What boat is best?

[bonitoboy]

Hi Everyone,

I usually avoid the cattle boats because I never seem to catch much and the people on board do not seem to be very nice. Last year, I went on the southern cal, nice crew, but the "locals" rushed the back of the boat and refused to allow anyone else to work the spot. My GF and I got skunked in the front/side. To make matters worse, boat was fishing for barracuda and people were throwing tadys left and right not really looking back to see if people were trying to get bait at the tank. They did not load the front bait tank, and we were fishing for bass, as it is kind of hard to swing a tady in the front or side of the Southern cal.

My question is what is the best boat to go on with these factors in mind:

1. Cost- I saw that the Betty G in Redondo is offering Wed, Fri Open charter for $70. This is about what I want to pay. Maybe $20 more if it is interesting.

2. I use light gear, Shimano calcutta/crucial rods and reels. Rods 6'6 -7'6 MH, braided line 20# on calcutta -50# on crucial. Reels 300 and 200gtb. My GF has better equipment for the boats-Custom big game rod with shimano thunnus 12000, and penn international with shimano torium. She never uses these and I really want for her to catch something out there.

3. I don't really care what we go after, as long as we get what we go for. That being said, with my gear and funding, I don't think that I will be trying for anything large.

4. Nice crew. Southern Cal was chill, did not help me much, but again I wasn't doing a whole lot other than ballast.

5. No crazy locals who camp out their spot or have a buddy on the spot the whole time. I swear the people on the southern cal were like their lives depended on them getting fish. I am all about competition, but they were so aggressive that I thought two fights would break out amongst themselves over tangled lines that took the crew less than a minute to fix.

Thanks for any advice and tips.

[jplee3]

Hi Everyone,

I usually avoid the cattle boats because I never seem to catch much and the people on board do not seem to be very nice. Last year, I went on the southern cal, nice crew, but the "locals" rushed the back of the boat and refused to allow anyone else to work the spot. My GF and I got skunked in the front/side. To make matters worse, boat was fishing for barracuda and people were throwing tadys left and right not really looking back to see if people were trying to get bait at the tank. They did not load the front bait tank, and we were fishing for bass, as it is kind of hard to swing a tady in the front or side of the Southern cal.

My question is what is the best boat to go on with these factors in mind:

1. Cost- I saw that the Betty G in Redondo is offering Wed, Fri Open charter for $70. This is about what I want to pay. Maybe $20 more if it is interesting.

2. I use light gear, Shimano calcutta/crucial rods and reels. Rods 6'6 -7'6 MH, braided line 20# on calcutta -50# on crucial. Reels 300 and 200gtb. My GF has better equipment for the boats-Custom big game rod with shimano thunnus 12000, and penn international with shimano torium. She never uses these and I really want for her to catch something out there.

3. I don't really care what we go after, as long as we get what we go for. That being said, with my gear and funding, I don't think that I will be trying for anything large.

4. Nice crew. Southern Cal was chill, did not help me much, but again I wasn't doing a whole lot other than ballast.

5. No crazy locals who camp out their spot or have a buddy on the spot the whole time. I swear the people on the southern cal were like their lives depended on them getting fish. I am all about competition, but they were so aggressive that I thought two fights would break out amongst themselves over tangled lines that took the crew less than a minute to fix.

Thanks for any advice and tips.

DISCLAIMER: by no means am I an expert or even avid fisherman. I do enjoy going out when I can (and can afford!), so please don't take my full word on things. These are just my experiences and things I've heard word of mouth. Hopefully my advice can help a little, if any. I obviously don't go out enough to give a 100% accurate recommendations per your circumstance....

That said, are you willing to travel a bit? I *highly* recommend the boats out of Port Hueneme. My first time on a cattle boat was on the Erna-B and it was one of the most unforgettable trips I've ever had. Well worth the trip up to Ventura, IMHO.

The other thing you can try are Twilight trips - these are more popular over the summer and a few landings have them. Some of the boats out of Daveys and Newport do Twilight trips.

If you're looking for good overnighter boats, I hear the Spitfire's a pretty good one. The ones I've had pretty good experiences on are the Sea Horse out of Dana Pt (caught my first yellow on this!) as well as the Mirage out of Port Hueneme.

