Disappointment with Dunmore Boat fishing trip

moan 77

Hi all, just a quick update on our boat fishing trip out of Dunmore east which turned into a disaster. 10 of us set out at 10.00am Saturday morning, we had to pass the river Suir en-route to Dunmore the river was like glass. As we left the harbor all was clam however 15 mins out into the sea the boat started to roll, another 20 mins we started fishing small mackerel was all that was been hooked the odd larger one then the puking started, which resulted in 6 out of the 10 hanging over the boat. The swell was about 4 to 6 feet and the fishing was very poor so we moved not because of the poor fishing but due to the fact we would have been on the rocks at the hook. After repositioning the boat the fishing was slightly better but the mackerel were still quite small we got 3 small pollack and 1 red gurnored, then the fishing died, fished for another hour nothing caught all the while the other 6 took turns in puking over the side, Then it started to rain so enough was enough we headed back in, we arrived back to dry land at 1.00pm so 3 hours fishing for €400. Not a happy camper but what could be done, skipper wouldn't entertain my request for some form of a reduction. Our fishing trip was meant to be from 9:30am to 4:00pm and variety of fish promised.
What we got for our €400 was 3 hours fishing, 35 mackerel (28 small) 3 pollack and 1 red gurnored and a skipper who was flippant about giving out life jackets and spent 2.5 of the 3 hours at sea in the wheel house read a paper. Do you think we got value for our money.

ring 20

thats a dose of irish weather for you, cant be helped really

bitemybanger

That's fishing.
Getting out is half the battle, catching a few fish is a bonus:D

natdog

Its not really the skippers fault for lads getting sick but a skipper showing no interest in the fishing is a load of crap he should be out talking to you every now and then letting you know what ground your over etc.
nothing worse than paying money like that to a poor skipper.
To the mods can we do a section for charter fishing names locations and expierences from lads that have fished with these lads I think it would be a good addition to the forum.

pppspecial

400 for the day was cheap.
40 a head fair enough.
Not the skippers fault u had a bunch off non boat fishing ejits who choose an 8 hour trip and probably got skulled before heading out to sea.
Ya say 6 foot swells hahahaha ya make me laugh.
6 of yas puking sure yas needed to be brought back ASAP in my opinion .....ok skippers will stay out and put up with people puking everywhere but lets be honest I wouldnt and neither would most.
Vessels over a certain length dont need to supply life jackets on peoples beck and call but simply have enough life jackets for all passengers on board at any one time.
Ohh the weather would have the biggest part to blame in all off this but for you to be so stupid and post up this ridic post about a fishing trip and somebodys livelyhood you should be......feck ill be nice ITS CALLED FISHING AND NOT CATCHING M8.

and be safe on the waters with life jackets needed I think on all boats under 23 feet but dont quote me on that.
Tight lines everyone.

jd

moan 77 wrote: »

Then it started to rain so enough was enough we headed back in

Who decided to head back in? A six foot swell, that's not too bad.?

stylie

Your user name is not going to get you any sympathy with this post

beer enigma

Lads, I've just renamed the thread as it was correctly pointed out to me that the original 'disaster' title implied more of a boat 'loss' than a bad fishing experience.

ch750536

moan 77 wrote: »

Then it started to rain so enough was enough we headed back in

Zzippy

I've been out on loads of charter trips over the years, the only thing the skipper did wrong in my opinion was sitting in the wheelhouse reading a paper - he should have been keeping an eye on ye, telling you depths, what the ground was like, etc. and moving the boat to better marks if the fishing was poor.

However, going back in early because a few lads were sick and it started raining (really?!) is not his fault, neither is it his fault if the fishing is bad on a certain day.

Next time hand out seasickness tabs before you head out, don't have a feed of pints the night before, and make it clear to the skipper at the start what you require in terms of advice and info throughout the day.

natdog

pppspecial think your post is a bit over the top dont think the op mentioned anything about them drinking and the definition of fishing is the activity of catching fish for food or sport.
I also think we should encourage lads to post about there experiences good or bad.
I think zzippy has it verly spot on but it sounded like the skipper didnt try any other marks when fishing was slack.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

you should take sea sickness tablets before you go out next time, i havnt got sea sick yet, but i've only been out a few times, and the sea was calm. still took the tablets though. we had a poor day last time I was out, loads of macks, not much else!

