Raaven

The official form you are looking for is a CG-719s...Small Vessel Sea Service FormFYI.... Vessel Gross Tons IS NOT registration weight of the boat. Look up the official formula to calculate what size vessel your experience is on. I've been full time in the Business for 34 years now...about all the advice I can give is.. Develop and follow a strong business strategy.. Research out your cost analysis... Advertise, advertise, advertise.... Don't expect to make any money.... Have a second form of income...... Wishing you the best of luck! It can be done!

I have the same problem.....I always thought it was because I was catching too many fish on them...but the other day I put down a brand new, out of the package kevorkian...and it never took a hit..... but came back up all silver! That never happened before....maybe they are having issues they don't know about yet?

We do that when fishing tournaments ! Everyday charters, the coppers go out last. What's the hurry?

Passenger for hire means a passenger for whom consideration is contributed as a condition of carriage on the vessel, whether directly or indirectly flowing to the owner, charterer, operator, agent or any other person having an interest in the vessel (46 U.S.C. 2101(21a)). Consideration means an economic benefit, inducement, right, or profit including monetary payment going to an individual, person, or entity. It does not include a voluntary sharing of the actual expenses of the voyage, by monetary contribution or donation of fuel food, beverage, or other supplies (46 U.S.C. 2101(5a)). Next time someone tries to tell you that you NEED a license to share expenses...tell them to go look up THE LAW. When I got my first "six pack", in 1986..what he was saying WAS TRUE...you couldn't take anything, including some one buying you lunch, without a license. Well it seems that has changed sometime in the last 26 years? I just looked up the actual Law, and above is what I found.

The fish do! I have them in the water all the time. They are not a spoon everybody has a stock of aboard... You know, this is a good subject to hit upon... I'm out there catching fish, doing my thing, and someone asks "what are you using", "What is working"... Well it does THEM no good to tell them about lures they might not have, or can't just walk in to the store and buy...or modifications to stock items they just can never match... So you go to the basics to try to help them out! Everybody has, or knows of ,and can buy a Michigan Stinger NBK But the other day the R&R black/white, a little red on leading edge, gold sparkle, glow back that I modified with a little peacock tail dangling on the single hook...WAS ON FIRE! Tell a guy struggling to get a hit on the water, all that... and you get a long pause...followed by a "Ok, I KNOW I DON"T HAVE ONE OF THOSE. "

Run stickbaits off your planer boards back 100-150 feet, and spoons of choice on the riggers..40-75 feet back. troll east of harbor in 10-20 f.o.w and you should do well on the brown trout all the way down and beyond 4 mile point! Thin fins, rapallas and smith wicks have been good, in firetiger, black/silver, and anything with an orange belly. spoons have been..michigan stingers in uv green alewive, nuclear green, green wiggler...the old honeybee stingers in chartreuse/green, chartreuse/orange..as well as assorted sutton 44's and small evil eyes... After you are down at the point and sick of playing with the small browns...head out to 50-100 f.o.w put those riggers down to 22-35 feet and troll back to harbor AND HANG ON.. king salmon have been playing nice all the way thru there daily...stingray size michigan stingers in kevorkian, green wiggler, and dirty white boy, nk's old silver/green glo, and ss waddler, as well as wire dipsys set out 45-55 on #3 setting with spin doctors and atomik flies! Have a great time with your family and good luck catching!

All good advice! One thing I would like to add about "experimental " stations and lure selections.... Experiment with a station THAT WORKS FOR YOU, and when the fish are biting. I learn nothing about a certain lure..if I run it where even my "Go To" struggles to connect this week... Just like when nothing is working this hour, I won't say that lure doesn't work, just because it's in the "hot " position!

That explains why I only catch the dumb ones that are color blind?

