Choosing a trip can be time consuming in itself because there are so many options. Each charter company can have multiple trips to choose from and multiple times each day when they leave and return. You may end up booking a trip that might be a bit longer than you originally considered because they take less people or because of the type of fish they are catching when they go out.   I feel like I am getting ahead of myself here….  we have decided to go fishing and we are doing research.  I have been on the website for the company I have decided to use that does the charters to see what kind of fish they are catching and when they are going out.  

So the first thing we want to do is decide which boat is going to be right for the trip.  We can do a half day (don’t let this fool you, it is still a full day out on the boat.) For the half day charter we would leave about 8 a.m. Go about 2ish hours out fish for about 4 hours and then about 2ish hours back.  These are approximate times of course because not every charter would be the same but you get the idea.  There is usually a ¾ day charter where you would get about 6 hours of fishing and a full day charter where you would get about 8 or so hours of fishing.  A full day charter can end up being a 12 hour day, so keep that in mind.

You should also consider the number of spaces they will book on this trip.  The half day trip can book up to 50 people on a 65 foot boat.  They don’t always fill up completely, but the more people on the trip the busier the crew will be.  Booking a spot on a 50 foot boat that only takes 18 people would I think give you more personalized attention from the crew.  Now I could be wrong, but in my head that makes sense.  But I do think it is worth paying attention to those details so you can get an idea in your head of how the day might go.

I am also considering the size of the boat and whether or not they have a galley.  While the boats may allow you to bring your own snacks and beverages they don’t want you to bring giant coolers on board.  There is limited space and you don't want to be tripping over coolers when you are trying to reel in a fish.  If the boat has a galley then there would be food and beverages available for purchase.  (So we so far need cash for gratuities and snacks.)  

In this case I will be booking a ¾ day charter that leaves at 7 a.m. on a 50 foot boat that takes 18 people out.  The boat has a full galley and provides bait.  (More about bait and equipment in another post).  The boat is expected to return at 4 p.m. so if I randomly stop posting, check Gilligan’s Island for us.