Charter Boat Recommendations

I'm looking to take three other people on a charter boat. They're all complete novices and have no idea how to fish. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations that wouldn't be too expensive and is beginner friendly. I know most charters can help you with the entire experience but I've been reading Yelp reviews about some who aren't too keen on having to deal with new anglers. Anything near/around SF or HMB would be great!

At Half Moon Bay, I recommend HuliCat.

At Emeryville, Tiger Sportfishing.

Great people.

If you’re bringing newbies, check the weather before going. You don’t want them throwing up that they won’t go fishing again. 😀

Thank you! I'll post up my experience. I've been keeping an eye on the fishing reports for SF and HMB and I'm just waiting for the right time to take them. I took the younger one to a trout farm and he seemed to enjoyed it but didn't really have the patience for trout fishing at Lake Del Valle. :/

sfbay potluck trips are relatively affordable and are a lot of fun using live bait.  good way to start and unlikely to get seasick.

@BMB I've seen them on a lot of websites. Do they just take you out to a random spot and you drop bait? As long as they catch some fish I'll be happy

Emeryville Sportfishing. Get on the New Huck Finn. Jay the captain and Dave the deckhand are great with putting you on top of the fish. Nice guys too!

I've gone out with Tom several times for salmon and he works his butt off for you and the price is on par with the cattle boats. He does rockfish as well. You might see if he's booking trips right now. You and your friends would have the boat to yourselves.

http://www.fishonsportfishing.com/rates.html

Cheers,
Brad

@BMB I've seen them on a lot of websites. Do they just take you out to a random spot and you drop bait? As long as they catch some fish I'll be happy

the spots aren't that random.  The captains generally have a decent idea on where to catch fish.  Stripers and halibut mostly right now, sometimes they will fish a bit of rockfish right at the base of the GG.  New Huck finn and California dawn have both been doing really well on the halibut and stripers recently.  Pick a day with a decent tide (not too big of a swing) and you should catch fish.  Maybe not keepers but something.  It's really easy fishing, just drifting with live anchovies. 

Tom is out of action for a while, as he had knee replacement surgery.  I think his site days sometime in May for his return, assuming release from his Dr.  I've fished with him for quite a few years for both salmon and albacore.  He's fishy for sure, and works hard for his clients.

I think it would be pretty cool if we had all four spots on Tom's boat to ourselves. I'll reach out to him to see if we can make something happen!

I just went out on the Queen of Hearts in HMB for rockfish.  They just opened a new area and it's impossible not to catch fish.  They'll set you up 100%.  We had at least fifteen first time anglers for a bachelor party and went through everything slowly and were eager to help.  Just watch out for the new deckhand.  He's cranky and can't fillet worth a damn.  Sherry is awesome, though.




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Why anyone would book on any boat other than Cal Dawn is beyond me (except for salmon). Hands down the best captain in the Bay-especially for halibut. They fish harder and longer than any other boat.

I've heard New Huck Finn is good too but have had multiple bad experiences on Queen of Hearts and Tigerfish.

I just went out on the Queen of Hearts in HMB for rockfish.  They just opened a new area and it's impossible not to catch fish.  They'll set you up 100%.  We had at least fifteen first time anglers for a bachelor party and went through everything slowly and were eager to help.  Just watch out for the new deckhand.  He's cranky and can't fillet worth a damn.  Sherry is awesome, though.




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I thought I was the only one who thought that deckhand was cranky...but Capt Bob Ingles is great. He'll put you right on the fish

I just went out on the Queen of Hearts in HMB for rockfish.  They just opened a new area and it's impossible not to catch fish.  They'll set you up 100%.  We had at least fifteen first time anglers for a bachelor party and went through everything slowly and were eager to help.  Just watch out for the new deckhand.  He's cranky and can't fillet worth a damn.  Sherry is awesome, though.




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I thought I was the only one who thought that deckhand was cranky...but Capt Bob Ingles is great. He'll put you right on the fish

The entire time he was complaining about how locals got run out of Mammoth by AirBnB, and had no clue what he was doing.  I shoot fish in the head, so this angling thing was pretty new to me, but I felt like I could have been better help than him.  I actually ended up sending the owners an email because, despite the great trip we had, he's going to give them a bad reputation.  I refused to let him touch my fish and was embarrassed by how bad his filets were.  I think that was his third day on the job and seemed like he was already burnt out.

Most of my bay area fishing now is kayak based, but I do enjoy hopping on charter boats from time to time for the same reason. Over the years I narrowed down to a few boats that I like, that doesn't means others aren't good at catching fish per se. This is just my preference.

HMB - Ankeny Street, Chris is a great captain. He really knows how to make friends with his customer and operate his boat as a business. This is probably why his boat is one of the hardest to get a reservation. Other boats may catch better fish, but his personality just makes everything so much better.

Emeryville - Seawolf and New Huck Finn, my go-to Farallon Islands Rockfish boats. I noticed Seawolf is always the 1st boat out of the harbor. I haven't done any halibut, striper, and salmon from charter boats, but I have been following California Dawn for some times, and his halibut numbers are just one of the best one out there.

Good luck and have fun!