How do you split your catch?

[backlash442]

Do you guys split your catch evenly? I always felt that since everyone is pitching in for costs etc. that the fish was shared equally no matter how much was caught or who caught it. Of course if someone didn't want their share that was fine too. Spieces doesn't matter either. The reason I ask is because I had a rather unpleasant experience my last trip out.

[skein]

Yep, we always split. It's just like hunting camp. If you're part of the process, then you're part of the take.


Skein

[Onokai]

Backlash
We always split catch equally. Tuna is my thing so thats about the only fish we fish for. If we catch 1 we cut it up catch 30 we split them up. There have been some trips that a crew member or myself gave thier share away. does not matter who reeled them in.Often I have to traval away the next day and have no time to process fish and iI will give some away. We also have a give away fish on this tiered system.
A-list- People who take whole fish
X-list- people who want loins only -
B-list-people who do not know how to clean fish and want to learn (lesson)
Z-list - people who want to borrow knives tables wallets
A-B list seems to be the only one used. Mark

[5 Salt]

Split the catch evenly but for special fish (personal records, biggest of the bunch, etc...)

I want to ensure the person(s) who landed that special fish leaves for home with it in their cooler.

[ron m]

evenly since that's how the cost get split. Seems fair. Most of the folks I take don't even have offshore fishing gear and sometime they don't want a full share. If so, they get to decide where the rest of their share goes.

[backlash442]

I figured that's what most would do. My last trip the skipper caught close to half the fish but didn't help clean any of them. Didn't even prep the boat for the drive home. Instead took a shower while my buddy and I did everything. Literally sat in the truck drinking a beer and watched. He ended up giving most of the fish away after we filleted and trimmed saying he caught most of them. While we did get some it wasn't anywhere near what we should have received. Top of that he wanted us to clean the boat on our own. I did go over and do some cleaning but not all of it. No way.

[tracker]

On my boat I want everyone to take something home. Even split is where it is at. One trip where we got only one fish the crew wanted me to take it. I did but only after making sure it was right with everyone. The goal is to have enough fish on board to have to give some to others at the dock but that is not always the case.

[corrirod]

Almost always split evenly on my boat. I say "almost" because in some cases, like Halibut or Salmon, if we've each got our limit of fish then we usually just keep our own fish and don't worry about evening out the meat unless there is a huge deficit somewhere.(i.e. 2 people get 70 lb. halibut and 1 gets a tiny chicken, then we share the wealth)

People like the skipper you went out with are usually the ones that don't get out very often because they have trouble finding crew and don't want to pay all the costs themselves. It works both ways, bad crew usually don't get invited back either.

[backlash442]

I've known the guy several years and fished with him plenty of times. Some on my boat, others boats and his. First time he ever did something like this. Probably the last as I seriously doubt I'll fish with him again. You can't imagine how [potty mouth] off I was. He wouldn't even put the bags of fillets in the boat. Matter of fact he even mocked me when I said they need to be put in the cooler. I don't know maybe he had his panties twisted up nice and tight. I have no idea what his problem was that day.

[corrirod]

I don't know maybe he had his panties twisted up nice and tight.

Well, I suggest not hanging out with MEN who wear panties in the first place. That will almost always get you in trouble. :tongue: :grin:

Just my $.02

[Aqua-Holic]

Quote:
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I don't know maybe he had his panties twisted up nice and tight.


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How do you split your what?
Rod....girly clothes make me feel so "free"...especially pink. Cya tomorrow night...

(hope the mods went out to dinner)

[skein]

(hope the mods went out to dinner)

Me too.

How does a thread go from catching, carking, and sharing fish, to .... well, never mind.

Skein - the mod who went to dinner.

[corrirod]

How does a thread go from catching, carking, and sharing fish, to .... well, never mind

Easy, just add Corrirod and Aquaholic! Duh! :shocked:

[Mr. Fisherman]

How do you split your catch?

With a knife of course

Seriously though... most times we keep what we catch and help even up if there is a large difference as mentioned above...

What ever you choose to do on your boat I would recommend making the expectations clear up front before leaving the dock.

