Equite for going fishing in somones boat: If you are invited to go fishing with someone in their boat there are a few things you need to know up front. Everyone, please add to the list...

BILLBYRD1 Loc: Prattville Al

If you are invited to go fishing with someone in their boat there are a few things you need to know up front. Everyone, please add to the list if you think of something. It makes for a better trip plus being asked to go again.
1 Wait to be asked by someone don't ask them to take you. You can suggest, maybe we can go fishing together sometime.
2 Ask where and for how long you will be gone so you can be prepared with food and drink. Don't ask to stop at the store for snacks or Hardees for a biscuit
3 Ask are there any special baits that will be needed to have with you. If so get them ahead of time.
4 Be on time with your equipment ready, food & drink and life vest if needed. Being prepared makes the trip fun. Not having hooks, weights, etc ruins the trip.
5 At the ramp ask if there is anything you can help do. Take off tie downs, unhook lights, put the plug in the boat.
6 If you know how to back a trailer down the ramp do so if you do not know DON"T OFFER to do so.
7 Be prepared to deal with your trash and dispose of it properly on return to the ramp.
8 If you spill a drink be aggressive in cleaning it up and don't act like it is no big deal.
9 Do not offer to go get the trailer if you have never backed an empty boat trailer down a ramp. Do offer to hold the boat at the dock for the boater to retrieve the trailer.
10 Offer to help tie down the boat to the trailer and clean up the interior/exterior as needed.
11. When the boat owner stops at a gas station to refuel the vehicle and boat offer to pay for the fuel if not discussed earlier. I always tell them they can pay for the gas that the boat used because I always have the truck and boat full before leaving. It is always best for the boat gas tank to be full to stop moisture from getting into the fuel.

I am not doing this to be mean or anything but to give guidance to both boater and nonboater. Even if someone's boat is like mine a junkyard dog or a brand new 20 ft. Ranger Bass Boat they are both the pride of the owner and needs to treated as such. Please understand it is not cheap to own and operate a boat.
Please add any more that you can think of from both sides.

Maxebb Loc: Orland, Maine

Be on time!!

Dannyboy

All of the above plus, I clean up fish mess as it happens, I always bring extra:
Food
Tackle
And bait
I am a first mate, not a captain! I do not drink, unless offered,
And I don’t rub it in when I catch fish, instead I give up my spot and offer anyone else my Bent rod if they haven’t caught anything yet, especially a kid.

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

Great info for being asked on a boat that has a full tank and you refill at the pump, but what about being asked on a boat that the owner adds fuel now and then by way of gas cans at their dock?

BILLBYRD1 Loc: Prattville Al

Thanks, Dannyboy I would enjoy taking you and Maxebb out for a day. Plumbob what do you think would be fair. I'm just saying any offer whether one takes it or not. Sometimes I don't let the person pay if I know it is a hardship. The whole concept is that you offer something for being invited on the trip.

teabag09 Loc: Chesapeake, Virginia

BILLBYRD1 wrote:

If you are invited to go fishing with someone in their boat there are a few things you need to know up front. Everyone, please add to the list if you think of something. It makes for a better trip plus being asked to go again.
1 Wait to be asked by someone don't ask them to take you. You can suggest, maybe we can go fishing together sometime.
2 Ask where and for how long you will be gone so you can be prepared with food and drink. Don't ask to stop at the store for snacks or Hardees for a biscuit
3 Ask are there any special baits that will be needed to have with you. If so get them ahead of time.
4 Be on time with your equipment ready, food & drink and life vest if needed. Being prepared makes the trip fun. Not having hooks, weights, etc ruins the trip.
5 At the ramp ask if there is anything you can help do. Take off tie downs, unhook lights, put the plug in the boat.
6 If you know how to back a trailer down the ramp do so if you do not know DON"T OFFER to do so.
7 Be prepared to deal with your trash and dispose of it properly on return to the ramp.
8 If you spill a drink be aggressive in cleaning it up and don't act like it is no big deal.
9 Do not offer to go get the trailer if you have never backed an empty boat trailer down a ramp. Do offer to hold the boat at the dock for the boater to retrieve the trailer.
10 Offer to help tie down the boat to the trailer and clean up the interior/exterior as needed.
11. When the boat owner stops at a gas station to refuel the vehicle and boat offer to pay for the fuel if not discussed earlier. I always tell them they can pay for the gas that the boat used because I always have the truck and boat full before leaving. It is always best for the boat gas tank to be full to stop moisture from getting into the fuel.

I am not doing this to be mean or anything but to give guidance to both boater and nonboater. Even if someone's boat is like mine a junkyard dog or a brand new 20 ft. Ranger Bass Boat they are both the pride of the owner and needs to treated as such. Please understand it is not cheap to own and operate a boat.
Please add any more that you can think of from both sides.

If you are invited to go fishing with someone in t... (show quote)

Not being mean at all. All are true. Very good advise and though I'm a master backer I would wait to be offered to get the trailer. Mike

Dannyboy

I used to hang out in Bklyn NY marinas, help a guy wax the hull, paint the bottom, sort ropes. Learned a lot and fished with lots of great people with big boats. Captain can’t run a 42 ft boat without a crew. Be pleasant and you get invited back. Catch fish, make a few knots, organize bait, and your the first mate. Don’t drink until some one catches a fish worthy of a beer and a celibritory cigar. Damn I love fishing especially on other people’s boats.

BILLBYRD1 Loc: Prattville Al

Mike, I think I could trust you, young man. Would you back the boat in for us(you and I) to go catch some fish?

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

You are so right billbyrd on making an offer to pay for fuel that is a given. It's the amount that I am not sure of. One does not want to appear cheap so I guess I would gauge it on how long and how far we were going to be out.