malibu boat 4/21

[Oz]

congrats and good to hear u had a blast on the aqaurius with rick. that guy gets u on the fish 99% of the time even on bad days and keeps u on the water longer if u on fish or like u said people didnt have there licenses :lol: just curious was it a half day boat u were on??? cuz i believe the 3/4 day trips stopped end of last month. hope they bring that trip back. looks like imma try and get out there this sunday. congrats again.

oh yea on the note with spinning to conventional u get to the bottom quicker with conventional and spinning reels do a number on ya hands after fishing in waters of 200 to 300 feet of water lol learned that last time i was out on the boat.

[aspastic]

yea it was a half day. the first boat was 6-11:30 and the one i was one was 12-5:30. the guys said that next month they might start a twilight run :D .

[Oz]

ok yea i figured it was just the 2 half day runs...oh the twilight run will be good im sure when they do start that. i hope they bring back that 3/4 again from 7 til 2:30 pm or so. was on the last one they had end of april. everyone had limits on rockfish, bocaccio and lots of dabs. well congrats again on ya ling and great day.

[JapanRon]

Hi aspastic,

Don't know what's with the stats along with your pics but it's all good ... great pics!! thanks ...

As has already been mentioned ... and a bit more .... for those that might be new to the moo-moos.

1) Sacks: Assuming we’re talking about ½-day to all-day trips, whether one agrees that sacks should cost the angler or not ......... although often the ticket office has sacks available ..... I prefer that they be bought from the boat itself to add a little to the deck’s income. Of course, bringing a sack is ok as it is not considered contraband!!

To cover yourself, if you can see the boat before boarding, it is usually pretty easy to see if they have bags on board ...... as they are often draped across the railings to dry or stacked somewhere in plain view. Some boats supply bags, some don't, some charge a buck and I have heard of some charging $2 !! If you don’t have one, it’s a good idea to tell the deckie so you’ll get one if it turns out they are short!! Not that uncommon with a crowded boat!

Caution 1: Remember that if you are with friends and get just one sack …… if the DFG comes aboard for inspection … technically all the fish ….. technically …. are whomever admits (one person) to owning (sack number) the sack!

Caution 2: If you are in the jackpot, share the bag with others, and you get challenged at weigh-in, your fishy is subject to being disqualified. It doesn’t sound fair …… but this rule (yes, it is somewhat unwritten BUT some boats have it posted along with other rules) has been in effect since jackpots have been done on the boats!!

There are two philosophies on the sack charge.

1) You are getting something to put your fish in and have the option of taking it home or not.
2) You are getting the sack AND ….. a little extra service by the deckie in taking off and putting the fish in your sack. No rebuttals please …. common sense tells us what a reasonable level of service is and the difference in what ‘extra’ or ‘special’ service might entail!


As was aptly addressed by other posters ……. and now me ……..


Jackpot: One of the top five areas subject to contentious concern! First and Foremost !! Entering into the boat’s jackpot is optional. Entering does help the deck a bit as indeed a percentage is customarily taken from the ‘pot’ and received by the crew. ‘Customary %’ is sometimes the point of contention.

Jackpots used to range from $3 to $5 but I know of a couple of boats going to the islands that have a $10 jackpot. If one is concerned as to how much is in the pot simply glancing at the jackpot (clipboard the deck uses) near the end of his rounds around the boat (sometimes jackpot last call is made) will give you a general idea. Adding to ghetto dad’s comment …… sometimes it isn’t easy to guess who or what group, or how many are going to enter the jackpot before the moment of truth! Coughing up the cash!

As you mentioned that the crew got the jackpot ca$h, I’m assuming that you, in effect, traded the pot for a pass or two for future trips on the boat. Some skippers are stingy and others generous according to the policy of whoever happens to be the owner/operator or even landing. Logic follows that the bigger the jackpot, the more passes one ought receive. For those that have no use for the passes (seldom go, tourists, etc.), anglers can usually have their galley and fish-cleaning tabs waived ……. if they ask.


On passes: It should be understood that there are a number of elements in the decision of how many passes to hand an angler.

1) We should remember that ……… if the money collected for the jackpot doesn’t even cover the price of a single standard adult fare, the skipper is not going to be giving out a bunch of passes! And ………. personally ….. it would make sense if one received a lesser number if it was a two-for-one day and other such discounted trips.

2) Generally speaking, additional passes are more readily given during busy, high angler patronage periods such as the Summer season.


Caution 1: Be clear on the rules before you enter!

Caution 2: As said ….. make sure your potential jackpot fish is in your very own bag, always in view, and marked in a manner that others wouldn’t notice. Fish/Jackpot Thieves ? You bet!