I had a skipper one time decide we were going to split all the fish just after landing the biggest Halibut I had ever caught. In the past so long as everyone caught fish we kept what we caught... this time was different and it was different after this fish hit the deck. Now I wasn't upset about splitting up the fish and if nothing would have been said I would certainly have split it up, but he was so adamit about "we are spliting the pile of fillets this time" that it left a bad taste in my mouth.

[fish assassin]

Splitting the catch on my boat is a little different. As you know, I am a commercial
boat that has lots of expenses. I need to pay those expenses including moorage, fuel,
tackle (I refer to my tub as a "floating tackle box") insurance, licenses (including
$85 deck hand permits) ... the list goes on.

When people want to go with me they know that we will be commercial fishing for the most
part. They also know that I will be selling the fish. I let them know up front that
the crew share is 20% of the fish by weight. The crew is welcome to take that share in
either monetary reimbursment or as fish.

I also sport fish ... mostly for salmon ... several times a year. Most times the folks
I take out don't help me pay expenses. Family!! You can pick your friends, but you're
stuck with your family! Anyway, when I take family out fishing I give it
all to them. I figure I fish enough that I don't need to take my cut ...

On occasion we'll have a really bad day tuna fishing and only get back with one or two
fish. Rather than go through the hassle of splitting up those fish and selling them, I'll
give 'em to whoever is crewing for me.

Mostly I just stay flexible. However, I never split the catch 50%. 'Course, I don't have
folks with me that have a monetary stake in the situation. I either have deck hands there
for the money or free-loaders!!

-assAssin-

[skahorse]

I guess I am the opposite of most people on here. I feel, you get out what you put in, when it comes to fishing. And I have a few (adult)family members that I go out with, that just can't leave thier poles alone when there's no catching going on. Either that, or they don't take their time in making sure thier herring has a good roll, or even checking their bait very often for seaweed or any other of the finer points that catch fish.

IMO, if you don't put the time in, you deserve what you don't catch. (On my boat)

Now, if I am a guest on someone elses boat, and only I have caught a fish, then it's only right to offer a fair share to the skipper.

--Skahorse

[Threemuch]

When I was running my own boat, I always sent everyone home with fish. If someone wanted to be ***** about wanting to take home "THEIR" fish and not share, then I let them. It was NEVER worth fighting over or even having bad feelings about. If neccesary, I would go home empty handed to facilitate this. Let's face it, if you run your own boat, and fish the salt, you have plenty of fish. If I take enough home for a meal or two, I am happy.

On other peoples boats, I usually volunteer to clean fish, so figuring out who gets what frequently falls to me. I usually will defer to the captain, who usually defers to me. If that happens, I split it up, unless someone gets *****. If they do, I figure they must need the fish, so I let em take as much as they want. Other than that, evenish splits (I don't cut fillets up), give the captain first choice and grab the small bag for myself.

In my experience on the salt, most of the gear was the same, so who got the biggest or most fish was luck over skill, and even if it was skill, skilled fishermen usually have plenty of fish and aren't too worried about what they take home.

I also like to rotate who lands fish when trolling, regardless of what rod is getting hit, and I have met LOTS of people who have problems with this.

[DriftR]

I have always let the capt or owner of the boat decide what his choice is. On my boat, if you catch a "hog" and it's the only one of the day we share. If everybody is fishing and we catch a bunch of fish then the one with the "Hog" can keep it. Mostly it's share and share alike. Many times my old fishing buddy and I would fillet up after our day on the river and cook and eat half of it with a cold one. We always carried a small fry pan and coleman or heater/cooker. Kinda topped off the day with a little salt/pepper, fresh fish,beer and buddies. There have been days when I never touched a fish, my buddy caught them all. Then other days I would catch my limit and he'd go broke. We just shared.

[Pilar]

Backlash442, you can pick the boat you go out on. Sorry for your negative experience. BTW you are showing some class and restraint not naming names. If someone seeking rides asks you in person I would hope you would clue them in.

Some real wisdom here. Most of us who catch alot of fish are pretty relaxed about giving it away. Everyone should go home with something in thier cooler and they do when they fish with me and we get lucky. But as others have said a big or otherwise exceptional fish belongs to the guy who caught it. I do give away whole TUNA! to complete strangers at the dock, especially when there are too many of them but have never really thought about what my crew might think about that. If someone asks me to sell them a fish I will most likely just give them a whole one if the attitude checks out.