moan 77

Just to clear up the drinking pints issue our part was made up of 1 x 68 year old woman, 1 x 50 year old man, 1 x 46 year old man, 1 x 34 year old woman (4 months pregnant), 1 x 13 year old girl and an 8 year old boy all who got sick, 1 x 40 year old man, 1 x 45 year old woman, 1 x 15 year old girl and a 14 year old boy didn't. Now I dont know where I mentioned where in my first post if we were drinking the night before our trip but just to clear it up, I asked the adults and their answer was NO, I forgot to ask the children( silly me). The two biggest letdowns were the lack of interest from the skipper( only really interested when the €400 was been handed over) and the lack of fishing. As we were having a bad day at sea with the sea sickness and lack of fish the rain was last straw but you got to put others before yourself, maybe some others should take a leaf out of this book. If you feel it's all right to head out to sea with 4 children on board and not offer lifejackets or you had to be asked twice, well it's not good enough, as for the weather or sea conditions I know the skipper had no control over these but as for the fishing he could try more marks or even make sure we were fishing right.
The best thing I can take out of these posts is change my user name and the best one is take sea sickness tablets even if the forcast is for calm seas cause you'll never know what you'll get, till your out then it's too late.
The reason I posted this in the first place was to share what happened not to be accused of something we didn't do.
I thank the helpful replies as for the other well, least said least to be mended.

sickpuppy

Went fishing twice from Clifden with John ryan and was the best 50 euro ive ever spent each time.
First time the conditions were idyllic he said was best weather hed ever seen
not even a ripple on the water
we had a mix of anglers and 4 complete novices
we powered out to sea and were soon getting lots of mackerel
after 20 misn we moved out to rockier ground where we caught pollack up to 7 pound coalies red gurnanrd pouting 1 sandeel a beautiful octopus which was put back and an 8 pound ling.
We lost quite a lot of gear novices letting the lead stick to the bottom as we drifted one of the lads had abig fish on skipper guessed agood size conger but lost it.
Half way through tehd eckhand came out with boiled mackerel lovely
everyone enjoyed it everyone caught laods of fish which was filleted for us and we bagged it back at the b and b owned by mr ryan
him and the deckhand were good fun and genuinely tried to get us catching as many fish as possible we tried for some rays on the way back the first time with no luck

my second trip had 7 or 8 pints of guinness the night before bad idea and afry that morning spewed everywhere over the deck swellw was not bad but would not reccommend pints night before ocne again we all caught fish and 2 nice blond rays in teh bay on teh way back thinkw e got 6 to 7 hours good fishing in super value and lots of fish filleted to bring home

id sooner go deep sea again as hauling up a 5 or 6 pound pollack is too easy esp with heavy gear but if yoru anovice or want to fill the fridge and have nice pleasant experiecne in teh west of ireland could not reccomend the man and boat enough
guys that had been on other boats said the service was excellent 16metre boat and they had fished before witha skipper fishing in one spot and refusing to fish elsewhere even when people were not catching

Zzippy

moan 77 wrote: »

Just to clear up the drinking pints issue our part was made up of 1 x 68 year old woman, 1 x 50 year old man, 1 x 46 year old man, 1 x 34 year old woman (4 months pregnant), 1 x 13 year old girl and an 8 year old boy all who got sick, 1 x 40 year old man, 1 x 45 year old woman, 1 x 15 year old girl and a 14 year old boy didn't. Now I dont know where I mentioned where in my first post if we were drinking the night before our trip but just to clear it up, I asked the adults and their answer was NO, I forgot to ask the children( silly me). The two biggest letdowns were the lack of interest from the skipper( only really interested when the €400 was been handed over) and the lack of fishing. As we were having a bad day at sea with the sea sickness and lack of fish the rain was last straw but you got to put others before yourself, maybe some others should take a leaf out of this book. If you feel it's all right to head out to sea with 4 children on board and not offer lifejackets or you had to be asked twice, well it's not good enough, as for the weather or sea conditions I know the skipper had no control over these but as for the fishing he could try more marks or even make sure we were fishing right.
The best thing I can take out of these posts is change my user name and the best one is take sea sickness tablets even if the forcast is for calm seas cause you'll never know what you'll get, till your out then it's too late.
The reason I posted this in the first place was to share what happened not to be accused of something we didn't do.
I thank the helpful replies as for the other well, least said least to be mended.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply your group had been drinking, was just giving general advice for going out on charter boat trips - I've been there, done that and puked all over the t-shirt.
No matter what the forecast, I always, always take seasickness tabs before heading out, it can be a grand day with a small swell but some people can be sick, and the smell of sick (or rubby dubby!) tends to make me queasy. Out 2 days later this week and picked up a packet of Kwells today (much better than Stugeron IMO), well worth the few quid.

beer enigma

moan 77 wrote: »

