I've never done it before, but I've chartered a boat out of Marathon to go fishing with my sons. There'll be a captain and a mate. I've tried Google and it seems I tip the mate, but not the captain? I asked the guy who took the money for the charter and he said to tip the captain.

What's the tipping protocol?

We chartered a day out of Daytona back in 2000. We tipped both. When in doubt, ask the captain. His boat, his rules.

I stick to cow tipping, much less chance of drowning.

Tip both individually. Captain usually gets twice as much as the mate, as that's generally the same pay scale. 20% of the charter cost is generally a normal tip, but goes like a restaurant. If you want results. Tell them up front you'll tip X amount on every fish over 10 lbs or whatever type you want to target (example for every Mahi, Wahoo, etc). I prefer to do the latter because it motivates the crew to actually catch you fish, not that they don't try their best but see below.

Keep in mind charter boats are in business to make money or turn a profit and that is counter productive to running far and burning a bunch of fuel to get to where the fishing is most productive. A sportfish on plane running at cruise speed (say 20 knots) is burning 2-3 gallons PER MILE. At trolling speed, they get 1-2 MILES PER GALLON. So typical M.O. is to run at cruise as little as possible to start fishing (for pelagic fish), they'll generally start in water that's barely deep enough, and troll around and end up as close to home before having to run. It's incredibly hard for a sportfish charter boat to turn a profit compared to a dive boat that loads up 40 paying divers and runs a couple of miles to and from the spot with no other expenses (bait/tackle/etc.)

Eric on Fishin Pole charters is very good and located in Marathon. I dated his sister for a few years. Now sure who you booked.

I thought you tipped the caption and he shared with the mate. That's how I've done in the past but it's been awhile so maybe that's changed.

You can tip the Captain and he shares with the mate, it's generally how most tippers do it. BUT, Charter sportfish captain aren't exactly the cream of the crop, it's not exactly a job most Captains want, so not all are ethical and share all of the tip with the mate or palm some of it. If you hand it directly to them individually, it's up to you what share each one gets of the tip, and they both know that's exactly what you tipped. Who knows what they have pre-arranged with each other, but if you give it directly it's generally understood that those are your intentions and how much you want each one to get.

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Eric on Fishin Pole charters is very good and located in Marathon. I dated his sister for a few years. Now sure who you booked.

Arek in Islamorada? I booked through a place some friends recommended, but I suspect our friends did the party boat. I didn't ask a lot of questions because I wouldn't know what to ask. The Captain has her 100 ton and her name's not Ron, so everything should be fine, right?

Tip both

The mate at the end of the trip will probably filet all your fish and package... tip him for all of that separately


Friend is a guide. This on average what his customers tip
Much depends on how successful the day is

$75-100 per person in the party to Capt

$50 a person to the mate

My add would be for the Capt not to see Mate get tipped. A good Capt will suggest for y’all to tip the mate for his help all day

I’ve been on both sides of this, worked as a mate for years and went on to get my Captains license. As Captain I never took tips...told the customers to take care of the mate...and that’s the way it was run when I was the mate.

Note* we had a lot of repeat customers over the years...when I was the mate, several of the regulars would throw a few bucks in my pocket before we left the dock.....guess who I looked after first if several lines came up needing bait at the same time
The mate always works hard and really tries his/her best to get you hooked up...they usually rely heavily on the tips they earn

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Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Eric on Fishin Pole charters is very good and located in Marathon. I dated his sister for a few years. Now sure who you booked.

Arek in Islamorada? I booked through a place some friends recommended, but I suspect our friends did the party boat. I didn't ask a lot of questions because I wouldn't know what to ask. The Captain has her 100 ton and her name's not Ron, so everything should be fine, right?

Yeah Arek at Fishin Pole charters, he is in Islamorada. For some reason I had a brain fart and thought Robbie's marina was in Marathon for some reason. He's very good.

Every charter boat is different......some are very good, some are not......I guess look at the google,facebook, and yelp reviews for the boat you chartered.

Did you book for the day or 1/2 day? Are you interested in bottom fishing (grouper/snapper etc.) or pelagic fishing (dolphin,tuna,wahoo, etc.). Weather this time of the year may rule out going in deeper water for pelagic. Let the Captain know a few days ahead of time what you'd like to catch and your experience level. They may recommend you guys pay extra for live bait or etc. depending on what you're looking to catch and what everything is biting at the time.

When I charter fished in Alaska, the charter boats tended to have 2 mates and 12 to 20 clients. After the mates fillet your fish, I gave them each a $20 if they did a good job all day (kept your line baited, got your fish off quickly, etc).

Probably not the same thing, but when my friends and I go fishing for Reds and Specs out of LA, we have 4 of us and the captain of the boat. We each chip in about 50 bucks each to tip him at the end of the trip, which is a 2 morning affair (Sat am and Sun am, head home after coming in from Sun am fish).

On the half day boats out in L.A. ,
we just tipped the guy that helped us land the fish, thats it.

but these boats had between 20 and 30 people on them .

oh and if you ordered breakfast , you tipped the kitchen staff .

In Hatteras NC there is a fairly large charter fleet. Most boats are in the 40 to 55 foot range and take up to 6 clients. There is one mate and the Captain.

In my 30 year experience they are very professional and work hard to make the most of the day.
In most boats there is a sign that the mate works for tips and the suggested rate is up to 20%. On a $1600 charter that’s pretty good money.

I only ever once left a small tip for a mate that was an ass. When he saw that I only left him $100 he got in my face and started giving me grief. The Captain saw what was going on and fired him on the spot. I have been going out on this boat for about 10 years so the Captain new me pretty well and he apologized for the mates behavior that day. I still go out with him.

The captain and mate split the tip evenly. The captain didn't own the boat, but rather worked for the party boat company. We got one of the party boats to ourselves. I'm going a different route next time. We did catch some fish and my boys had fun.

The highlight for me was the captain throwing a bait casting net and letting go of the rope. The mate jumped in to try and retrieve it, but it was already too deep and the current too strong. The next thing you know, the mate is yelling to the captain that he can't make it back to the boat, and please throw him the life ring.

I'm fairly sure they weren't putting on a show for the tourists.

Very timely thread. I am taking a Charter in 3 weeks, out of Key West. I believe the Father is the Captain and his Son is the Mate.

3/4 day Charter and I have been looking for information on tipping. Most of what I have found is 20%.

There will only be two of us fishing, but 3-4 on the trip.

Lead with cash. Don't wait till the end for them to find out you don't mind paying. A $20 to the captain and a request to have a fun day will go along way. Who knows how his day is going or the guy that screwed him yesterday. Let him know upfront you are here for a party and to get hooked up!

Good luck and have fun!

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Originally posted by P-220:
Most of what I have found is 20%.

I have an app on my phone that has US and international tipping advice. For US, it has two similar items:

Dive boat crew - Fair 15%, Good 18%, and Excellent 20%. Granted this is a little riskier than fishing and probably why it's a couple percent more than the next one.

Outdoor activity guide - Fair 12%, Good 15%, and Excellent 18%.

The $40 ($20 each mate) I posted earlier about Alaska Charters came out to 20-25% for my portion of the larger charter boats that took 12 to 20 people out. I'm not about to count out exact bills if the tip comes out to less and those guys were mainly college students living in some pretty crappy quarters to save as much money as possible over the summer.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

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