Most days the split should be equal, but stay flexible. Every group of fishers has a different way of doing things. Some days I already have more than I can deal with and the crew splits all but the 2 or 3 TUNA! I keep for the table fresh.

Life is too short to fight over the pile of fish.

One thing though .. cleaning the fish and the boat is the job of the entire crew. You killed it .. and made the mess, now deal with it.

[backlash442]

I don't have any problems cleaning up the boat. Although in this case we were lead to believe that we didn't have to only to be told two days later to go over and clean it w/out the owners help. I'd actually made the suggestion of cleaning the boat while the fish were being cleaned but got laughed at. There was a wash station not even being used!

I guess giving away the fish wasn't my complaint so much, it was the way in which it was handled. Skipper takes a shower while we cleaned all the fish. Doesn't lift a finger to even put his rods and gear away for the 3 hour drive home. Goes for dinner and proceeds to eat and drink beer while we're busting our butts to get ready for the drive home. Doesn't want anyone to take a shower because now he's in a hurry to get home. On previous trips we've pretty much split things evenly. I guess just not this time for what ever reason. Then on top of that he wants us to clean the boat w/out him. It just didn't sit right with me or my friend. Oh well I'm done venting. Thanks for listening.

[Spoiled Daddy]

Always a split on my boat, be it 50-50 or how ever many splits it takes to equal the amount of rods fished. Everybody helps with the gas and other boat expenses, so if we are lucky enough to catch 1 or 2, the spoils get distributed to everyone. For first time fishers on my boat I explain it, for everybody else it is a known rule. I have been fortunate that I have never lost a fishing buddy over this issue.

SD

[Moldy Mike]

In the event that the White Trophy manages to squeak out a few keepers, its the hungry first the helpful second the charitable (with gas) third and the Captain last. Its not about the fish its about the FISHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Moldy

[retaliate]

SHARING IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING. GENERALLY MOST PEOPLE ON MY BOAT KEEP WHAT THEY CATCH,& SHARE TO OTHERS LESS FORTUNATE, I USUALLY GIVE UP PART OR ALL OF MY CATCH, SINCE I GO OUT MORE OFTEN THEN MOST, & MY FREEZER IS USUALLY FULL. ONE TIME
WE GOT BLOWN OFF THE OCEAN, & THE COAST GUARD REQUESTED ALL
SMALLER VESSELS RETURN TO PORT, NEEDLESS TO SAY WE DIDN,T
CATCH ANY HALIBUT THAT DAY, BUT I DID SHARE WITH THE TWO GUYS PART OF MY HALIBUT FROM THE DAY BEFORE, SO THEY WOULDNT
GO HOME EMPTY HANDED, & TWO YEARS IN A ROW I GAVE UP HALF OR MORE OF MY ELK, CAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE FREEZER SPACE. I FEEL BLESSED TO GET ELK SO OFTEN ANYWAY, I WISH MORE OF MY HUNTING BUDDIES WERE AS LUCKY!!

[fish assassin]

retaliate:

PARDON ME FOR SAYING SO, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL!! Please turn off your caps lock,
it is *very* hard to read when someone is YELLING at you.

Thanks,

~assAssin~

[Puffin]

All fish on the Puffin are split equally as all fishers are working towards the same end a full fishbox.

[Zodiac-Fisherman]

AS said by John (Pilar)

Life is too short to fight over the pile of fish.

One thing though .. cleaning the fish and the boat is the job of the entire crew. You killed it .. and made the mess, now deal with it.

Well Said..

Let the carkage begin...

Wait.. we got another half yr before these exotics comeback into our waters...


3 Weeks till I am gonna wet my line in some blue 70 degree waters...

Dylan

[Salty Walty]

We share expenses but the list of people who go out with me is long. I let the others keep their fish and share if I have more. It is a matter of them sharing the cost but also the fact that for every time they go out. I go out 3-4 times. The main object is to have a good time.

[Billfisher]

Walter... I'm reminded of my attempts to even split the fish (as nearly everyone above does) when you said something to the effect of "...Are you kidding? I get fresh Salmon anytime I want! You take it!"

That was cool, and a good way to prove that "...a happy captain is a well-fed one."

May we all be flush in fish this next season, so we can be so generous!