Best Guides, Best Prices, Guaranteed Fish: Vancouver Island Fishing Charters
Many of us have come across these ads when looking for a west coast fishing charter. Be careful! In my experience as a certified fishing charte
r, I have discovered that it is not always about the best guides, best prices, and a guarantee!
During my first year of chartering, I received some very good advice from a very good friend and season chartered operator. He told me that the three most important things about chartering are people, the boat, and lastly, to my surprise, fish. To this day, I believe he is right but allow me to explain before you leave this post.
People: Now, let’s say that the most important value for a charter is fish! Question is, what happens for example if the fishing is slow, the guest get sick or if the guest are into more than simply loading up on fish (maybe they also wish to see a few whales and sights as well)? Charter operators are their to serve their guest, not the other way around. It’s why I believe that people meaning their hopes, dreams, enjoyment and safety matter most. My advice before choosing a charter is to read the testimonials on the website and find out how people really enjoyed their trip”.
The boat: Qualities that make a true “fishing machine” are safety, stability, savings, and a great platform to fight fish. Waters can get bouncy out there so you definitely want a safe and stable boat. To help keep operating and customer cost down, you want a boat the doesn’t break the bank or that keeps a guide from getting to those far away places because of fuel cost. Finally, a lot of deck space to fight and land fish as well as good cabin that allows at least 4 people to get out of the elements if the weather is foul are also important. If you are looking to book a west coast trip this summer, be sure to find out about the boat, particularly those charters that offer super cheap fishing deals. Sometimes a five hundred dollar trip is a five hundred trip out of an 18-20 ft pleasure craft rather than true fishing boat.
Fish: Let me begin by saying that most west coast guides who operate out of Vancouver Island love the hunt and the catch and are good at it. Its one of the reasons we do this. However, every guide, if they are honest, will tell you that they’ve had days where fishing was very slow. This is the reason why I’m not a fan of “guarantees”. I’ve even worked for these companies and can tell you that you can’t always pull a rabbit out of the hat, not even the best guides. To increase your chance of a good fishing charter, fish with experienced guides who have good people skills, good equipment and who know the area. And remember, we call the sport “fishing” and not “catching”.
Best Guides? At Reel Time Fishing Charters, people come first. It is one of the reasons we ask our guest before heading out: “What are your expectations, hopes, and dreams for this trip”? Best Prices? At Reel Time, we work hard at keeping our overhead low without skimping on good equipment. We might not be the cheapest, but we work very hard at giving our guests the best value for their dollar (for example, our two day Ucluelet fishing charters for two people is $1,500.00 without lodging and $2,060.00 for two nights of lodging at Barkley Sound Lodge which includes meals, packaging and freezing of fish as well as many other fun activities). Guaranteed Fish: At Reel Time, we can’t guarantee that everyone will always limit out on 30 lb fish. However, we can guarantee that we will work our hardest at every aspect of a good charter. It’s why we offer charters out of two locations on a great boat and cherish the moments we get to create life long memories that keep our guests coming back.
