Saturday Charter

[Gibbofisho]

Firstly, I'll start by saying that I'm not usually one to bag out a commercial operator and their business/livelihood and hence is the reason i will not name names publically, if you want to know the name of the operators, pm me and I'll let you know who to not go with.

We kicked off at 6:30 Saturday from Tonkin St Wharf at Cronulla and conditions were pretty awesome as the Bureau had got it totally wrong. The boat is awesome and hold six people very comfortably and rides well and moves quick, hopes were high and tales of species previously caught were heightening our expectations, i made the early mistake i think of chatting fishing and diving the areas we're going to, but that mistake wasn't going to present itself until later on.

First stop was Marley, how far and how deep off shore do you think we were, 1km? Keep guessing, 500m? ......................try about 30m, we anchored in reef and started burlying with bread, i was skeptical as to what we were going to catch, and even more curious when the charter operator asked me what i see here usually when diving, i said, "mate i reckon the first 3 fish caught will be a sergeant baker, red rocky and a LJ" well 2 out of three wasn't bad, to ad salt to the wound, our decky that we paid more for, had apparently never decked a fishing charter before but was a sailor by recreation and sport, he could tie fishing knots luckily but bait presentation and choice wasn't his speciality, so my expectations were diminishing fast. Fortunately i brought my own gear and threw out a whole snelled pilchard and boated a 55cm king which was the day's saving grace. but after catching hordes of yakkas that the charter operator informed us were "good tucker" i suggested moving on.

Next stop was Wottamala (sp?), once again, i could have walked the anchor rope to shore, first two fish boated here were a couple of 30cm pike, to which we were informed were "a great size", and were gutted, scaled and iced, not a nibble after that, i put down my rod and decided to check out the flybridge and saw a school of salmon working about 100m from us, i suggested that we get stuck into them to which the operator threw out some skirts on handlines and trolled directly through the school. It was getting close to lunch time so the operator killed two birds with one stone and told everyone we'd get the big gear out and "troll around for tunas". I had given up home that this guy knew what he was talking about and just went with the flow, we were trolling about 10knots too fast anyway and were in baron dead water, so i soaked up the sun and had a salad roll and a drink.

Then came the real funny bit, he asked me where we should go next.. Now at $167 pp you'd expect to be able to leave with, if no fish, some tips, locations or something. I was flabbergasted, i suggested the flathead drift off Gaire, but he said, "he didn't want to loose rigs to leather jackets",

i was just laughing by this point, so he said, ok, we'll try of the back of jibbon bommie, where we anchored and dropped lines, everyone was getting light bumps and loosing their pilchards, (which was one of 3 baits to choose from by the way, that being, week old whitebait, cooked prawns that appeared to be leftovers seeing as there was a grand total of 12 that the deckie chopped up so there was enough to go round and a squid head and flaps) so anyway i quickly worked out what was going on and downsized the massive hook and left some free line on the spool and set the hook as soon as i felt the bump, and was bringing in trevally one after another, i started telling others how to do it and the charter operator decided it was time to go and took us back home half an hour early.

total fish tally was something like;

2 LJ's

1 Blue Mowong (just legal)

handful of baby red rock cod

pike

yackas

5 trevally

some stinky wrass.

Now before anyone has a go at me for raggin on these guy's, I've paid half that price and come home with a bag of snapper and assorted other morsels in the past and that was due to the operator and deckies working very hard to find fish and instruct on how to do it. I went because i got a call up from some old workmates that thought it would be a good way to catch up which it was and in my mind i knew it was going to be sh!thouse, but i went anyway.

well that's my story and

like i said, i wont rag on their name in public but if your looking for a good charter, pm me and i'll tell you what one to not go on.

Gibbo.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Gibbofisho

[kevvie]

Jeez man... short end of the straw or what???? I've had a day similar to that. Its turned me off charters all together now. Sorry to hear it bro.

