Block Island Blackfish

[Matts]

Fished Block Island on a charter. Fishing was not as good as it has been out there, so I won't mention any boat names. Tough bite almost all of the day. The captain certainly had the touch, landing plenty of quality fish, but for the fares, it was not as good as it has been. No huge fish either. I guess it is mid-December and it's all got to come to an end some time.

This is my second boat to Block where the captain pitched in until we made our limit. I have mixed feelings about this, since for me, it's not really about bags of fillets, and I'd rather keep a fish I caught towards the end of a trip, than throw it back, because our party was helped reaching our limit an hour or two earlier.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

 

[CaptFP]

Fishing is fishing and it eventually winds down. But capt and crew filling the customers bag limit I think is wrong. Thats all about the capts ego, he needs to guarantee himself a full boat otherwise the trip is a bust. Should have told him you would rather catch your own fish and he should understand that. 2nd time he did this, I'd never go with him again

 

[longcast]

What was he doing that you guys were not?
Was he offering encouragement and looking to hone your skills?

I think it is up to the charter how that would be handled. Long winter coming, last trip of the year, folks at home that will eat the fish and not be an ice ball found next June, I would not mind a little help.

 

[BennyV]

It's all relative to me. Crew putting out rods so the boat limit is hit early and they have to go in is not cool. If fishing sucks and the crew are only catching fish, and you get to fish until the end of the day for a full length of time, I can't really complain about that. But hey that's just me.

 

[CaptFP]

Not paying money to watch somebody catch fish for me

 

[cany]

You paid you catch the fish

 

[captmike28]

What was he doing that you guys were not?
Was he offering encouragement and looking to hone your skills?

I think it is up to the charter how that would be handled. Long winter coming, last trip of the year, folks at home that will eat the fish and not be an ice ball found next June, I would not mind a little help.

I tend to agree with you, Longcast, as this issue does come up on some of my charters. First of all, I always view my first responsibility is to my customers. If they need anything, bait prepped, rigs untangled or replaced, fish landed, etc. that gets my full attention. However, on some trips with really experienced anglers there are brief windows where I can drop a line and will contribute to the clients take home catch. Having said that, I will always try to ask first if anyone objects and if so, my rod is immediately racked.
I do have customers on both sides of this issue and can respect either position.

 

[CaptFP]

If I'm fishing (blacfish) I have the customers permission to, with kids aboard I try to keep them near me and pass off the rod

 

[OVERBORED]

Worked deck on a top bottom fishing CB in Montauk back in the 90s. I could always tell after the first drop if the customers were going to need help catching. If they were struggling, I would drop a line to show them there was life but I would only help fill a limit if it was the end of the day, guys were seasick, etc. My first priority was always to help THE CUSTOMER catch the fish not me!

That said, BI tog respond well when you bounce the sinker......some guys never get that.

 

[secjurny]

This subject is a double edged sword.........First off not every person that comes aboard a charter or party boat can fish.....black fish are tough to catch for someone that doesn't know whats going on .....that being said.....As a customer you pay to fish for a determined amount of time....now here comes the kicker.......on these so called trips YOU are not guaranteed fish.....everyone hopes to catch fish.....but its fishing......wouldn't be nice to walk off the boat with a bag of fish for your family even if you didn't have a good day catching rather than going to the fish market as long as you where able to fish for the determined time frame.......

 

[Matts]

It's a tough call. Captains want to advertise with the money shot of a pile of fish and want to proclaim a full boat limit by whenever it happens, but i think the thrill for the fares is catching their own limit. On the other hand, the captain can help figure out if that day, the fish want whole, half, back off, back on, bouncy sinkers, still sinkers, etc., but personally, I could do without it for more than a few minutes here or there if things get slow.

 

[CaptFP]

Bitter sweet taking home the captains charity

 

[cany]

Bitter sweet taking home the captains charity

But his report will say they got a full boat limit

 

[BennyV]

Did the boat come in early because the limit was reached?

 

[OVERBORED]

Boat I worked on gave an 8hr day. If fishing was good, we'd spend time trying to find a trophy for the customers. Never came in early unless the weather turned or the customers requested it.

 

[CaptFP]

Boat I worked on gave an 8hr day. If fishing was good, we'd spend time trying to find a trophy for the customers. Never came in early unless the weather turned or the customers requested it.

Exactly!

 

[NoFlukenName]

Hooked up and passed the rod on 9 of the 12 keepers on my last charter. As others have said, if you’re inexperienced at tog fishing, you’ll miss a lot of fish. Its really a no win situation for a Captain…..

FWIW, I was at Block on Friday too with a Montauk charter (Elizabeth II) and we killed them.

 

[Snapprhead27]

Hooked up and passed the rod on 9 of the 12 keepers on my last charter. As others have said, if you’re inexperienced at tog fishing, you’ll miss a lot of fish. Its really a noSaw

Saw Todd's video. Good day on the water!

 

[captmike28]

Hooked up and passed the rod on 9 of the 12 keepers on my last charter. As others have said, if you’re inexperienced at tog fishing, you’ll miss a lot of fish. Its really a no win situation for a Captain…..

FWIW, I was at Block on Friday too with a Montauk charter (Elizabeth II) and we killed them.

Way to go on John your Tog trip with Capt. Paul. I told you he is a solid guy who knows his stuff.

I agree that when you have an inexperienced crew for a challenging fish like Tog, we walk an extremely fine line. Although I too have helped out at times hooking fish and handing a rod to the guy who is struggling, some might find that even more humiliating than trying and failing on their own. I believe the best we can do in those situations is to ask the individual angler what their preference is.

And I also agree that when the crew pays for a given number of hours to fish, we don't return to port early just because a limit may have been reached. That's what "C&R" and "fishing for the camera" are all about. Everyone deserves to get what they pay for.

 

[Bassmaster]

I don’t have a problem with this. I am paying to enjoy the outdoors meet people and to bring home fish. I had a day like that this year everyone on the boat was catching stripers and I got skunked but the boat limited out and i was able to bring home fish so the day was a success.