Bad AK halibut trip today

[Wazntme]

This is a long story so I’ll try to tighten it up as much as I can. I booked a halibut only trip and even called and confirmed this, got to the dock this morning and there was a family of 4, an elderly woman and me. the captain was tying up hooches for salmon and when I asked about this he said we were going for salmon then halibut later and I just went along with it even though it bothered me. After a 3 hour boat ride we jigged for salmon for about 2.5 hours then went and anchored up for halibut where the 14 year old son hammers a 70 pounder right away and then the dad hits a 60 pounder, little while later one of the poles bends over hard and I tell the elderly lady to grab it and she pulls in a 90 pounder then the action dies. We then move to a different spot where the guide says this is a numbers game now and we arnt goin for size just get the limits we need. We start catching little 8 ponders and get our limits and head in. The captain filets all the fish and hands me a bag with about 5 pounds of fish and when I asked “you don’t split it up equally” he tells me that’s party fishing and it’s illegal, you get to keep what you reel in! I got pretty ticked off because I was basically letting the 2 kids reel in the big ones because it’s the right thing to do and I got screwed by being a nice guy! There are more details that you might find interesting and  I’m sure those questions will come up.

[Stein]

Sounds about right, you got bonus salmon time before the tide change.  They fish the best spot for the tide change and hopefully fill up. 

If not, you hit the chicken ranch on the way home to round out the limits.

Everyone keeps their fish and maybe you get a crew fish if available and they have a full freezer.

In AK, most tides are huge compared to the lower 48 and there is only a relatively small window of opportunity.


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[Wazntme]

I fish Puget sound all year long and I told them I did NOT want to fish for salmon and the lady said “you are scheduled for halibut only not a multi-species, I’ve fished for halibut here a couple other times and the tide is always ripping that’s why we use 4lb weights. And yes we hit the chicken farm on the way back and I was cool with that because I thought we would split the pot equally just as we have done in Hawaii, Florida, Costa Rica, Mexico, Bahamas, and even AK. I’m goin out again tomorrow morning and I guess I’ll stand in the middle of the deck and when a rod tip bends over and hits the water I’ll jump on that rod and start throwing elbows!

[j_h_nimrod]

Not sure about any of the other stuff you allude to, but that is a pretty typical AK charter. The company could have been much more forthcoming with how they are run, but like WA, most people do not know other states Regs or customs and forget that not everyone does things the same way. The fair way is to split the boat catch on a gig like that, but a lot of guys would argue vehemently that their catch is their fish.

Not sure where you were at, a lot of those charters are just fish catching mills with little regard to the people on board. A lot of those guys are just schmuks that are out to make a dollar and by this point in the season are already burnt out and could care less about the next boat full of people as long as they get paid, sad, but the reality of the industry in many places.

Sorry you had a bad experience.

[Wazntme]

I get the rules are the rules, the part that sucks is the parents saw me basically spoon feeding nice fish to the kids so I’m kinda bummed they didn’t just share but the captain pretty much told them that it’s illegal to give me some of the fish so they didn’t. Also you are right, the guy was jerk right out of the gate and just had a bad attitude (I would be burned out by this point in the season also) and to top it off there was 7 of us on a 25’ boat that was probably built in 1989 and I had to stand in the back deck the whole time holding on to the rocket launchers because there was nowhere to sit. That boat pulled in 2 grand today ithe boat is probably worth 20 grand at best. I just have a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing because I spent a lot of money to come up here and I feel like I got hosed. Oh by the way that family of 4 limited on large halibut yesterday and also caught 4 limits of lings at 6 each. So they had enough to share if the captain would of let them.

[Taco280AI]

Where at? What charter? If it's an honest report, no harm in dropping a name.

[huntnfmly]

So is it called party fishing and illegal or not?

[Wazntme]

It’s called party fishing and it’s illegal to divide meat up equally. I’m fishing tomorrow with same company but different boat tomorrow so I’ll say the name tomorrow.

