Captain Will got my party of 3 on the fish, and we caught a good variety! He took us to some docks where he had previously had success, and they did not disappoint! He provided live bait cut into chunks for bottom fishing, which caught some reds, flounder, and black bass. We caught some really nice flounder that we could not keep, thanks to ridiculous rules by the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries.
He provided two rods with jigging/casting lures, and with those, we caught flounder and croaker. We reached our limit on redfish within an hour, and the ones we kept would be cleaned and taken home.
The reels used for bottom-fishing looked rusty and felt worn. They did their job, but you could feel the grit/rust. The second fish I caught was caught while bottom-fishing, and as I reeled in, no line was being brought in because the drag was set so low. Having multiple hands trying to adjust the drag while attempting to land a fish is problematic. Most bottom-fish caught were first handled by the Captain and then handed over to us, with a few exceptions. I expected that if we were bottom-fishing, then all of us in my group would have gear. Instead, he would cast out, put the rod in a rod holder, and if a fish hit, he would pull it out, set the drag, and hand the rod to us. I thought we would be using live shrimp, cigar minnows, or maybe crab as bait. Instead, we had live bait fish that were cut up. Not live on the hook.
We lost rigs for both bottom-fishing and jigging/casting. Rather than pulling from a prepared rod in his arsenal, the Captain retied the rigs. I had to ask to have one of the jigging/casting redone, as my son was standing idle. The captain did fish with us, which I think is ok if we are also fishing. I think his attention should be on addressing equipment issues first, and on our ability to fish first.
At the end of our trip, we wanted our fish to be cleaned. That was included in the charter. We were then told there were no facilities there, and he would have to clean at home. We would have to come back to pick up - a 2.5 round trip. He did have a cutting table on his boat, which he used during the trip to cut the live bait for bottom-fishing, and he could use it again to de-head and gut the fish, but that was not presented as an option. The fish were dead, so we took them home and cleaned them there. It was not ideal as we were not prepared to gut, fillet, and dispose of the fish remains.
Don’t get me wrong, we had a good time. Finding fish and landing fish was great, since it is not guaranteed! But my reasonable expectations were not met, and they could have thoughtfully been. You pay for a charter- so it’s $450 for 1,2,3, or 6 people. Fewer people are easier to attend to. All 3 of us, I think, should have had lines in the water at all times. Rods on board should have been ready as backup for all the bottom-fishing and jigging/casting we were doing to keep us fishing. Letting us know when we pulled in after our trip is not the time to tell us you can’t clean the fish now. To me, live bait is live bait on the hook. Did it matter? I mean, we still caught plenty of fish, but live bait can lead to a higher success rate. In our case, I don’t think it mattered this trip.
What I would have liked to see was more preparedness - you have 3 customers, and you promote all these rods, have them, and use them as backups to keep your customers fishing. Have the reels in good repair and ready. The Captain can fish, it’s his boat. But the priority should be having your customers fishing, not doing nothing because their rod has no rig. If you are fishing with braid, then don’t worry so much about the drag and the fish running back under the docks.
Personally, I think Captain Will is nice and believe less experienced fishermen or a family with children can really have a good time. Experienced fishermen may find it less enjoyable with the Captain’s hands-on approach and preparedness.
Captain Will got my party of 3 on the fish, and we caught a good variety! He took us to some docks where he had previously...