Just to clear up the drinking pints issue our part was made up of 1 x 68 year old woman, 1 x 50 year old man, 1 x 46 year old man, 1 x 34 year old woman (4 months pregnant), 1 x 13 year old girl and an 8 year old boy all who got sick, 1 x 40 year old man, 1 x 45 year old woman, 1 x 15 year old girl and a 14 year old boy didn't. Now I dont know where I mentioned where in my first post if we were drinking the night before our trip but just to clear it up, I asked the adults and their answer was NO, I forgot to ask the children( silly me). The two biggest letdowns were the lack of interest from the skipper( only really interested when the €400 was been handed over) and the lack of fishing. As we were having a bad day at sea with the sea sickness and lack of fish the rain was last straw but you got to put others before yourself, maybe some others should take a leaf out of this book. If you feel it's all right to head out to sea with 4 children on board and not offer lifejackets or you had to be asked twice, well it's not good enough, as for the weather or sea conditions I know the skipper had no control over these but as for the fishing he could try more marks or even make sure we were fishing right.
The best thing I can take out of these posts is change my user name and the best one is take sea sickness tablets even if the forcast is for calm seas cause you'll never know what you'll get, till your out then it's too late.
The reason I posted this in the first place was to share what happened not to be accused of something we didn't do.
I thank the helpful replies as for the other well, least said least to be mended.

Don't read too much into it - the beauty of boards is exactly the fact that you get all sorts of diverse opinions - even some where they draw conclusions. It's a great place to discuss but not everyone will always agree.

Sounds as though the skipper could have been more pro-active though & there's no excuse for not providing life jackets; especially for the kids.

Did you douch research on the skipper ? Is it time for a register of charters ?

tin79

Andip wrote: »

douch research on the skipper?

That sounds uncomfortable , is that kind of information even in the public domain?

Donald Draper

That is fishing alright. you gotta take the good days with the bad...

moan 77

pppspecial wrote: »

400 for the day was cheap.
40 a head fair enough.
Not the skippers fault u had a bunch off non boat fishing ejits who choose an 8 hour trip and probably got skulled before heading out to sea.
Ya say 6 foot swells hahahaha ya make me laugh.
6 of yas puking sure yas needed to be brought back ASAP in my opinion .....ok skippers will stay out and put up with people puking everywhere but lets be honest I wouldnt and neither would most.
Vessels over a certain length dont need to supply life jackets on peoples beck and call but simply have enough life jackets for all passengers on board at any one time.
Ohh the weather would have the biggest part to blame in all off this but for you to be so stupid and post up this ridic post about a fishing trip and somebodys livelyhood you should be......feck ill be nice ITS CALLED FISHING AND NOT CATCHING M8.

and be safe on the waters with life jackets needed I think on all boats under 23 feet but dont quote me on that.
Tight lines everyone.

Well pppspecial,
Just wondering do you have any more comments to make, now that the facts are out there or is there something else we did wrong in your opinion. I will admit we should have taken sea sickness tablets.

bayliner

Andip wrote: »

Don't read too much into it - the beauty of boards is exactly the fact that you get all sorts of diverse opinions - even some where they draw conclusions. It's a great place to discuss but not everyone will always agree.

Sounds as though the skipper could have been more pro-active though & there's no excuse for not providing life jackets; especially for the kids.

Did you douch research on the skipper ? Is it time for a register of charters ?

have to agree with all of this really, the skipper did nothing to encourage more business to be sent his way, i certainly wouldnt touch him with a barge pole if thats his idea of "value for money". a register of charters would be a great idea, i've only ever fished off the west coast, achill 4 or 5 times, mullaghmore twice, and clare island once... all the skippers were good, some better than others,

flounder

we used that skipper once and never went back, its the skippers job to help you catch fish, dont get put off by one bad trip everyone gets one, we have been using martin colfer the last 3 years, he will change you rigs, help with baiting, unhooking, filleting, and will keep on moving till he finds the fish to give you the best day possible,, we go from 9.30 to 4 for a full day and always go home with boxes of fish, a good skipper will do his best so you will come back again,

UnleashTheBeast

Last Summer I booked a day out on a charter boat with another party in Roundstone, I went along with my friend (we travelled from Galway City), just the two of us. When we got there, there was nobody around except the skipper (Pat Conneely). They thought they were going out the Sunday after, they never showed. So it was just myself and my friend. The skipper could easily have said "Sorry lads, I can't take just the two of ye out", he definitely ran the boat at a loss. But he didn't, he brought us out for about 4 or 5 hours and only charged us half the price. There was room for about 10 others! I just thought it would might be appropriate in a topic like this, they're not all bad!

Oh, and nobody puked!