AK fishing job

[Special T]

looks like we got ourselves a wanna be greenhorn here


ya got spirit kid, and thats a start.


right now, the local guys are doing dungies, and in a few months will be switching over to shrimp, most of those guys run smaller boats and have a skip and a deckhand, so, wouldnt recommend learning with crab pots

wouldnt really recommend fishing in WA at all for yiur first experience, like some if the guys said, fishermans terminal is a great place, but it depends ln what you wanna do, and a huge mistake you could potentially make is going to one kf the large companies ie Trident, Icicle, Ocean Beauty, American Gold, Glacier.... all of those big companies are looking for kids and greenhorns, and they are gknna stuff you deep down in the cargo hold of a 300 foot factory boat either in the freezer hold in =40 temps and never see the sun, or, onnan assembly line bent over in a factory deep innthe ships bowells. AVOID The big companies at first

go dock stomping, start showing up, hanging out, asking questions, start *censored*ting, and making friends. some of the nicer and more reputable boats have a no pot policy, so, take that into consideration. all the boats should be dry boats meaning no booze. and you gotta work on some crappy boats before you are given the privelage of being allowed to work on a nice boat, and its easy to screw it up, some of rhe best boats have a zero monkey buisness policy.

ive worked on some crappy boats, last time I went seining, ibwas engineer but our deckhand couldnt keep a needle out of his arm and was on heroin the whole season, so you need to pay attention to the guys around you, that dingbat could pile the boat up on rocks in the middle of rhe njght, or hit something on deck and mess up somebodys leg and end the season.

id reccomend seining, to me, its the biggest adventure that a virgin greenhorn can get into. ask for theier past catch reports, ask for the fish forcast (yes thats real) and keep your mouth shut and listen and pay attention and yes sir no sir with the captain, and take the *censored* from the other guys, seriously, bend over and take it, and dont bitch, its an almost ritualistic right to haze a greenhorn, more of a sport, but, if you can handle it, you eventually become one of the guys. my first skipper would shoot at me with a bb gun to get me to work faster so.....

That's hard core! A BBQ gun! Like red rider of like the 10 pump jobber?

[Smokepole]

Easy to find a job in AK, but it takes doing your homework to find a good skipper on a good boat that will pay you fairly.  Don't just settle for any job on a fishing boat.  Ask around about who the good skippers are with lots of fishing knowledge and equipment in good shape.  Make sure your boss pays his crew and keeps his word.  Then you got yourself a good job worth your time!  Good luck! 

[jmscon]

There was is some good advise above!

Fisherman's terminal in seattle, port Townsend, Anacortes and Bellingham have pretty good sized fishing fleets. Walk the socks on a regular basis and the deckhands and skippers will start to recognize you. Be polite and don't interrupt, listen to what they have to say! If you're serious and do it on a regular basis the people on the boats will see that. Also ask what to do to prep for the season physically, it can really help you out and keep you from hurting, bad! It will also help you keep up with the other deckhands.
Most seasons are long, seining is July through September, the longline season can go from march to June, dungi crab can be November through January. Some are short, Bristol bay sockeye is early June to mid July, king crab in October.
If you are serious about it and learn everything you can you can make a great career commercial fishing, just invest your paychecks you get at the end of the season, don't blow them! Have a good season, buy some stocks instead of partying it away!

Good luck!

[Night goat]

specialT, it was a red ryder.... old Pollack would sit up on the flybridge with an 18pack and a red ryder, half the time you had no idea what he was saying and the more he drank the meaner he got, hed be on the deck as if hed teleport and get in your face if you have once ounce of lip, or if he thought yiu were gonna give lip...

oh, btw, make sure you get a contract and a percentage, a horn should start at 7.5-8% on a seiner. might seem low, but consider I used to get paid 3.5% when I was crabbing, of course 3.5% on 1.5 million pounds of crab adds up, as engineer on the seiner I was getting 12%, you arent gonna get rich your first season, you are gonna have to go thru the hazing but the man thing is showing up and sharing rhe misery with the rest of the guys and not complaining or whining or bothering the skipper. he isnt your friend, hes the boss, so, dont ask him stupid questions, you are part of the crew so take your questions to the deck boss

helps if you can cook and be a good lil housewife for the boat, kiss ass and cook good food and thats a secret way in  to better pay

oh, and suds up joy boy, get used to washing dishes. ALL the dishes, thats your other job, dont barter with the crew for dish days, just shut up and do em un asked and keep the interior of the boat clean mop at least twice a week whether it needs it or not, and ALWAYS wash the wheel house windows inside and out the moment you kit the dock, prioritise filling water tanks and removing all tash the moment you hit dock.

[Skillet]

Good stuff here, listen to these guys.  Especially the part about jumping in and doing the drudge work without being told.  Nothing gets a guy more opportunities than not making the skipper repeat himself.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Good stuff here, listen to these guys.  Especially the part about jumping in and doing the drudge work without being told.  Nothing gets a guy more opportunities than not making the skipper repeat himself.

Skillet what's your choice of BB gun, and stance on hands using drugs on the boat?

[TeacherMan]

Look on Alaska Craigslist. There are a few positions already. I like the one thats a deck hand on one of the charters. $275 A DAY  plus tips.

[Skillet]

I used to use the Gamo single pump, but went through too many deckhands that way.  Back to that classic RedRyder again.   I've found all they need to hear is the bb's rolling down the magazine when you shoulder it, and that elicits the desired response.

