Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Last week we had a fishing charter with a group of six guys from out of town. I didn't know them well because they had never fished with us before, but they seemed to be a pretty nice bunch. The weather was great and the fishing was good, so as we went through the day my first mate and I were somewhat confused by why our party was so "quiet". It wasn't that they didn't talk at all - they did, but not much. Or perhaps I should say that they didn't talk as much as most of our clients do, instead of jabbering on with each other, and us, the group was content to sit in mostly silence as they waited for the next bite. We struck up the usual small-talk conversations with them to try and get a little rapport going on, but the conversations were mostly one-sided on our part until the conversation would taper off to silence again.
So, it's not like we had a problem with the how quiet the group was. Lord knows we've had plenty of groups at the other end spectrum that are more than just a "little" vocal. It's just that you always hope your clients are enjoying themselves, and it can be a little worrisome when you don't hear the usual banter between anglers. By the end of the day everyone was all smiles and a lot more chatty, so I'm guessing that maybe they just had a big night the night before and needed a little "recovery time" before livening up to the day. Whatever the reason for their silence, it was a little unnerving for my mate and I because for a while we just didn't know if there was some kind of problem with our people for the day.
While that group spooked us by being a bit too quiet, we're more likely to be put-off by folks who are way too chatty. Don't get me wrong, we like it when our clients engage us in conversation, but every now and then there will be one guy out of a group who just never stops talking, and it's not usually a two-way dialog as much as a one-sided day-long lecture with every sentence starting with the work "I". I did this, I did that, I went here or there, I have this or that, I caught this and that. Yikes! That can make for a really long day on the water!
It's really makes for a much more pleasurable day when our clients talk "with" us, not "at" us. I think most folks in this business enjoy getting to know their clients and swapping stories back and forth, and not just about fishing and what's happening on the boat that day, but also all the other stuff that friends talk about when they're passing time together. Of course, there will also be times when it's good not to be engaged in conversation, like maybe when the crew needs to focus their attention on driving the boat under adverse conditions or anything else that might need their undivided attention for a while, so a little quiet time now and again can be a good thing as well.
If only for the selfish reason that they want folks to come back as repeat customers, the crews on charter boats typically have a genuine interest in seeing that their clients have an enjoyable time while aboard their boat. Crews don't want their clients to be seasick, bored, uncomfortable, sunburned, aggravated or anything else that will divert them away from having anything but a wonderful experience - that just makes good business sense.
But most crews will do a lot more than just paint a smiley face on in the morning and go through a choreographed day of catching fish and making small talk. They really have a genuine desire to make their people happy by providing them with a fishing experience that goes beyond their expectations. Crews on charter boats usually get into the business because they're passionate about fishing and enjoy the opportunity to share their passion and use their expertise to enrich the lives of others. These men and women are not just bus drivers who haul anglers out and back, collect their pay and load-up another group. Unfortunately some clients don't come to realize that because they shy away from having any meaningful dialog with them.
The best way to start a charter-fishing trip on a new boat is to strike up a (two-way) conversation with the crew so that you can get to know them better and they you. In the process they'll get a better understanding of what they can do to help make your trip all that you'd hoped for, and you'll know more about what they can and cannot do for you. Then, as the day rolls along and everyone gets more comfortable fishing and conversing with each other, the anglers and crew will no longer be two separate camps but will have merged into one efficient team all working toward similar goals.
Of course captains and mates are just "people", and some march to a different drummer, so "yes" there are bad eggs out there as I'm certain that some readers can attest to with vivid memories of being on boats with crews that apparently had no desire to form any kind of friendly bond with their clients. But those are the exceptions. Local anglers and would-be charter clients should take solace that the folks who run most of the charter and head boats around Delmarva will work hard to ensure that a trips with them will be a fun, memorable and hopefully a productive fishing experience. Get to know some of them and you'll see what I mean!
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
