Question about overnight and multi-day trips

[Hawkeye]

Got a question about overnight trips and multi day trips. It's been awhile since I went on one of these but I would love to start doing these again as the waters warm up. I am curious about the itinerary on these boats. Awhile back, the ones I went on had a set schedule, does that still hold true? Are you pretty much following a time schedule the captain has planned or is this pretty much you are on your own kind of a thing? Do you fish any time you want or do you follow a set schedule, e.g. breakfast served from 7am to 8am, fish from 9am to 12pm, 12pm to 1pm, lunch, etc? Do you sleep when you want to or do you have a set time for bed and waking up to start fishing?

Can someone walk me through their experience on an overnight trip or a multi day trip?

Thanks!

[Funjunkie74]

Hawkeye,
It really must have been a while since you've been on a multi-day trip!
As for the fishing, there is never a "set" schedule. You can fish as long as the anchor is down or when the captain has set up for a drift. On some trips, you can even attempt to troll when moving from spot to spot. Bottom line, unless the captain/deckhand tells you otherwise, you can keep your line wet!

As for food, that's entirely up to the galley. Don't always expect to be able to get breakfast at 12pm, and don't always expect to get a cheese burger at 8am. But the cook can decide whether if he wants to accommodate you or not. So it pays to be nice to everyone. Don't be a biatch about it...ya hear?

As with any fishing trip, you're there to have fun. If the captain or deckhand says "no" or "not now" it's usually because of safety reasons or they can foresee a problem occurring - that they don't want to have to deal with because you chose not to listen to them.

If you're on a multi-day trip, chances are the boat leaves at 9 or 10pm the night before, will travel through the night, anchor at some point early AM - if you're a "every chance I can get" kind of angler, then you can start fishing from this point on. I have over the years let my body and will power decide whether if I'm going to wake up or not. LOL! If I feel like waking up...then I'm at the rails at 4am. If I don't, then I sleep in a little. Or in most cases, I'll wait till I hear the sound of a reel peeling off!!

Sleeping throughout the day is, again, your choice. If you want to maximize your fishing time (fishing chances) then you can stay up from 4am till the minute you get back on dock. I personally take little power naps when the boat is moving from spot to spot. Those 20 minute naps can really make a difference especially when the fishing is slow and the sun is out!! Also, I'm one of those guys that at the end of the day - eat, give my instructions on fillets, clean up my gear and straight to bed!!

Bottom line, do what feels right for you and listen to the capt. and the crew.
Eat when you want.
Sleep when you want.
Fish when you want - as long as the capt. or deckhand says it's okay.
And if you have any questions, ask the crew.

Have fun, be safe and FISH ON!!!


FJ74

[Ricky-Ray]

Yeah what Funjunkie said.

[Hawkeye]

Awesome funjunkie! Thank you very much for the info bro! Yeah, it has been awhile since I went on a multi day trip. The ones I went to had a schedule set up which I think was understandable because of various factors. The cook wanted to make sure that he fed everyone at the same time instead having to serve it various times throughout the day, logistically it would have been little difficult for the cook if everyone had different time schedules, e.g. food would have to get refrigerated if certain people didn't eat when everyone was eating and then you have to reheat, recook or recreate the dish, not to mention cleaning and prepare for the next meal time, etc. And then we had time set aside for sleeping because captain wanted to make sure everyone was well rested because he believed that tired fishermen and deck hands equated to more accidents, which I totally understood but that was my experience many years ago.

I am one of those earlier risers and don't need much sleep especially if I am fishing. I guess I get too excited whenever I am out on the water and I am all about maximizing fishing time on the rails! The scheduled itinerary has its advantages but I like the idea of "your time is your own" on the boat too as long as you abide by some common sense and follow captain's orders! I am looking forward to going on various overnighters and multi-day trips.

Again, thank you very much for the info it is going to be very handy on my trips!