I'm a drug free boat.  I typically tell hands: Yes, pot is legal in WA, and yes, pot is legal in AK.  But pot is still a federally controlled substance, and since I'm a Coast Guard Documented Vessel, we follow the federal rules.  They sign an acknowledgement in the crew contract that says they understand and will abide.  I tell them in no uncertain terms that if I find pot -or any other illicit materials - on my boat I will immediately go to town and let them off.  At the Coast Guard dock.

[Night goat]

Good stuff here, listen to these guys.  Especially the part about jumping in and doing the drudge work without being told.  Nothing gets a guy more opportunities than not making the skipper repeat himself.

Skillet what's your choice of BB gun, and stance on hands using drugs on the boat?

aint skillet, but, there is always gonna be that one guy in the crew who has weed, thats unavoidable, even if there is a zero tolerance policy, somebody will always have a stash. most skippers know somebody might have it, and if its out of sight andnobody smells it, you can usually get away with it. anything else tho.... zero tolerance period. now on the other extrwme, we did sneak 86'cases of ranier up to cordova and a pound of weed when we tendered one summer.... smoked all the grass in 2months and sold the beer for 40$an 18 pack.... our temp skip hated us.. but, that was in part the fault of the other crew members, it was thier idea, thier plan, and being low man on the totem pole, I got roped into it, so, let that be a lesson to the horn, just cuz the other guys do it, doesnt mean its a good idea, and integrity in yourself might not make you as much as one of the guys, but, when the boat owners debrief the skipper at the end of the season, it aint gonna be your ass on the chopping block

wouldnt fly if we were acctually fishing tho, tendering you can get some things...

truth be told, there is no place for it on a work boat, too many other ways to get hurt without some yahoo blazing up and not paying attention. I enjoy the green here after work, but not fishing, and now that ive started entering the engineer realm, absolutley not at all in a season. being eligible for my AB, not gonna risk a maritime career on it. save it for when you get home.

[Woodchuck]

I used to use the Gamo single pump, but went through too many deckhands that way.  Back to that classic RedRyder again.   I've found all they need to hear is the bb's rolling down the magazine when you shoulder it, and that elicits the desired response.

I'm a drug free boat.  I typically tell hands: Yes, pot is legal in WA, and yes, pot is legal in AK.  But pot is still a federally controlled substance, and since I'm a Coast Guard Documented Vessel, we follow the federal rules.  They sign an acknowledgement in the crew contract that says they understand and will abide.  I tell them in no uncertain terms that if I find pot -or any other illicit materials - on my boat I will immediately go to town and let them off.  At the Coast Guard dock.

At least you take them back to town to let them off...

[pd]

Night Goat's advice above is excellent.  I agree that seining will be better than being a crew member on a gill netter.  A deck hand job on a seiner is 1,000% better than working for the cannery, you will learn more in a season in SE Alaska than any other job. 

[Eric M]

Everyone here is giving good advice. If you are looking for adventure but want something a little steadier than fishing, I would suggest becoming a merchant seaman. If you are dead set on fishing, go for it, but I got tired of the ups and downs of it amd wanted something a little more steady. I still work where you see all the crabbers on TV, I just know what I'm going to make. Once you get into the industry, there are a lot of options. I used to work on freighters. Now I work on a tug. The industry needs young guys that are willing to work and not be on their phone every chance they get. If you are interested or curious, PM me and I can explain the process.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Everyone here is giving good advice. If you are looking for adventure but want something a little steadier than fishing, I would suggest becoming a merchant seaman. If you are dead set on fishing, go for it, but I got tired of the ups and downs of it amd wanted something a little more steady. I still work where you see all the crabbers on TV, I just know what I'm going to make. Once you get into the industry, there are a lot of options. I used to work on freighters. Now I work on a tug. The industry needs young guys that are willing to work and not be on their phone every chance they get. If you are interested or curious, PM me and I can explain the process.

Good advice right here, plus you can see the world. 

[crawdadmacdaddy]

okay thanks everyone for the advice, now I'm going to the library to get a couple books on seining. basically what you guys are saying is; walk the docks, do all the grunt work without being asked, and keep your mouth shut.
 this has been super helpful.

[Night goat]

Everyone here is giving good advice. If you are looking for adventure but want something a little steadier than fishing, I would suggest becoming a merchant seaman. If you are dead set on fishing, go for it, but I got tired of the ups and downs of it amd wanted something a little more steady. I still work where you see all the crabbers on TV, I just know what I'm going to make. Once you get into the industry, there are a lot of options. I used to work on freighters. Now I work on a tug. The industry needs young guys that are willing to work and not be on their phone every chance they get. If you are interested or curious, PM me and I can explain the process.

hey horn,

listen to us old salts.

anybody who gives you an ounce of crap has been waiting thier whole career to rip on a greenhorn. suck it up and deal with it, and maybe when you have some time bustin icicles off your beard you can rip on a horn one day. bend over and take what the cranky mofos insult you with. if you hack it, you can ruin skme kids life for a few months when you grow up.

books will only make you a smart ass.

except for Chapmans. find a copy of Chapman's and learn what it takes to drive a boat, every boat runs autopilot for watches, but learn what a red and green bouy mean, understand red right return, and know how to run a vhf radio, learn what nav lights look like at night, learn ti read a chart plotter'and how to opperate a radar

they call me Night Goat for a reason. im usually the only guy trusted to drive at night.   

I let my guys sleep and I usually drive 2-4 watches dusk til dawn. if somebody is gonna pile the boat up on the rocks at night, aint gonna be on my watch, same reason why I personally take on the responsibility of keeping the engines running 
that and I and I love heavy metal....