August 20, 201313 yr Been on several. Always had a good time. I've done 4 of us on a boat several times. Once about a dozen random folks shark fishing and once when there were about 50 of us bottom fishing and tangling lines.
August 22, 201313 yr Author Was there ever a point to this thread Wireman? Sure, I wanted to hear from others' experiences to see if my expectations were too high or to see if I simply chose the wrong company.
August 22, 201313 yr Author So here's how my day went... I got into the hunt for a boat a little late and it was during a very busy week in Hilton Head. As a result, I had a difficult time finding a boat. I ended up at Shelter Cove Harbour and decided to give Outside Hilton Head an opportunity. As I was at the desk signing up for a trip, a brawl nearly broke out between one of the boat captains and a man who had just stepped off the boat. The man was seriously fired up and even threatened to call police. I stood around to get a better idea of what was going on since I would be taking the same boat out the next day. The nervous worker insured me that I would have a different captain and for whatever reason, I had no worries and went ahead and signed up. I paid $435 for 4 hours of fishing (1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). I was told that we would be pursuing a variety of fish: king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, etc. etc. I was the only fisherman while my mom and kids were going to go along for the ride. We showed up the next day 15 minutes early as requested by the company. As 1:00 p.m. came and passed, we started to get a little nervous but it was no big deal. What's a few minutes, right? At roughly 1:10 p.m., the captain finally decided to come pick us up. It was an older guy named Jimmy. He was a little grouchy with the kids and things but that was also no big deal. I understood that he has everyone's safety in his hands and just wanted to make sure that they understood the rules and all. So we journeyed off through the harbor, which was roughly a 40-minute ride from the ocean in a large no-wake zone. It was pretty cool for the kids to see countless dolphins and the other sites and sounds of cruising through the harbor. I also took the opportunity to talk a little with Captain Jimmy. I had on a Southern Miss men's basketball shirt and he proceeded to tell me that he has been a huge Southern Miss fan for 30 years. "I never miss a game," he bragged. He was going on an on about it. I told him that I am friends with the basketball coach there. A few minutes later, he says, "now Southern Miss is in Starkville isn't it?" So I explained that it's in Hattiesburg and he was like "oh yeah, that's right." A few seconds after that, he says, "so you're the head coach at USM?" At that point, I realized that he was just making stuff up to talk about and working towards a tip. Again, it was no big deal. I didn't appreciate it, but ultimately I was there to fish and could care less about Captain Jimmy and his crazy stories. After roughly 25 minutes of riding on the boat, Jimmy determined that we might need a little more fresh bait. So, we veered off course to some shallow water to net some baitfish. Luckily, we found a nice school of fish and Jimmy was able to net more than enough with one throw of his cast net. I wasn't super excited about giving up 15 minutes of fishing time to catch bait, but I just figured that was part of the journey. We then drove about 10-15 more minutes to the open ocean. Jimmy decided, for whatever reason, that it would be wise to fish in 10' of water on a sand bar in the open ocean in warm water. He was the captain and knew what he was doing, so I was cool with it. At roughly 1:50-2:00 p.m., we finally started chumming the water with cut up baitfish and chum. I remember thinking that I didn't know people chummed for anything other than sharks. The first fish came after about 15 minutes or so. It was a whiting that was maybe 12" long....or in other words, the same whiting I catch 50 times a week in the surf. That made sense since we were fishing in 10' of water. My bait continued to get hammered by whiting and other small fish. Finally, after about 20 minutes, I hooked a small shark. I say small but it was probably about 2' long...which happens to be the same shark that I catch 50 times a week in the surf. I was a little frustrated at that point but decided to roll with it. After all, Jimmy had been telling us for 30 minutes about how he's been a boat captain for 25 years and that I "should learn to take advice from experienced fishermen." Jimmy criticized me for fishing left-handed, even though I am technically right-handed. I told him that I have fished left-handed my entire life and that it has worked quite well for me. He actually said the words, "well you're just crazy if you fish with your weak hand. It just doesn't make any sense." He literally refused to change the spinning reel handle to the other side, saying that I need to learn how to fish with the correct hand. He then told me that I was doing this wrong and that wrong and that I fished like a bass fisherman, not a saltwater fisherman. He told me I was holding the first small shark incorrectly and that I should never, ever hold it with two hands. Don't get me wrong, Jimmy did give some solid advice on several things but I really didn't pay $400 plus dollars to get roasted. After maybe 40 minutes or so, one of the polls...which happened to be a right-handed spinning reel....bent double, indicating that I had something big. I pulled it out of the rod holder, set the hook and the fight was on. Honestly, this one fish would have been worth a hefty sum of money...not $400, but it made the trip. After fighting the fish for 15-20 minutes and listening to Jimmy tell me the entire time that I was reeling incorrectly and holding the pole wrong (duh, I fish left-handed), it finally surfaced. It was a nice 6' long bonnet