[Nate Ortloff]

Any update on how the trip went?

[Skyvalhunter]

Where are/were you fishing out of

[b0bbyg]

When I have fished in AK everyone was holding their own pole and jigging, so if your pole got hit your fish. I have never seen where there are just a bunch of random poles and you decide who grabs one.  Guess each captain and company has their own method.   We always were given the fish we caught once trip was done.
I did help reel in a fish for an elderly gentleman and they put in his bag,  He hooked it just was wearing out and crew was busy. I still figured his fish since he hooked it.

What we would always do is have a cooler with ice and leave it sitting open behind our truck, in Homer where we have fished several times there are always a few people wanting to give away their fish or only want to keep one to have shipped home.  I think most trips someone would walk up and ask if we wanted more fish     

[huntnphool]

 Did I miss the deer hunting portion of the story?

[jackelope]

Did I miss the deer hunting portion of the story?

No, but you did miss the "report to moderator" tab. Luckily, I got curious and opened the thread and realized the error and took evasive action.
You're welcome.
 

[Alchase]

Did I miss the deer hunting portion of the story?

No, but you did miss the "report to moderator" tab. Luckily, I got curious and opened the thread and realized the error and took evasive action.
You're welcome.
 

Here I was thinking, same guy had two bad AK Hali trips
Dumb luck, of coarse I went looking in my The “deer hunting” section for the thread?

[HikerHunter]

When I have fished in AK everyone was holding their own pole and jigging, so if your pole got hit your fish. I have never seen where there are just a bunch of random poles and you decide who grabs one.  Guess each captain and company has their own method.   We always were given the fish we caught once trip was done.
I did help reel in a fish for an elderly gentleman and they put in his bag,  He hooked it just was wearing out and crew was busy. I still figured his fish since he hooked it.

This was the experience I had as well. Anchored up, poles in hand, jigging. When you pulled a fish in and you wanted to keep it, the deck hand would mark the fish to later identify as yours (or your party's) for when they fillet them on the trip back. They didn't share the meat equally at the end.

[Wazntme]

Sorry I stepped away for a couple days, we were fishing out of homer. I went out the next day and ended up with a 35 pounder and my second fish which has to be under 28 inches so much better experience that day. After talking to the captain on my second trip he said who ever sets the hook owns the fish, so going off what he said I pretty much got screwed, I was setting the hook and making sure the fish was on and then handing the rod off to the kids and elderly lady to make sure they could experience a big fight. I’ve calmed down now and looking back on the situation what really ticks me off is that those parents watched me spoon feed big fish to their kids and then when it came time to divide up the fish they kept it all to themselves. Lesson learned, I am a firm believer that I need to pass these experiences to the next generation to ensure the future of the sport and I paid the price. Also I don’t think we should of salmon fished but apparently majority rules and that family wanted salmon so that’s what we did. Also the reason I put this on here was to get advice about talking to the charter co. about the situation but I now figure I need to just move on.

[Skyvalhunter]

the key to charter fishing is ask the captain the rules first off. I went on a combo halibut/salmon charter out of Ninchuck once. One guy sat by the door when we were fishing for salmon and when the down rigger tripped he sprinted to the pole. He caught the only 2 salmon that were caught and proceeded to take both home with him. This guys name was Punky and the name fit him to a tee. I sure am glad to have a buddy that lives up there where I just pay for the fuel, help out with the boat chores and bring home a good amount of fish.

[dilleytech]

I don’t know the peticular laws in Alaska but in Washington it’s whoever is hold the rod when the fish is landed that owns that fish. 1 person can hook and fight 40 fish on a boat but if your handing the rod off right at the last second it’s not your fish.

[7mmfan]

Thats a tough deal. I feel for you. Trying to do the right thing unfortunately doesn't always work out the way it should. You are right that the parents had every opportunity to split some of that fish with you. I was a captain of a 6 pack boat in AK for a long time, but we almost exclusively ran private trips. The expectation was always that the fish would be divided equally when processed unless otherwise indicated by the guests. However with mixed group trips that's not really feasible unless it's talked about and agreed upon by everyone on the boat.

