This 4 hour morning trip for my girlfriend and I was our 1st time in Uculelet and her 1st fishing trip ever. I was hoping this would be a rememberable experience for her whether we caught fish or not.ย 2 days later and we are still talking about the trip but not for the right reasons.
Before getting on the boat I asked Captain Mark if he had seen any whales to which he just shrugged and said big ocean.ย Before leaving the dock he put a rod across the stern between the downriggers letting us know that we were not to step over that imaginary line unless playing a fish and to keep his path from the wheel to the stern clear at all times.ย With only 2 of us on the boat we felt confined to our seats or standing in front of them.
When setting up the gear I asked what depth we would be fishing at to which I was told I asked up too many questions while he was busy getting the gear ready.
He slowed the boat to change the bait and when the other line went slack I went to reel it in and bring up the downrigger and got screamed at โDonโt touch my downriggers!โย I sat down and my girlfriend and we just looked at each other and wondered if this was a mistake. We spent much of the trip sitting in silence and not because it was a very slow fishing day.
He informed us a previous customer had broken his downrigger and parts were hard to find right now. No excuse to be screaming at your customers.
All questions were met with brief responses and almost always negative. I hate this, I hate **hidden content** fishermen, seals, eating salmon, customers losing lures or gear (you get charged for that btw).
Back at the dock it felt like we were all glad the trip was over. After pulling next to the dock my girlfriend went to step off the boat and was screamed at to sit down.ย She was told she could unbalance the boat before he tied off.ย I didnโt appreciate him startling her and it seemed an odd thing to say that my tiny girlfriend could unbalance the boat after earlier telling us how his 30โ long, wide beam boat did so well in the test for charter boats.
I thanked him for his efforts to which he stuck out his hand to draw directions to a sushi place in Tofino.ย There was no tip coming to that hand after just paying hundreds of dollars for that experience.ย
I have been on charters before and have never had a captain make me feel like he was being inconvenieced so much. I never write bad reviews but Iโm tired of telling this story and now if anyone asks Iโll just tell them they can read it here.
I hope to get my lady out again but I will take more care in the next captain.ย Itโs not about catching fish itโs about the experience and this was no fun with no fish.
This 4 hour morning trip for my girlfriend and I was our 1st time in Uculelet and her 1st fishing trip ever. I was hoping this...
Thank you Tim, Iโm glad that we got something in the boat . Next time !! Thank you for the tip , I appreciate it. I enjoyed your company very easy to get alone with . Hope you enjoy your fish . Be safe my friend !! Mark