[Martin]

Not a happy outing Gibbo. Your disappointment sounds justified in that you would have expected more effort to put you onto the fish. If you paid for a deckie than yes you would expect an experienced one.

When you charter referrals seem to be the way to find a boat and get a skipper who makes an effort.

Sounds as though this operator just didn't care or had no idea about operating a fishing charter business.

I hope your next charter comes good with the fish.

Cheers

Martin

[Guest danielinbyron]

I don't know why ya just don't out the bastard.. i've been on charters when its shut down and we've caught v little but at least they gave it a fair crack ...and hey thats fishing.. But this guy sounds like a rort.

Edited September 25, 2006 by danielinbyron

[Gibbofisho]

I think he just relies on people not having a clue about what they're catching and just getting excited about landing fish big enough to get a feed out of. the Deckie and operator were both real nice blokes, if they were arseholes i'd publically shame them for taking my money and being dicks about it, hence why i'm torn.

[Mondo Rock]

Mate - the fact that he praised yakkas as "good tucker" is enough by itself to establish that these guys had no idea what they were doing. That they were nice guys is pretty small consolation for a 6 x $167 = $1,000 cost.

Still, you seem to be taking a very healthy and easygoing attitude towards it all so it looks like you managed to enjoy yourself and save day from being a total disaster. I reckon you should be v. proud of this - most fishermen I know (myself included) would have been so dirty about the amateur effort that the trip would have been ruined.

Still . . . . I just gotta know . . . . so I'm going to pm you!!

[netic]

Mate that is one horrid trip by the sounds of it.

Seems like a guy who doesnt know how to fish that bought a charter boat.

I would state his name so that no other raiders have the misfortune of going out with him.

Any operator that calls yakkas good tucker is a goose.

Mate if you dont mind can you msg me his name just so i know.

[The Iceman]

Not a good charter It sounds like someone who has bought a boat and licence and has no real experience to run it Me I would have taken over and told him where to go and try to teach the deckie a thing or two about bait rigging

[veck]

I too had a similar experience 6 odd years ago and haven’t been on a charter boat since, we were promised deepwater fishing and ended up getting anchor a few km’s outside botany bay, the wind picked up and we ended up spending the larges part of our time at the hot water outlet. Body count was a morwong, and a few just legal snappers. Just two Saturdays back while fishing in my boat in Botany a charter boat spent a good few hours at the hot water outlet, you have to ask yourself what a large, open water boat is doing in botany bay. Anyhow I have mates that swear by charter boats and had a great time, especially those who don’t mind getting on turps.

[tuffy]

I'm with you, Netic. Let's know who the operator is. When you go on a charter and pay good money you expect some value and experience, otherwise you might as well go fishing with the bloke down the road. How disappointing!!

As a comparison, I once went on a charter out of Brisbane chasing Cobia on a boat called Reef Hunter and the deal with the skipper was that if anybody broke the boat record we all got our money back. As it turned out I landed the biggest and when weighed equalled the record to the ounce. The skipper gave me my money back. This is the difference when you charter with someone who knows what they're doing and has the confidence and knowledge to take you where the fish are.

[Sammy0884]

Gibbofisho...

Do not mention the name of the charter, or the operator publicly on these forums! It could see yourself or the site owners face legal action for slander or defamatory comments.

It is very frustrating to hear that you have paid good money only to be dissapointed with your experience, it is even more dissapointing to hear that an unexperienced would have known none the wiser, and they would truely be missing out on the charter experience.

Charter boat fishing is a great way to expand your fishing experience for those of us who are passionate about the sport, for others it is simply an opportunity to hit the piss and have someone had them a rod with a fish attached to the other end of it. I think there are alot of charter operators who aren't as aware of their own clientelle as they should be, they go out and operate the day to suit the latter of the two typical charter customers i described

Cheers

Sam

Edited September 25, 2006 by Sammy0884

[Gaff]

Good day Gibbo, i have to agree with Gongfisho i go out

on two charter boats twice a month from the Gong,

and these two operators dont rest untill all avenues have been

exhausted trying to get you a feed, sure you can have an off day,

but you can see by the effort they are putting in, it has not been

due to lack of trying on there behalf.

