St. Croix SPORT FISHING??

www.fishwithcarl.com

Keep in mind that captains here expect to keep your catch. While Carl advertises that you can keep "part" of your catch, that wasn't the case with us. Not knowing that when you charter a boat for the day here you basically just get the opportunity to put your line in and catch fish for the captain to sell to the restaurants, we took a big cooler to bring our catch home and that is when all the fish disappeared from the ocean. Not one to be found. I guess all the other boats that came in that day, full of fish, caught them all. Quite an expensive disappointment for my visiting brother in law who is a avid offshore fisherman in the states.

So, you asked this "Carl" guy if you could fill your cooler up with fish and he basically intentionally didn't catch any fish?

We would like to bring home/grill some of our catch too. What's the point of fishing all day if you can't enjoy the end result - eating it????

That was our take on it especially after talking to other boat captains on the island. However, I don't know what Captain Carls input would be if he were part of this discussion. We did not ask up front if we were able to keep our catch because we were used to stateside standards where when you rent the boat for the day whatever you catch is yours. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Before you charter a boat ask the captain up front what are the rules of his boat.

Do you know of anyone else I could charter with? I heard that Hurricane Omar wiped out most of the sport fishing charter boats on St. Croix last year? When did you charter his vessel?

I will be sure to ask questions up front. I just want the chance to ask a few captains.

We just went rig fishing out of Venice, LA over the weekend and caught our max of red snapper, a couple of sharks, of course, the barracuda and several small tuna. What state are you fishing in?

We did our charter a year and a half ago. Never tried it again. Now when we go fishing we go with friends that have boats. When we go deep sea fishing in the states we usually off the outerbanks of North Carolina.

How did you find Carl? All I can seem to find is www.gotostcroix.com website and from there, only two guys are listed. Could that be right?????

Outer banks sounds nice. And, I'm sure not as hot as Louisiana in the middle of August. Might consider that. How far didyou have to travel offshore before you were deep enough? Our boat only holds 150 gallons.

We just went to the boats on the boardwalk that advertised their boats for hire. I don't have any idea how far offshore we go. I am just usually along for the ride. lol. Hubby and his brothers are the real fisherman. I am the cook. I can't kill anything, well, except for centipedes. If I do fish it is catch and release and even then I feel bad.

That's as good a way as any, I suppose. Just hope he's not all booked up when we arrive.

I use to feel badly when my husband would gaff the fish too. Still do at times. I rather not partake in that part of the deal. I feel sorry for the fish too but love to see my husbands smile when there's a fish on.

I don't think any boat will be booked up right now.

My friend went out with Carl a year ago Feb. He advertised your got to keep part of your catch. Wes caught several large fish, gave Carl a BIG tip and we went to lunch. When we came back for his fish it would have fit in a childs lunch box! Wes was pi$$ed.

I think it's terrible that you pay to go fishing then can't keep your catch. I would never go out with any of them for that reason.

Well, I can understand them wanting to sell part of their catch as I'm sure they make a great deal of income that way but to advertise that you get to keep your catch and then get short-changed isn't right either. I also realize that once you filet a fish, what it looked like to begin with (big to huge) is now maybe about 12 lbs. of good meat. Shame...

Well first of all unless the captain is fishing, it's your catch. Also Captain Carl doesn't advertise that you get to keep your catch, he says you can keep part of your catch. Basically you are paying a fortune to go out on a boat and fish and maybe if you catch something you can keep some. What you pay is well above the cost of the boat fuel and bait and wages for the mate. Just taking people out and you have made a good days pay. However, the 2nd source of income for the captain is selling your catch to the restaurants. I don't think that is fair but it is his boat. My husband corrected me on my earlier post. The day they went fishing they brought their cooler on board to bring their catch home and Captain Carl did not correct them by saying they could keep part of their catch. They just didn't catch nor did they get to use the live bait brought on board to fish with. Since the policy on this island is vastly different from the standard in the states I always try to tell anyone hiring a boat, ask up front if you get to keep your catch.