The day for our anticipated salmon trip was here. Met at the dock early only to have to boat. Messaged captain half hour later and he said he was overbooked and unable to take us until afternoon. A big disappointment since it was our last day on the coast and we were up at 5am.
12:30 came around and captain Travis pulled in. We waited another half hour for him to go buy more bait. Finally on board at 1:30 with no introduction by captain, no safety briefing, no explanation of what to expect, etc. He was very knowledgeable but very intense. His job was to get us where the fish were biting, and he did.
We’re listening to Coast Guard radio about high surf at the mouth of the river and we became a bit concerned, yet we continued. A simple explanation from the captain would have been nice.
Overall, our captain did his job about getting into the fish.
Maybe because the other fishermen were returning customers and he was a little thrown that we were added last minute, the captain forgot about a safety briefing which we believe to be important and he seemed ill-prepared. There were also rusty tools and hooks strewn about. An hour of the six-hour trip started slow, but we ripped thru the incoming swells and found the fish.
Felt bad for one customer who lost his fish and the captain seemed to belittle him for not following his shouted instructions. All guests got what the came for. Sadly, their charter was $100 less because they booked direct. Well know next time.