Regards

Gaff

[Gibbofisho]

sure you can have an off day,

but you can see by the effort they are putting in, it has not been

due to lack of trying on there behalf.

Regards

Gaff

G'day mate, this is the reason i was able to dismiss the possibility of it just being an off day, and having dived the spots we visited, i knew what we were going to be cathcing, it was just piss poor!

[Gibbofisho]

I e-mailed the operator as i had to get it off my chest.

Hi Xxxxxx,

Matt here, hopefully what I'm going to say here will be taken constructively and not in offense as that is not how it was intended.

When i pay $160 for a day's reef fishing, i don't intend on catching pike and yakkas, i have paid half that price in the past with other operators and have come home with a bag of snapper, that's offshore reef fishing, now it might have been just me, but I'm not to concerned about a bit of a gust, i mean i went trolling with a mate yesterday in a 16 foot haines in gale force westerlies and jumped in to pick some Cray's from the eastern beaches, so i was a little disappointed when we didn't hit any actual offshore reefs, the swell slop was actually probably worse in close! Basically what I'm trying to say is that i thought you were great hosts that didn't come across as very experienced fisherman, and I'm hoping that you'll take this on board (excuse the pun) as constructive criticism, as a client i expect an experienced deckie, i found myself educating him on untangling, fish id and bait choice/presentation on more than one occasion, it wasn't his fault either and that's why I'm not angry, I'd just rather see you do well in your business as its something that I'd like to do one day.

As for trolling for tuna, in my experience it is fruitless unless you are going to travel to the right area and do it 100%, otherwise its simply chance that you will catch one, i don't doubt that you will on the odd occasion, but its a waste of time when you could be drifting and offshore reef or picking up flatties off the beaches.

All in all i think my statements may differ from others as i have had an unusual amount of experience on lots of different boats, from sportsfishing boats, to deepwater jigging boats, to spearfishing boats, and i speak and deal with lots of people in the know, and I'd rather not see you blokes fade away due to parties not returning for follow up trips or misleading recommendations, if you would like to discuss further, please e-mail me back or chat to me on 0410 xxx 709.

Once again, please don't take this in offense, and dismiss if you feel necessary.

Warm regards

Matt Gibbons.

[James]

mate you wouldn t believe it but i had a very similar experience with one of sydneys most well respected guides on saturday.

the trip was a nightmare with some of the company being overally drunk and eating livies to the charter operator getting sea sick, un believable.

the operator sees a school of largish fish so we pull up and instead of trolling round em we bloody start cubing in the middle of knowhere.

i new at this point he had know interest in being there on the day.

he knows who i am and i regularly speak to him.

i was disgusted in the day and we caught nothing to boot besides the livies that got eaten by a couple of idiots.

[Mondo Rock]

Sorry, James, but I'm having trouble understanding part of your post above - namely this bit:

"some of the company being overally drunk and eating livies"

Are you saying that these guys picked up live squid/yakkas/slimies from the bait tank and ate them?

Seriously?

What a bunch of animals!!!

[netic]

Sorry, James, but I'm having trouble understanding part of your post above - namely this bit:

"some of the company being overally drunk and eating livies"

Are you saying that these guys picked up live squid/yakkas/slimies from the bait tank and ate them?

Seriously?

What a bunch of animals!!!

I agree sounds very strange, but i can only guess that they cooked the livies on the boat and ate them.

[James]

I agree sounds very strange, but i can only guess that they cooked the livies on the boat and ate them.

they were still kicking in there mouths.

bloody idiots

[Guest Aron]

they were still kicking in there mouths.

bloody idiots

Haven't you heard of:

Live yakka Sashumi with Cucumber

Ingredients

4 x yellowtail (yakkas)

Cucumber

Wasabi

Pickled ginger (sushi gari)

Method:

Spread a tiny dab of wasabi on the live yakka, place a slice of cucumber on it, place a small amount of sushi gari on top and enjoy.

