[bckahuna]

My friends in this board know that I am not a fisherman, not by any means, yet I try. I will fish if there is no surf to be ridden and there is more catching than fishing being done. Thus we come to a few weeks ago when I went to surf and it wasn't just right so the person who came with me wanted to also fish and claimed he did alot of it and knew where the wsb was, so I am in. As an inexperienced fishing captain I listened to him as to where to go which placed me into the position of apology. I owe the captain of the Island Tac and his crew as well as there patrons an honest apology for my inexperience place me on there stern (chum line)and I feel it was my fault that the fishing shut down. The lesson learned here is as the captain of my boat I will take more an "in charge" policy as to where to go and how to approch boats fishing. This lesson will last a lifetime and I truely am sorry.
The Captain of the Island Tac came into my store and purchased parts from me and as he did he smile, told me how to approch next time, and accepted my apology showing himself to be a class act in a very difficult situation for me.

 

[Wideopen]

Classy Post!

 

[aloharob]

Wow...it sure would be nice if more of these kinds of incidents were resolved in this very constructive manner. The captain of the island ptak handled it well and so have you.

Many of us have made similar mistakes (I have even though I fish alot - set up too close abeam of a 6-pac boat in a tight spot...the skip bit his toungue I'm sure but I realized my mis-judgement and picked up and moved) and an apology is the right thing to do (I did). Then it's in the past and you move on with no worry and a lesson learned.

 

[yellowtime]

Hey Bruce, we've all made a mistake or two out on the water. I learn something new everyday. Steve is a great guy and glad to hear the problem was resolved. I'm also glad to see that you are doing a little fishing as well. I've been fishing my but off, maybe we can do a little surf/fish combo sometime. Shoot me an email whenever you want to go. Great post.

 

[TAURUS]

good job

 

[Bubba]

Yes, Steve is a good guy, fun to fish with too. Just don't cross him before he's had his coffee in the morning.:+

 

[Dr. Kato]

Awesome post. Owning up to mistakes is much more manly than most things I can think of.

 

[DataMan]

That's very cool of you to apologize, and chalk it up to a lesson learned. But I don't think you killed his bite - The Island Tak could probably still catch fish if a squadron of jet skiers were doing circles around the boat :7

 

[JimM]

Outstanding on both sides. Best post I have seen in a while!

Cheers
Jim

 

[Tag_N_Brag]

Well done Captain!

Hey, do you post over at SWD forum?

The Stewmaster

 

[freddie]

Bruce,

Remember the Island Tak skipper's attitude when, if you fish enough, you find a good bite and a party boat sees you with bent rods and sets up almost on top of you and chums the bite away from you. What's not forgivable is the fact the skipper has no lesson to learn, he knows exactly what he is doing.

I hold my tongue and temper and chock it up to, Heck, he's earning his living and satifying his customers, even though I'm not happy with what happened. A rec PBer should understand those earning their living out there, as well as other PBers already set up, and set up at a distance or move on and find your own spot.

Real classy of you to post your lesson and the professionalism of the Tak's skipper.

Fish the Tides - Freddie

 

[Badger]

Nicely Done,

 

[Big Poppa]

I have been fishing the islands in a private boat for over 20 years now, and I have seen alot of "Poor Etiquette" out there. Being in the know, I do not get myself into those types of situations, but have definitey been on the receiving end.

It is refreshing to know that there are people out there who can learn from their mistakes and move onward.

Bravo!

 

[FishingFever]

I met Bruce a couple of times when I've bought things from his shop. That guy is very helpful and a class act. I dont expect anything less cuz from my experience w/ him, he always has given me the best service possible and kept his shop open when I was running late.

WTG Bruce!

Randy

 

[KID CREOLE]

I met Steve K at the Fred Hall show this year, he and David/SWEET MARISSA are good pal. David being the great guy he is introduced us, the three of us spoke for 10 minutes or so about the differy techniques used in fishing cbass up north at the Channel Islands vs. Catalina, it was great exchanging info with one of the best cbass fisherman around.

Bruce,

You might have made a mistake out of inexperience, stuff like that happens, repeated moves like that from private boaters not only hurts charter captains but it creates friction between us private boaters.

I've worked on very popular 6 pak boat for a long time that targets cbass and some of the things that and freddie have posted about cbass over the years gets overlooked sometimes.

So many private boaters with intentions of catching that first cbass ruin their chance before they bait a hook!

White Sea Bass can be spooked VERY easily just by dropping the anchor! I've seen many bites ended by a private boater allowing a anchor chain to rip over a roller or rail. If you really into learning how to catch cbass the first important thing to do is to lower that anchor by hand in stealth mode until the chain is in thae water!

Good post Bruce!!!!!

 

[Joey805]

Hey Bruce,

I was actually out on the water the day this happened and saw the whole thing transpire. I've probably pissed Steve of a time or two out there myself I'm sure. Captain Steve is a stand up guy and so are you. Ya live and learn from your mistakes, we all do it.

Props to you for the public apology.


Joey

Channel Islands, Ca

http://www.getbentsportfishing.com

 

[oceanjake]

just once i'd like to see a sportboat owner get on and apologize for chasing someone off a paddy or anchoring up on top of someone in a cove at catalina and pushing them out. until i see that i wish people would quit apologizing to the sporties. they may make a living fishing, but private boaters earn a hard living during the week and spend their money on the weekends on fuel, bait, etc not to mention boat payments and insurance. everyone has a lot invested in fishing so no person on the water has any more right than the other to be an ####.

 

[DZN2FISH]

Ocean,

The man knew he made a mistake and apologized for it, give him his props. It really does'nt matter if it was a Sportie or the President of the United States. Wish more people would do what Bruce did.

 

[bigeye2k]

Nice way to show some class. If we had more anglers like you the cattle boats would never try to run us over.

 

[Hawk]

Bruce- you get a lot of respect for being so straight up in your post. And you have also met one of the finest owner/operator/fish finding/fun to fish with captains to be found anywhere.

I charter Steve a lot and I can assure you he takes his fishing very, very seriously and shutting down his bite is a hard thing for him to swallow. Yet he had the class to come in and offer you some help in how to avoid the situation in the future.

Props to you both.