head shark, a new personal best. I eventually got it to the side of the boat and Jimmy bent over to pick it up. The know-all, be-all captain of 25 years, stuck his hand near the shark's mouth and it immediately bit the fire out of him. The fish then shot under the boat and broke my line. I was not a happy camper that my biggest fish ever got away without a good picture but I did feel a little better when I saw Captain Jimmy bleeding all over the boat. It sure seems that such an experienced fisherman would maybe have a gaff on the boat. At the very least, I'd think he would know that a shark will bite you if you stick your hand in its mouth. After a few more minutes of catching nothing, Jimmy made the executive call to move to deeper water. So, at 3:15 p.m., we drove to a place that was about 50'. Almost immediately, I started catching sharks on every pole, one after the other. I caught two true hammerheads (which was very cool), a large Atlantic Sharpnose, two blacktips and some other shark that I can't remember the name of. The fishing was off the charts and I was finally starting to feel a little better about things.... "I'm gonna have to get you guys back in," Jimmy explained at 4:20 p.m. "Reel 'em all in." After 30 minutes of good fishing, Jimmy said it was time to go and we drove 40 minutes back to the dock. I was extremely disappointed. When we got back, we wasn't sure exactly what to do, so I gave Jimmy a $20 bill and my mom gave him a $10 bill for a tip. We checked out and they told me that $445 would be charged to my card. I questioned it as I was told the day before that it would be $435. She said, "you guys were out a little long so we had to add an additional charge on there for fuel costs." Obviously, I was not a happy camper. In hindsight, I'm happy with the experience as my kids loved being on the ocean and that alone makes it worth it for me. As far as fishing trips go, however, I'd never choose that company again and I'm not sure I'd ever go on a charter boat again. That's why I came to BGP to get a feel for what others have experienced... For $445 plus a $30 tip and two Corona Lights (Jimmy 4 of my 6 beers), I got this: - 80 minutes of riding on a boat - 15 minutes of catching baitfish - Just over 2 hours of fishing, 30 minutes of good fishing - Lies about Southern Miss basketball - Criticized for just about everything about the way I fish - 10 or so sharks, one that was very special (Keep in mind, I went out to fish for other species. Had I wanted to catch sharks, I would've paid for the shark fishing trip) - 1 whiting that was a baitfish essentially - My kids got to see plenty of dolphins - We got a lot of good pictures - The experience of being out on the open ocean on a boat So, what say you BGP?
August 22, 201313 yr Sure, I wanted to hear from others' experiences to see if my expectations were too high or to see if I simply chose the wrong company.:thumb: I forgot to put a smilie, hope you know I was just teasing you.
August 22, 201313 yr Author :thumb: I forgot to put a smilie, hope you know I was just teasing you. Haha, of course I knew. :lol2:
August 23, 201313 yr So here's how my day went... I got into the hunt for a boat a little late and it was during a very busy week in Hilton Head. As a result, I had a difficult time finding a boat. I ended up at Shelter Cove Harbour and decided to give Outside Hilton Head an opportunity. As I was at the desk signing up for a trip, a brawl nearly broke out between one of the boat captains and a man who had just stepped off the boat. The man was seriously fired up and even threatened to call police. I stood around to get a better idea of what was going on since I would be taking the same boat out the next day. The nervous worker insured me that I would have a different captain and for whatever reason, I had no worries and went ahead and signed up. I paid $435 for 4 hours of fishing (1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). I was told that we would be pursuing a variety of fish: king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, etc. etc. I was the only fisherman while my mom and kids were going to go along for the ride. We showed up the next day 15 minutes early as requested by the company. As 1:00 p.m. came and passed, we started to get a little nervous but it was no big deal. What's a few minutes, right? At roughly 1:10 p.m., the captain finally decided to come pick us up. It was an older guy named Jimmy. He was a little grouchy with the kids and things but that was also no big deal. I understood that he has everyone's safety in his hands and just wanted to make sure that they understood the rules and all. So we journeyed off through the harbor, which was roughly a 40-minute ride from the ocean in a large no-wake zone. It was pretty cool for the kids to see countless dolphins and the other sites and sounds of cruising through the harbor. I also took the opportunity to talk a little with Captain Jimmy. I had on a Southern Miss men's basketball shirt and he proceeded to tell me that he has been a huge Southern Miss fan for 30 years. "I never miss a game," he bragged. He was going on an on about it. I told him that I am friends with the basketball coach there. A few minutes later, he says, "now Southern Miss is in Starkville isn't it?" So I explained that it's in Hattiesburg and he was like "oh yeah, that's right." A few seconds after that, he says, "so you're the head coach at USM?" At that point, I realized that he was just making stuff up to talk about and working towards a tip. Again, it was no big deal. I didn't appreciate it, but ultimately I was there to fish and could care less about Captain Jimmy and his crazy stories. After roughly 25 minutes of riding on the boat, Jimmy determined that we might need a little more fresh bait. So, we veered off course to some shallow water to net some baitfish. Luckily, we found a nice school of fish and Jimmy was able to