If you're looking for decent 1/2 trips, the landings around Long Beach/San Pedro are the places to head for. I'm sure many other members can fill in here.
I believe there will *always* be locals on these boats but you just have to learn the 'game' and get to your spot early. And unfortunately, there will always be rude people. But there are also plenty of nice guys on these boats who are willing to help you out - it just depends on the luck of the draw ;) I suppose the other option would be to get a bunch of your buddies together and charter a boat!

The other alternative is to setup trips and/or meet up with the FNNers here - I'm sure you'll find many who would be willing to meet up to fish with you and help you out with getting spots as well as teaching you tricks of the trade. And you generally won't have to worry about them being jerks and hogging the corners and back (I hope!) ;) This is one thing that made my experience a whole heckuva lot better vs just going out by myself or going out with 1 or 2 friends.

Haha, re: tangles, to some people it's seriously like "tangle rage" - ppl just need to realize that it's going to happen. I've tangled up other people and other people have tangled me up. You can't control the current :P Obviously, watching your line and keeping it tight is important, but not everyone will always understand that. People just need to chill out. They get all excited over a tangle as if they were losing an entire sack of fish over it :P

One last thing to note about gear: sounds like you have some pretty fancy gear. Just be careful, especially depending on the boat you decide to go on, of thievery. Some FNNers here have written reports that include scenarios where their gear was stolen (or where someone tried stealing their stuff). Just keep a close eye on your gear. I'd say for the most part, people are pretty honest, but there are definitely some shady characters out there.

[fishingminds]

I am a regular on the Monte Carlo during the summer months....I like the owners, crew, and the other regulars....my boy will even pinhead this summer with them.

I have been doing kid fishing trips for 6 straight years and Danny and Carl (owners) always do a fantastic job of making these trips special.

Most of the regulars are pretty cool about helping people out and sharing info about what is working.

I think on the SC you experienced mostly "deadheads"- yes, they can be aggressive and very competitive (seen it first-hand) but if you can fish, who cares? I would just not do the jackpot to stay away from the hype....

The other choices you talked about- Spitfire 3/4 day, and Betty- G (great little boat to fish PV area...can get very tight to structure for big calicos!) are good choices as well....if you can get enough of your friends, the Betty G would be a fun time.

Just have to decide which area you want to fish- Horseshoe/Huntington or Samo Bay

Good luck and have fun!

[deanhall32]

If you want to get away from the assigned numbers and rail spots and better fishing then take a little longer drive down to San Diego and fish the Coronado Islands on a 3/4 boat. Any of the big 3 landings down here will be good. Cost is a little higher at $95 but it includes your Mexican fishing license. Completely different then those LA landings where you are fighting with Raider fans for a spot.

[bonitoboy]

Thank you all for your replies and tips. When will a captain choose to use the rail assignments? When the boat is crowded? Do some boats use the assignments regardless of boat capacity? I love LA, but would not mind going out of LA to a boat that was chill. Who do you ask for help on the boat? When we went on the Southern Cal, the captain told us to use iron and tadys for the barracuda. This was ok if you were in the back of the boat, but since we were in the front and side we really couldn't throw those. I wanted to ask a deckhand but they were busy taking care of the guys in back catching barries.

PS what is a deadhead?

[Ricky-Ray]

You'll find numbers on the rail's usually on the 1/2 and 3/4 day boat's. Most will not enfore it if the load is light so usually feel free to move around. If the boat's packed whatever your number is most likely your stuck at that spot all day long. You will (at least not in my experience) see an rail number on overnight boat's or longer.

If you ever have any questions you should always ask the crew they are there to assist you. You might get lucky and get a nice fisherman to help you but don't expect him/her to be there with you all day long. If you still new at this I would probably introduce yourself to the crew and let them know that you are new to this and could use some help. That way they know and will try to keep an eye out and help you out whenever possible. Make sure you take care of the crew (crew tips) at the end of the day for the work that they did to help you out. Throwing irons from the front of the boat is usually best and easiest. Throwing from the side can be done but you just won't get the distance compared from throwing from the front of the boat.

A "deadhead" is referred to a person that rides for free.

[tunafisherman]

You may want to try Dana Wharf lots of regulars but mostly older people. Just don't go on Tuesdays because 2 for 1 and on weekends. Nice boats and close to great fishing spots.