i went out on the Hel-cat yesterday on the cod trip. the boat was full in anticipation of the wonderful weather that was predicted. the weather was the ONLY good thing about the day!

only one keeper cod was landed, as well as about 30 hake. the crew and captain were extremely disappointing to me and the rest of the PAYING customers. the mates spent more time fishing than helping to untangle lines and give advice to the less experienced people on the charter. towards the end of the trip, one customer snagged a longline. when he got the rope to the surface, we were surprised to see 4 cod in the 40# class attatched to the line! the mates quickly claimed the fish for themselves, and paid little attention to the fact that a lot of the fishermen were tangled up in the mess! somehow the mess was fixed, and the line was returned to the water. about a minute later, i proceeded to snag the line! i brought the mess to the surface, removed my line and a few other guy's lines with no help from the mates. they were too busy taking care of the cod they had just removed from the line.

i understand that some days are just bad. but, the captain and crew didn't seem to have a grasp on the situation. the captain spent more of our time trying to anchor up and aimlessly circling around than anything. i am thoroughly disappointed with the entire experience. i, for one, will NEVER be going on that boat again! from the talk of most of the other customers yesterday, i am not alone in these feelings.

I hope the guy that owns that longline don't read this . . . removing fish like that is one one biggest no-no's out there. People have been shot for less.

I was on that boat ONCE, two years ago, going to alligator ledge for what was expected to be a nice dayu in search of big blues.

I would have to question the sanity of any angler from that trip who would ever step foot on that boat again. The mates were MUCH more interested in their own fishing than helping out customers. Worst of all, we caught a lot of skate and small sand sharks that day, and the mates eventually were so enraged by the by-catch, that all skate and sharks were beat to death before being dumped over the side.

I don't know how anyone in the business could condone that. I wrote a letter to The Fisherman magazine, but it wasn't printed. The Hell-Cal spends too much $$ on advertising, I guess.

I would urge anyone considering this boat to look at one of the other party boats.

Originally posted by Gloucester2
I hope the guy that owns that longline don't read this . . . removing fish like that is one one biggest no-no's out there. People have been shot for less.

would the DEP like to hear about something like this?

Toby, they probably would, but the boat's response will likely be ". . . bad day of fishing, disgruntled customer, had to remove the fish to untangle the lines w/o damage to the longline . . . yada, yada, yada"

I think you've done as good as you can . . . don't imagine any of the guys here will be on that boat soon.

A note on the fishing, I talk to the guys up and Gloucester and both Saturday and Sunday were a bust - fish are pretty spread out . . . cold water, storm surge . . . pick whatever excuse you like. I think it will just take some time for the Captains to find the fish. (I was scheduled to go but I heard the boat had mechanical problems ao I bagged it).

PS we in the same neck of the woods . . .

captains lady, plum island MA. my favorite boat.:kewl:

anyways, last year i had a bad experience with a charter in key west. it was my first time going anywhere other than new england and my dad decided that it would be nice to go out on a charter. we went out and caught nothing, not a thing. i was wicked mad and still am, its a year later now and i still havent forgotten. bad fishing leaves scars.

Ive been going on that boat for years ( not in the last 2 ) . They have always been on the ball when Ive been out ( stripers , blues and cod ) with them . there is one mate and his name escapes me who I find to be a real jerk . I spent a day gaffing others fish on that boat only cause I kept catching so many fish it got boring so I helped my side of the boat .

If they are doing crap like that Ill have to go back to RI boats or the Mijoy .

Toby I would report them anyway. Thats BS, they could have cut their lines. What would they have said if it was a lobster pot full of lobs???

Toby-

Thanks for that report. I will not be fishing on that boat.

Pt. Judith or bust... ;)

Hmmm - and to think you see their advertising everywhere :eek5: - Damn! Just can't believe everything you read!