new sea angler?

so my buddy is going out on the new sea angler on monday, he is a newb of newbs. doesnt even know how to tie a knot kinda newb, he is going out with 11 of his other buddies, who arent much better, so he asked me for some advice and all i could come up with is tip early and tip big , but he would like some advice on what to do, i havent been on a party boat since the mid 80's and all i remember was it was a tough stay the hell out of my way situation, anybody have any advice on protacol, crew, way he should go about not pissing any one off and still get some fish, cameron

New Sea Angler is a good boat, and the captain / owner ( Rick Powers ) is a real nice guy. Been going out with him for years.
Its been a while so I don't know his crew any more. Just tell your friend to go and introduce him self and get pointers for Rick him self.
If he take them out to Cordale Banks for rockfish it can sometimes get ruff, so Dramamine or Bonine would be a good idea.

I went out with 6 non fishing friends a couple of weeks ago, and we missed the salmon bite by a week...go figure...

we still got limits of rockfish despite 4 being seasick and spent the whole time in the cabin. hopefully the weather will be better for your friend. with that being said here are some tips that could have prepared my friends a little better:

1. take dramamine the night before and day of if there is any question of sea sickness.

2. teach everyone to tie on a shrimp fly rig and have extra weights and rigs for when they get snagged. that rig is all you need for the rockfish.

3. get your gear together ahead of time. if you buy from the boat or the tackle shop there it will be expensive. not trying to take away from their business, sorry if i offend anyone. i lost a few salmon rigs (flasher, sinker release, 2.5lb lead, hoochie = over $20) depending on what the bite is like it could be worth it to get some salmon gear together, but not for all 11 anglers.

So for 36 anglers one one guy caught salmon that day...me! but i thought everyone was gonna catch salmon and the boat captain gave me the "red hot" salmon bite spiel when i called. (be cautious). Overall it was a decent experience, the deckhands work hard and will help with tangles and setting up rigs if you are newbs. we were in the front so we didn't get that much attention from them, but i was able to help my newbie buddies out myself. maybe they can arrive early and reserve spots in the back of the boat, also closer to the bait. they will clean a limit of rockfish into fillets for $7 per person, then you can tip accordingly after. hope this info helps. fish on!

roger

Fishing for rockfish off Cordel in a party boat is as boring as hell. You put on a heavy weight, lower it down and pull it back up. If you have fish you hardly know it they are so crapped out from the depth change. Kayak fishing is the only way to go. And if not kayak in a small boat.

The last time I was on Rick Powers boat was the absolutely last time I will ever set foot on that thing again. Ever. He took a boatload of people out in rough conditions out to the cordell area. Rain sideways 10 -12ft swells and 20-25 knot wind out of the NW. By the time we got to the spot it was terrible. You cant tell me this guy didnt know what was up. But he took the dough of the people and when everyone was soaked to the bone and freezing we started back. Now if that wasnt enough, there was no heat in the cabin at all. none. No hot drinks. People getting hypothermic. One guy was actually shaking so bad its wasnt even funny. I wont even go into the DFG cites that man has incurred over the years. About halfway out he puts the boat on auto. Goes down in the engine hold and comes up with 2, 5 gallon buckets of something and tosses it overboard. Now I dont know if it was old oil but I have my suspicions.

Cam, I hope your friends have a great time. I hope they catch some nice fish too. This is my experience only.

OUCH, I guess Craig didn't have any fun
Anything other than pneumonia caught on that trip?
Tad
 

I have had very similar experiences as Craig. And yes, that was plural (experiences), I like to reserve judgement until I'm sure. That guy don't care about anything but money in my opinion.

Did he make them pay in advance? YES.
Will he refund if they cancel tomorrow? He'll try not to, that's for sure.
Try it. Then run for the hills if you get your money back.

There are some really good party boat skippers out there who deserve your business. Unfortunately he ain't one of them.

My opinion, that's all

whew, i thought i was the only one with a bad vibe from Rick...reminds me of a used car salesman.

at the start of the trip he goes on for about 20 minutes about how long he's been in the business and what he has pioneered, then some days we catch fish and some days we don't, meaning if we don't catch salmon this is the disclaimer. but the combo trip is still $100. expensive for rockfish.

as we were fishing he is taking calls for reservations and saying "hot bite right now, got salmon on the hook" when we were catching dinky rockfish.

 I've been on that exact trip as Craig too. The deck hand (shootie) or something like that told me i didn't pay and couldn't fish...after being on the water an hour already. Knowing I had, I told him I wanted to talk to Rick. He wasn't any better. I knew I had a cancelled check back at home so I told him to he'd have to either turn the f***n boat around or throw me overboard if he didn't want me to drop a line. Shitty shitty seas, even shittier time out with dad. poor Shootie was so seasick he refused to clean fish for the 8 people who actually were able to handle the crappy wx (although we were encouraged to catch the limits for the sick guys too). Never set foot on his boat again. Never will.

thanks for the replies guys, will pass it on to my buddy with a grin since i have to cover his shift that day and sounds like i got the better end of the deal cameron