our charter arrangements and we had a great time.
But not bananas!! Under no circumstances take a banana aboard! Terrible luck, they say.
If you have the ability, plan to clean you own catch. it only takes a few minutes, to an hour or so(depending on amount of fish to fillet) and it will save you a LOT of money. They fillet them really fast, leaving the rib bones in most of the time, and they charge a premium(usually by the pound before cleaning)!
Cleaning the fish is usually free and included in your charter fee. The first mate does it for tip money.
"Cleaning the fish is usually free and included in your charter fee. The first mate does it for tip money."
Not on any of the trips i have been on, only been twice sooo.... They wanted something like 65 cents per pound, that adds up QUICK!
I’ve been on many charters and not once was there ever a charge to clean the fish and they also furnished the freezer bags and asked how much to put in each bag. I’d change charters if they tried to charge for the fish cleaning. Was it a party boat or private charter?
Private Charter out of Anderson Marina in Panama Fl, cant remember the captain(there are SEVERAL there) but they all use the same fish cleaners(at least it seems so because the cleaners have a sign up showing what everything costs). I did an inshore fishing, and the cleaning was covered(a lot less fish however). Maybe my experience was the exception, I will ASK first if I ever get to plan another trip. Thanks for the input.
Keeping the 5-year-old engaged should be a major consideration. I would recommend a charter that takes you to a wreck or reef with lots of action. If the child has great fun, you will too.