Fishing Charters are Cheaper and More Fun!

Author: Dan Mccart

I used to have a boat. The first season I took it out almost every weekend. Then my Monday night job was to clean it up from the fun. My Friday night was to get it ready for the next weekend. That assumed I didn't break anything or I had to fit that into my Tuesday through Thursday schedule. Yes, boating and fishing was a lot of fun and a full time hobby.

The money wasn't a problem. I made a lot of money so the $367 monthly payment wasn't a big deal. The gas I burned every weekend around $100 wasn't a big deal. The maintenance and storage fees per year of about $1,600 wasn't a big deal either, assuming nothing really broke.

Then came the second season. Funny enough other things happened and it was more like every other weekend I went boating and fishing. But I have to admit it was more on just Saturday than the whole weekend. I also started going out a little later in the season and stopping at the first sign of cold. But for some reason my monthly payment was the same and my maintenance didn't seem much different either. Yes, I did save gas I told myself and gas is getting expensive.

The third year I sold my boat and like everyone else, took less for it than I had hoped. There were no more payments, maintenance, gas and feeling guilty because I wasn't out there. But now what was I to do?

Then I discovered the pure pleasure of Fishing Charters. I first had to justify the cost in my mind, which turned out to be very easy. Roughly I had spent over $8,000 a year to own my boat. Needless to say that did not include the many hours of cleanup and maintenance. So I thought... How many times a year could I go fishing for that money. The answer surprised me greatly. Generally, I was going to pay about $600 per trip. That meant I could go every other weekend for half the year and during the hot fishing season every weekend! Also most of the charters held 6 people and my boat only really held 4 so I could have friends go with me now and not feel bad about them paying their share.

So you know what I do now. I don't clean up on Mondays. I don't prepare on Fridays. I don't put the boat in or out. I just show up and fish. Also by the way the less I was out there, the less I knew where the fish were. The captains I work with do it all. They know the waters and the fish because they are out there everyday.

For me, I am happy just to go fishing every other weekend and not have a full time hobby. Soon my grandson will be old enough to go with us, and I like knowing he is going to learn how to fish and boat from a true expert. Oh yes, the fish I catch now are bigger, more plentiful and just much more fun. And what will I teach my grandson? Don't get a boat, get a charter! Grandpa is a little wiser now.

About the author: About the Author

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Dan Mccart is the co-owner of Blue Sport Fishing – http://www.BlueSportFishin g.com , Over 10,000 listings of Fishing Charters and Fishing Guides .