Caution 3: Listen for and expect the call to jackpot to be made at the instant, as in the second, the boat moves off the last spot. The skipper will announce the end of the day and jackpot weigh-in as well as the deck. Jackpot usually done at the stern. No whining if you didn’t hear the announcement and fellow-anglers did!

Caution 4: How many times I have seen someone not weigh a winning fish just because they thought ……… surely …… someone else in the jackpot had a bigger fish! Ha !


Use of passes:

1) Use of passes usually have an expiration date and are specific to a boat and even a type of trip.

2) Some landings may have specific days a pass may be utilized.


3) There may be a minimum of patrons required before a pass can be used. (Often: 15 is the magic number)

4) One pass is limited to the fare of one angler in my experience.


5) I have never heard of a children’s or senior’s fare pass so I assume all passes are for a regular adult’s fare.


Pass Etiquette

1) A landing will frown on a patron selling their passes as they would probably be sold at less than the landing’s fare price ………. thus depriving the landing of income.

2) Passes should optimally be used during the busy season and or there are a good number of ‘paying’ anglers. How would any skipper feel if he realized that there would be no money made that day (with a good load) as paying passengers money only covered expenses. (Maybe not logical but you understand!)

3) Be aware that honoring a pass is based on the good-will and integrity of both the patron and landing. One could be refused service …… as is stated in most ticket offices!


Just thought I would air my thoughts on the subjects for my own future reference.

Await your further exploits!

JapanRon

[IslandBoi]

Hey JapanRon ....

I was out on the spitfire one night and coming in, the deckies of course cleaned and filleted your fish if you wanted. Now I thought I heard, I may have been mistaken, but the deckie told the guy $40.00 after he filleted 15 fish into like 5 little bags..... And he got pissed at me because I wouldn't let him clean my fish. I was like, are you kidding me!

Is there like a set charge when the deckie cleans fish or something?

[Tarzan]

Great Job Aspastic!
Was just wondering if they had live bait or were you using frozen squid?

Great info too JR!

I wish I could see some of the fishing reports coming out of Malibu...would be just as far a drive for me as Redondo. Love Redondo but always looking to try something different.
I've searched sportfishingreport.com and 976-tuna to no avail. I think one of them has a report from last November.

[JapanRon]

Hi Islandboi,

Holy Geeez ... eveybody wants to hit the touchy subjects !! :lol: :lol:

Times ..... they are a changin' !

Concerning 1/2 and 3/4-day boats ...

There are still quite a boats that will clean a common fishy for 50 cents. Yet, 75 cents is now not unheard of and I have seen a deck try to get away with a buck a fish for regular-sized, common species!

The practice/mentality of charging more for a certain species such as, for us up here in L.A., yellowfin, yellowtail, and WSB has come from our buddies down in SD.

I've heard of $5 a fish for those. But ......... here's the rest of the story! Many SD boats and some local boats have a slammer and your fishys stay in primo conditon until the boat pulls them out for sorting and or cleaning. There is some added-value there.

I've also seen decks ask $5 and heard of $10 for cleaning of the three species mentioned above from boats that didn't have cooling holds just that was their going rate.

Suprisingly, and I find it a bit strange ..... whether you have the fish fileted or just head and gutted ..... it's most often the same fee.

I'm a guy that says ..... fish should be cleaned asap! If you don't like the way fish are being cleaned ..... have them head and gutted.

Watching the interaction between angler and cutter ..... I get the feeling that the higher the fee per fish the less the cutter gets as a tip over and above the stated per-fish fee.

Just like everything else ..... ask if you have a question, make your decision and consider that to be just one element in the whole mix.

Oh yes ...... I don't keep fish so I don't have fish cleaned but I make sure the deck is tipped in accordance with others that provide 'services'.

later,

JapanRon

[aspastic]

As you mentioned that the crew got the jackpot ca$h, I’m assuming that you, in effect, traded the pot for a pass or two for future trips on the boat.
JapanRon

well, i was pretty happy seeing how this was my first lingcod and first time i was on a boat and it went well so i tipped the crew all the jackpot without a trade. they earned it plus..you know... fish karma :banana:

anyways, thanks for all the info. i wasnt sure if this was the norm or what so thanks for clearing things up.

and tarzan, they had frozen squid cut into strips.

[IslandBoi]

Thanks Ron ... by the way, I see your in my neck of the woods, I live in Lakewood as well, over by Vons pavillion South & Woodruff.

What boats do you usually go out on, would like to hop on for a 1/2 or 3/4 day with ya.

[JapanRon]

Hi islandboi,

I'll often fish Pierpoint as they're so darn convenient but want to start hitting a bunch of different boats once both 1/2 and 3/4 day boats at most landings start to go out on a daily basis. I don't want to drive to Redondo or Newport just to gamble on going out with few reservations on the books the night before.

Fish the weekdays exclusively. Always cool to fish with FNNers.

JapanRon