Ask professional fishers when’s the best time to get on the water, and many of them will say the same thing: fall. Fish are feeding up, getting ready for winter, and many species are gathering to spawn nearshore. Inland, huge Salmon and Trout are making their way upstream, while floods and rain are stirring up nutrients and attracting fish to shallower waters along the coast. Bait, lures, flies… however you go about it, this is often a great time to fish.
Seems a shame, then, that this is generally a less popular time for customers to look for guided trips. Vacations are over, the kids are back in school, and people are saving for Christmas. Depending on where you’re located, the weather may be getting colder, and tourists may be less inclined to go fishing.
I spoke to some of FishingBooker’s most successful captains to see what they do to attract customers when demand is lower. Whether you’re currently heading into or out of low season, their advice could make all the difference next time things get slow.
Step 1: Set the bait
Captain Brian Smith of Smokin’ Hooks is located in Naples, Florida. This South Floridian town is busiest from January to May, when visitors from northern states come for their dose of winter sun. For him, the slower season is the late summer. With fewer potential customers around, he needs to work extra hard to make sure that his charter gets seen.
This means being diverse with his advertising. He prints out brochures and leaflets, which he hands out around the local beaches and at local Real Estate agencies. This helps him attract businessmen and families, who make up a big part of his customer base.
Online, most of his bookings come from FishingBooker. Here, he makes sure to advertise a diverse array of trips, which he tends to update according to the season. Look closely, and you’ll notice that these will almost always include a “special deal” of some description. This is no accident! In his words:
“It’s all about the wording. When you put “special” in the title, people book!”
But getting customers’ attention only works if there are people in the area who want to go fishing! Unlike Naples, the island of Galveston, Texas, is at its busiest from May to August. Outside of that time, the visits decrease, except for a couple of small rushes during the Redfish and Flounder runs.
A group of local guides, including Captain Michael Regan from Line Check Charters, have come up with an ingenious way of getting more people in on the action. Working together through the Galveston Professional Boatmen’s Association, they organize rodeos out of season, to advertise the area’s year-round fishery.
This introduces tourists to the phenomenal Redfish and Flounder fishing the area hosts during the fall. At the same time, it encourages people from out of town to come fish with a guide.
As Michael explains, “As long as the guide is registered, anyone on any charter with them can participate.” With cash prizes at stake, this is a great way for local businesses to attract people who wouldn’t normally come fishing at this time of year, as well as drumming up repeat customers.
Step 2: Provide a service people want to come back to
All the captains I spoke to mentioned how important repeat customers are to them during the slower months. Whether its locals who fish once or twice a year, or people who are looking for a charter to recommend to their visiting friends and family, it’s essential to tap into the market close to home when there are fewer tourists in town.
In order to do this, treating them well when they’re on your boat is make or break. As Brian put it: “If I show them a good time, they’ll come back for years.”
“It’s all about how you deal with customers,” he continues. “You’ve really got to be a people person. Don’t think that you’re better than anyone. Your job is to make sure they go out, have a good time, and come back with all their fingers and toes.” He always takes the time to learn their stories, so he can give them recommendations for activities and restaurants they can enjoy when the trip is over.
Michael agrees. His advice is simple: “Put them on fish and don’t treat them like jerks. This business is personality based. You can catch zero fish but still give the customer a great time and they’ll come back. It’s all about customer service.”
But putting people on fish can be a challenge in itself in the depths of low season. And it’s something that even the most experienced captains need to be inventive to tackle. As Patrick Heretick of I Sea Fish says, “At this time of year you find you’re constantly learning, trying new techniques and catching different fish.” Being humble enough to understand that you don’t always have the answer and being open to trying new things is crucial year round, especially out of season.
Most importantly, you need to make sure that your customers are safe. This means gauging their abilities and only ever putting them in situations they can able to handle as an angler. No matter what they say about their own expertise! This keeps the trip fun, rather than being frustrating both for you and the client. “You’ve got to be able to read people and know their limitations,” Brian explains.
Step 3: … and remind them to do so!
Once you’ve secured your loyal customer base, it doesn’t stop there. “If you don’t talk to them about coming back, they won’t come back,” says Michael. It’s true: even if people are determined to come back when they step off the boat, they usually need a reminder in order to do so.
For Patrick, this means emails and phone calls. His previous customers are on his mailing list. He uses this to reach out and let them know when the fishing is great and he has spaces, which generates bookings for him. He agrees with Michael: “You can’t just expect them to think about a fishing trip, you need to be there to remind them.”
But how do you do this without seeming pushy? Michael uses Galveston’s seasonal fishing landscape to his advantage. When he introduces the area to his clients, he lets them know about the other species you can catch at different types of year. Then, when these fish come into season, he sends them a photo of a recent trip with that fish. This lets him provide his customers with an even better introduction to the area’s fishing, while also making sure his boat gets out of the dock out of season.
And finally: take the time to do the things you don’t usually get to do
Whichever way you go about generating bookings out of high season, there’s one thing you can’t avoid. You’ll almost certainly have more time on your hands. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, especially if you’ve been running 2–3 trips per day during the peak months.
During colder winters, most fish move out of the shallower waters around North Carolina’s Outer Banks. So for Patrick, who operates in this area, this means no fishing in small boats, whether his clients want to or not. Instead, he uses this additional time to maintain and operate a larger sportfishing boat for a private client. When he’s not doing that, he’s building rods, tying flies, and exploring fly fishing opportunities inland with his friends.
Brian also captains other people’s boats during the low season, offering instruction to locals with their own vessels. But he also enjoys the chance to spend more time at home, seeing his family and getting stuff done around the house.
“I actually get to see the inside of my house!” jokes Michael in agreement. Having usually fished commercially in low season, he’s happy to have reached the point in his business where he can get some down time occasionally. And with a job that depends on you being at the top of your game day in, day out, the chance to relax occasionally is certainly one that you don’t want to take lightly.
What do you do in the low season? Do you have any tactics to invite more people to fish? Or do you focus on your other interests? Is there anything you’d like to see FishingBooker trying this season?
Share your opinion and join the conversation in the comments below.