[Mark Youngblood]

I will probably regret doing this but here it goes....lol

I am in Alaska guiding now and they have some very clear cut rules specifically when it comes to halibut fishing.  Non residents can only keep (4) charter caught halibut and they track that for sure...the log books you sign do get checked I am told...every page.  If you come on board and you have 4 fish already on your punch card and I let you keep a 5th I get in big trouble as well.  If you show up without a punch card and I have to issue you for a lost card then its simply on you but they will catch you via the log books we have to fill out every day and each fisherman has to sign.

Party fishing is illegal in Alaska so each person is suppose to catch their own fish.

If you have a rod assigned to you on a halibut trip then you should not be bothering someone else’s rod is the way I see it...personally I would tell you to watch your own rod and leave their alone.  If you are hooking fish and hand in g them off for someone else to reel in its not illegal but once that 3rd fish is retained you just broke the law.

Rules do say the person who hooks the fish is who the fish belongs to.

If you hooked more than the fish you are allowed and they were not released then you yourself are guilty of overfishing or retaining over your limit....party fishing..... you are not entitled to anyone else’s fish... you very well oiled get in trouble yourself

Now...

If you have an agreement on the side with the passengers to split the meat after you get back as far as I know that is up to you but the charter captain cannot tell everyone they must split the meat...

Mixed trips are tough but on halibut I make it very clear everyone has a rod and its their assigned rod and I have had to release some really nice halibut because the person was tagged out and we could not retain it..... you can still fish but the fish has to be let go after your limit is retained.....

[h20hunter]

Well said. Likeky this issue could have been avoided with more communication on both the paying customer and the Capt.  Guranteed the capt has 1000x more on the line than the customer.

[Wazntme]

I definitely know better now so next time I will come home with some meat, thanks guys!

[b0bbyg]

Sorry I stepped away for a couple days, we were fishing out of homer. I went out the next day and ended up with a 35 pounder and my second fish which has to be under 28 inches so much better experience that day. After talking to the captain on my second trip he said who ever sets the hook owns the fish, so going off what he said I pretty much got screwed, I was setting the hook and making sure the fish was on and then handing the rod off to the kids and elderly lady to make sure they could experience a big fight. I’ve calmed down now and looking back on the situation what really ticks me off is that those parents watched me spoon feed big fish to their kids and then when it came time to divide up the fish they kept it all to themselves. Lesson learned, I am a firm believer that I need to pass these experiences to the next generation to ensure the future of the sport and I paid the price. Also I don’t think we should of salmon fished but apparently majority rules and that family wanted salmon so that’s what we did. Also the reason I put this on here was to get advice about talking to the charter co. about the situation but I now figure I need to just move on.

Thanks for the follow-up it made things more clear and gives folks good info on what to watch out for.  Guess I have just been lucky in past that the captains were clear on the rules before we got going.

[Wazntme]

The captain probably should have explained the rules and my past experiences just led me to believe the catch would be divided up.

[hookr88]

Picking charters based on how they run the boat is a hard one. Unless your talking to the actual captain of your boat it's tough to find out how the boat is run as far as rods go. If rods are put in rod holders, as opposed to everyone jigging, I like the following method. Everyone is assigned a rod. When a fish is caught everyone rotates one rod either to the left or right. That way if one rod is hot the person assigned to that  rod doesn't get the bulk of the fish. The other benefit over the numbering system is that you are always fishing no matter which rod gets hit, rather than waiting for your number to come up.

[lokidog]

I don’t know the peticular laws in Alaska but in Washington it’s whoever is hold the rod when the fish is landed that owns that fish. 1 person can hook and fight 40 fish on a boat but if your handing the rod off right at the last second it’s not your fish.

Not true, in WA while fishing saltwater, you can hook and land other people's fish.


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[Skyvalhunter]

Maybe you could hook and land mine then Loki.