[barrykrocker]

When I read the thread title I assumed that someone would be having a little bit of a needless whinge but it sounds like, if anyhting, you are being very moderate. I didn't imagine that charter operators could ever be that ignorant. I mean i've been a on dissapointing charter were we caught shit all, and I felt the operator didn't try that hard, but he definately was a top fisherman in terms of knowledge.

but damn that really does sound ridiculous. let us know the response

Gibbofisho...

Do not mention the name of the charter, or the operator publicly on these forums! It could see yourself or the site owners face legal action for slander or defamatory comments.

Sam

not true mate.

Yakkas are good sashimi btw. Its once in a bluemoon that you can be bothered/desperate enough to debone them though

[Guest danielinbyron]

I think he just relies on people not having a clue about what they're catching and just getting excited about landing fish big enough to get a feed out of. the Deckie and operator were both real nice blokes, if they were arseholes i'd publically shame them for taking my money and being dicks about it, hence why i'm torn.

Theres a name for that "syndrome" hostages get it in terrorist situations.where they get close to the terrorist....lol .... sorry mate i'd probably be the same...

[Gibbofisho]

haha, no stockholm syndrome here buddy i think its more pitty....

[harold]

i think you are very controlled when you think about the misrepresentation of the service. I guess we have all wasted a few hundred dollars at times but at least we end up with memories of good times, not like this "Trippus Horribilus".

Better luck next time.

[Gibbofisho]

Guy's, the reply to my e-mail i poste don the first page....

Hi Matt,

Thank you for your message. I really appreciate your frank and honest opinions. I’m a good listener and will address a few things you mentioned but keep in mind that our business model is different to a traditional charter operator with 10 – 15 fishos, deck winches, heavy lines and sinkers, drifting for flatheads and across gravel grounds all day. Yes, it can be productive and more predictable with the reef species.

With the vessel we are operating, we are offering trip options like game fishing on the shelf and beyond, offshore reef fishing or a budget half day local reef fishing. The model is based on things like:

Ø Small number of guests, maximum of 6 pax and often less

Ø A mix of fishing techniques and locations

Ø Sport fishing with good quality equipment

Ø Quality catering included

Ø A deckhand being included as an option based on guests requirements

Ø Be conservative regarding sea conditions to provide value for money, i.e. rather defer a trip than head out in poor conditions

Ø Provide a service based on the average experience of guests onboard

Ø Shared trips with people of different background, experience and expectations

Ø Value added things like morning tea, snacks, trip photos, etc

I accept your point about the deckhand. Unfortunately the normal guys were not available and Chris requested an assistant. In hindsight, you obviously would have managed very well on your own.

Yes, we could have been drifting for flatheads. The only problem with that is the massive numbers of small leather jackets all along the coast. Despite steel traces we have at times had trouble even reaching the bottom. They are less prevalent closer to the coast, like the reef off Wattamulla, Marley and south.

I don’t agree with your point about trolling. As we are covering the distance north or south, most of the time we pick up kingies and tuna as we go past Jibbon bommie, Barrens Hut and the headlands. Yes, it is somewhat unpredictable but also very exciting for guests when the tunas are around, multiple hookups and a lot of fun.

I have had some tremendous feedback form many people regarding our operation so your message is an exception. But I certainly appreciate that you took the time to write and see it as positive and constructive points. Thank you for that.

Yes, I will give you a call later in the week, just to make sure that you have received this and discuss how we possibly could arrange a highly customised trip for you.

Kind regards

thoughts?

[Guest rzep]

At the very least you have received a well worded response to your email.

I would be interested to know what he would like to discuss on the phone.

Regards

Paul.