I run musky charters on The St. Lawrence from Oct-Dec. We have to call every morning also...It was never a problem, just took a few minutes. One morning they asked to talk to our clients...Seems that they had some DWI's in their past, so the Canadians didn't want them over there fishing. No problem, we just trolled in the American side of the river! Like you said, REALLY EASY..Not a hassle, what's the big deal? Following some rules and procedure sure beats paying a hefty fine!

I never knew it was "critical" to only run one manufactures spoon at a time.... And since no one ever told me this important detail..... I run multiple different spoons of shapes sizes colors and manufactures ALL AT THE SAME TIME ! I catch some fish. I say switch it up and try some new ones WHEN YOU WANT. What's the worse that can happen, you don't catch a fish for a few minutes?

Accuracy never mattered to me as much as consistency. As long as I can put that item right back to where it was, I'm happy. I also like uniformity between reels aboard. If the port side dipsy is a CV 45 low on wire, but the starboard side dipsy is a LC 47 full to the rim...I have trouble dialing them in ! If your buddy is using 20 lb. wire and his dipsys are hot at 75 feet, your 30lb. wire might not fire at 75 feet !

I haven't heard any reports of kings back in Mexico Bay...but Kenny has been getting them on the buoy line, and heard a rumor someone had a great day in the Trench...Good reports all up the south shore this year! If you go out and look for them, you will find them! All my "spring king" charters are booked on Waterwolf on weekends out in Wilson! We start out there in two weeks. Boat is still in Clayton from last falls musky trips.....Got to move her on the 15th..Kevin won't let us have our slip until after the Invitational. Where do I sign up for those knitting classes you are teaching?

Been running charters since April 6 th ! Earliest season start I can remember. (Been chartering full time out of Oswego since 1978...Misty Blue way back then.) Glenn, we found the kings IN THE HARBOR on the first trip this year, Ran over a dozen trips so far this month, and caught kings EVERY TIME I fished for them. Best day was 9...biggest of the season so far, 23 lbs. So to answer your question.. NO, I didn't just take a chance. To answer your other question.....TK and Hattrick, and Proteus, and Lucky Dutchman and Salmon Tracker were all around me today, as well as some rec guys. As far as I know they all caught some kings today? As well as other days THEY FISHED FOR THEM. You don't catch them on the beach with the little browns.

I agree. This mornings charter was a prime example of "my opinion" on this subject. Three guests show up at 6 am. Two adults and a 14 yr. old autistic kid. Well the wind was howling in Oz and it was cold! So we waited at the dock an hour, and started fishing at 7. First pass down the beach pulling smithwicks on planers, three riggers set shallow at 1.8 -2.0 mph produced 14 fish on, boated 9 browns and a northern pike! We released 6 of the browns, 3 were hooked bad so we boxed them. The northern of course was released. Did we turn around and make another pass? NO. As far as I was concerned, we could have kept all nine browns and had our daily limit. Instead we talked about the rare abundance of spring kings we have been catching in Oz this spring! These guests have been coming up for years, brown trout trip every spring, back again mid summer for kings. "Let's go try to catch one" responds the client! Ok, pull the boards, pull off the beach, drop in some wire dipsys with spinny's and flies, switch up the riggers to stingrays and magnums, bump the speed up to 2.7-3.0 mph...and troll out to 50 f.o.w. Well wouldn't you know it, we bang an 8 lb. brown on a rigger in 25 f.o.w. on route! Box that one. Nice fish. It didn't take long for the kings to play...all five stations took a salmon, and we lost a couple more also in the next two hours! Now we are limited out. Or are we? Legally, we can still take some lakers...The kid has never caught a lake trout before? Perfect. Slide out to 70 f.o.w. Put on some small spoons on the riggers, lengthen the leaders on the flies...slow the boat down to 1.2 -1.5 mph....send everything down! It took a while to find them....But we were enjoying a sandwich anyway! Pretty soon a dipsy fires....HEAD SHAKER...yup it's a laker! ohhhh noo ! It come off just before it hit the net! Darn it. The kid really wants one now. Another pass or two on the numbers, and what's that? Rigger bouncing funny? Hit the release......a few minutes later, this kid is ecstatic about his first ever LAKE TROUT! Father said "We had a great day! Take us in"...back to the dock at 11:30. Gee, and to think we could have turned around and pounded on small brown trout all day...catching 30?-40?- 50 ? more AND RELEASING THEM ALL... How many would have died?