net more than enough with one throw of his cast net. I wasn't super excited about giving up 15 minutes of fishing time to catch bait, but I just figured that was part of the journey. We then drove about 10-15 more minutes to the open ocean. Jimmy decided, for whatever reason, that it would be wise to fish in 10' of water on a sand bar in the open ocean in warm water. He was the captain and knew what he was doing, so I was cool with it. At roughly 1:50-2:00 p.m., we finally started chumming the water with cut up baitfish and chum. I remember thinking that I didn't know people chummed for anything other than sharks. The first fish came after about 15 minutes or so. It was a whiting that was maybe 12" long....or in other words, the same whiting I catch 50 times a week in the surf. That made sense since we were fishing in 10' of water. My bait continued to get hammered by whiting and other small fish. Finally, after about 20 minutes, I hooked a small shark. I say small but it was probably about 2' long...which happens to be the same shark that I catch 50 times a week in the surf. I was a little frustrated at that point but decided to roll with it. After all, Jimmy had been telling us for 30 minutes about how he's been a boat captain for 25 years and that I "should learn to take advice from experienced fishermen." Jimmy criticized me for fishing left-handed, even though I am technically right-handed. I told him that I have fished left-handed my entire life and that it has worked quite well for me. He actually said the words, "well you're just crazy if you fish with your weak hand. It just doesn't make any sense." He literally refused to change the spinning reel handle to the other side, saying that I need to learn how to fish with the correct hand. He then told me that I was doing this wrong and that wrong and that I fished like a bass fisherman, not a saltwater fisherman. He told me I was holding the first small shark incorrectly and that I should never, ever hold it with two hands. Don't get me wrong, Jimmy did give some solid advice on several things but I really didn't pay $400 plus dollars to get roasted. After maybe 40 minutes or so, one of the polls...which happened to be a right-handed spinning reel....bent double, indicating that I had something big. I pulled it out of the rod holder, set the hook and the fight was on. Honestly, this one fish would have been worth a hefty sum of money...not $400, but it made the trip. After fighting the fish for 15-20 minutes and listening to Jimmy tell me the entire time that I was reeling incorrectly and holding the pole wrong (duh, I fish left-handed), it finally surfaced. It was a nice 6' long bonnet head shark, a new personal best. I eventually got it to the side of the boat and Jimmy bent over to pick it up. The know-all, be-all captain of 25 years, stuck his hand near the shark's mouth and it immediately bit the fire out of him. The fish then shot under the boat and broke my line. I was not a happy camper that my biggest fish ever got away without a good picture but I did feel a little better when I saw Captain Jimmy bleeding all over the boat. It sure seems that such an experienced fisherman would maybe have a gaff on the boat. At the very least, I'd think he would know that a shark will bite you if you stick your hand in its mouth. After a few more minutes of catching nothing, Jimmy made the executive call to move to deeper water. So, at 3:15 p.m., we drove to a place that was about 50'. Almost immediately, I started catching sharks on every pole, one after the other. I caught two true hammerheads (which was very cool), a large Atlantic Sharpnose, two blacktips and some other shark that I can't remember the name of. The fishing was off the charts and I was finally starting to feel a little better about things.... "I'm gonna have to get you guys back in," Jimmy explained at 4:20 p.m. "Reel 'em all in." After 30 minutes of good fishing, Jimmy said it was time to go and we drove 40 minutes back to the dock. I was extremely disappointed. When we got back, we wasn't sure exactly what to do, so I gave Jimmy a $20 bill and my mom gave him a $10 bill for a tip. We checked out and they told me that $445 would be charged to my card. I questioned it as I was told the day before that it would be $435. She said, "you guys were out a little long so we had to add an additional charge on there for fuel costs." Obviously, I was not a happy camper. In hindsight, I'm happy with the experience as my kids loved being on the ocean and that alone makes it worth it for me. As far as fishing trips go, however, I'd never choose that company again and I'm not sure I'd ever go on a charter boat again. That's why I came to BGP to get a feel for what others have experienced... For $445 plus a $30 tip and two Corona Lights (Jimmy 4 of my 6 beers), I got this: - 80 minutes of riding on a boat - 15 minutes of catching baitfish - Just over 2 hours of fishing, 30 minutes of good fishing - Lies about Southern Miss basketball - Criticized for just about everything about the way I fish - 10 or so sharks, one that was very special (Keep in mind, I went out to fish for other species. Had I wanted to catch sharks, I would've paid for the shark fishing trip) - 1 whiting that was a baitfish essentially - My kids got to see plenty of dolphins - We got a lot of good pictures - The experience of being out on the open ocean on a boat So, what say you BGP? I say you got robbed Wireman. JMO. Sorry you got a raw deal buddy. Sounds like you may to be a guide. Enjoyed the story though. Glad the kids had a good time too.
August 26, 201313 yr Author It was certainly a bittersweet experience but my kids had a blast so it's not all bad. I'll post some pictures shortly.
August 29, 201313 yr Since they control the time on the water I would have made more of an issue on the $10, or charged them $15 for the beers.
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