ok i am a newby , but i have gone on 2 open party boats 1 half day and 1 full day , the first was a half day and me and my son caught a total of 3 fish the boat was out of newport area and had no electronics at all so we had no idea where the fish where, the second trip was out of ventura xport fishing and was on the island spirit it had everything for finding fish, the captain was awsome he put us right on them the second captain was great too. he was helping out cause his ride was off line, the cook made the best dbl cheese burger ever, but any ways we caught our limits out at santa cruz island had a blast and i highly recomend this outfit they are true professionals and they work hard for you the customer, my tip is go on a boat that has the right stuff to put you on the fish, not a i think theres fish over here kind ..lol