Glen, don't get me wrong...I don't know if YOU are a game hog, or not.... I pull off the dock every morning with full intentions of catching/killing my clients their LEGAL limit every day. Of course, this doesn't always happen! But if after a few passes of rods popping, and the box almost filled, I have to make a decision...either make another pass and be limited out in two hours, of a six hour charter..OR PULL OFF THE FISH. The clients are more than willing to try for a few bigger fish...and we can always go back in there and box out later in the trip? Meanwhile.....I see other boats JUST POUNDING on those fish all day every day...and releasing...thinking they are doing good by letting them all go... How many die? I don't know. EVERY ONE IN MY BOX IS DEAD. That's a fact. I also release A FEW fish on a real good day...but won't sit there and C&R EVERY ONE I can get to bite. I find it more challenging to target a different species, or a trophy...and sometimes you get them!

I consider EVERY FISH that is hooked, battled and released, as having the potential of dying. No matter how careful we are handling them. Would you feel different if there was proof every fish released died? I don't have the proof, just like no one has the proof THEY ALL LIVE. Take the emphasis off CATCHING and get back to fishing! If every pass a certain item is catching a small fish, do you take it out of your spread? Maybe a magnum lure will only target the trophy you are looking for? Maybe only going out a little deeper will find the bigger year class? If you have limited out, and are just weeding through the dinks, you already have those fish figured out! Why sit there and keep catching and releasing ? Just so you can brag you caught three or four times your limit? Would you be bragging you killed three times your limit, and can't wait to go out and do it again tomorrow? You can always "pull off" the fish, change your whole spread, and target a trophy ! Then you won't have your rods firing EVERY pass...but you might educate yourself into being a better fisherman, not just a game hog.

I have dropped a few at the dock while unloading the cooler...EVERY ONE SANK. There is no reason you have to quit FISHING after limiting out quickly. you could always change species, techniques, location ? If you are spring shoreline brown trout fishing, you can go out and target salmon? Mid summer salmon fishing, go in and target browns, or head out to deep blue and try to find some steelhead? Late fall staging salmon...catch and release as many as you want! They are all dead anyway. Or keep going through your numbers and catch 70 brown trout releasing them all , and killing more than you would admit.

Gone! Out of business...

Every fish that goes in the box...is a dead fish. But not every fish released, lives either. If people were REALLY concerned about "tomorrows fish"...they wouldn't sit out there and catch/ release fish all day...then go back to the dock with an attitude that they did better for the fishery, than the guy who took his limit AND LEFT. Our fishery is a Put and Take fishery.... Take your limit, and go home for the day, or catch your limit, release them, and call it a day. Don't sit out there and C&R 30-40-50 fish..release them all, and think you are doing any good for our fishery. JMO.

Don't you have to take your guts with you when you are done?

Sounds like a nice short trip.

Yeah...RUN THREE ! You can always stack and slide if you want more items down there.

The easist and most effective way for me to tell the difference between browns and atlantics? VOMERINE TEETH! Located on the roof of the mouth... Brown trout always have two alternating rows of pronounced vomerine teeth up there, with a group of them forward on the "head" of the vomerine... Atlantic salmon always have a single row, very light (almost not even noticeable ) with NONE on the "head' of the vomerine... Hope that helps?

I agree ! Plus, you can get a good soup and sandwich in the hardware store...

"Each scale is hand painted an average of 3-5 times to build depth in the paint." You get what you pay for! Find a "cheap job" and see what you have to look at, for your trophy of a lifetime!