Pay Scale?

[swell rider]

It's kind of a catch 22. As a mate and now a boat owner and operator a mate by far makes more than the Capt. Good mates can be found, Great mates are hard to come by. I still freelance as a mate because I love working in the cockpit,yes the moneys good but it's because I love what I do. Every morning when I leave the dock as much as I didn't want to get up I sit back and think how lucky I really am. I don't have another job so I grind as hard as I can. Personelly I never had to split the tips with the capt. but I do know boats that do when theres a hired skipper. The ave. pay is $100 to $150 plus tips on deck $250 and up to steer. Pretty standard. The Alaska deal I found was diffrent. I spent 22 yrs commercial fishing and chartering on the side up in Alaska. The charters I work on the deckhand got $100plus tips. the capt. 25% of the gross not a bad deal. As for slaughtering the fish everyday not really, Sewards a little tougher to fish out of than Homer, I do know , I Commercial Halibut fished out of Seward, ocean fishing weather and current plus a long run to the grounds. Homer you can fish the bay and up the inlet. I fished all over the state of Alaska and Russia It's a great Exp. if you have the opportunity to go, GO!!! I still own a house up there and get back from time to time, I sure miss it.

[Capt Say]

Darryl ...man..you hit it on the head brother... Forntunately we luv what we do,,, personally me prefers playing mate/pitboss vs driving the bus, but will take the helm if the owner/cappy needs a break

Payscale... that's a tough one...Mate: 10-15% of the charter + tip ,duties include anything that needs to get done .... List is endless on some boats, whilst others run like a finely tuned marlin spread

CatchemUp on Legend Lures

[Captain Jay Kavanagh]

Here, mates get $100/fishing day give or take and all of the tip, which averages better than 20% on my boat.

Full time Hatteras mates on the better boats make $45-$60k per year.

[Caveman Sportfishing]

As the owner Capt I never share in the tips but do help clean and get the boat ready for trips sometimes but not always. Usually I am down at least an hour and half before departure making sure the boat is ready in the early am as we leave any time between mid-night and 3:00 am for 12-15 day troll-jigging trips. Being in my early 60's I do not spend a lot of time down in the cockpit rigging ect but do socialize with the customers and try to get to know them and do my best to make sure they are enjoying themselves as a large percent of our charter business is corporate and companies are entertaining clients and a freindly bit of conversation is always welcome plus extra help as many our more familar with golfing than fishing so I look at it as my responsibility to assist where ever I can. After that my mates run the cockpit with very little support from me and it is there job to run the pit the way they feel it should be managed period. I look at it as my job to find the fish and get us out in the dark and back safely after fishing along with making sure the customers are having a nice day fishing with us. I cannot say how important having excellent mates are too our charter operation and they deserve the pay they get. I often add $50.00 to $100 extra if we have a great trip and the customers are pleased. I pay the mates 10% of the cost of the trip plus they keep all the tips as I have never shared in the tips as a owner. I also add some money out of my pocket as on a few isolated occasions the mates were stiffed on the tips and made up the difference that they would have normally gotten. (around 20% on most trips we do). We do not fish any bill fish tournaments but do fish shark and tuna tournaments and I have always given the mates a percent of the winnings. I think I can easily say my primary mate makes $35,000-40,000 with tips for 3-4 months work but he earns every penny of it with long days that often are 15-16 hours or more by the time the boat is cleaned and readied for the next day of fishing. When another captain runs my boats he splits the tips with the mate or mates as they all help out down in the pit plus clean the boat ect. I have had the same full time mate now for a few years now during the summer offshore seaon but not sure what his plans are for the upcoming season as his long term girlfreind wants to move to Southern Calf and I think he may be torn between Cape May and the left coast. Good mates in my view are worth every penny and they often do make more than the boat but without them our charter business would suffer in my opinion.

[fishskipper]

My mate makes good money compared to me, the driver! He gets $100 a day plus all the tips usually about $200. I get peanuts and sometimes theres some change that falls behind the cushions. Then I have to pay taxes on the peanuts and usually at the end of the year I get a refund of one peanut from the US gov.... I should of listened to mom and finished college!

[OVER-BOARD]

Speaking as an owner/operator, anyone that thinks a captain makes more than a mate is out of their mind!
I pay a mate 100.00 for an offshore trip and he keeps the tips. Typically 200.00. I have had mates get 500.00 tips.
Think of the price of fuel today. Who pays for the slip, electricity and insurance. Other things add up,something breaks, a nick here, a scratch there. Does the mate pay to fix it or spend the time to fix it? What about coming in at the end of the day and the boat is due for an oil change and you have trip the next day. Wait for the engines to cool down and stay till 10-11 at night. Spend the time getting rid of those fluids. Not to mention running for everything else that goes for the needs of charter operation.
Put away at least 100.00 a trip for when your engines need a rebuild.
If I added up all the hours I put in I would make more money working at Taco Bell. I could go on and on.
Some blood on your clothes? You should be proud. Probably had a real good catch. Cleaning a shit stain in the head? Ever change a baby's diaper?
All said, I would not have it any other way. I love doing it.
If you want to be a mate, money is secondary. You should love to do it, then most likely good things will come.
Merry Christmas to all.

You hit the nail on the head with that. of course i am an owner/operator and never ever make more than the mate as well

[Capt.Troy Crane]

Fish Skipper,

If you buy the boat you can keep all of the change you find and pay the taxes on the boat with at the end of the year !!!!

You've got it good ole boy !!!!

[sunbeammate]

I WORKED ON THE CAPT. MICHAEL IN ISLMORADA FL. WHAT WE WERE PAID WAS 35 DOLLARS A TRIP AND HAD TO GIVE 20% OF TIPS TO THE CAPT. IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR A JOB DO NO WORK FOR ROBBIE'S, THEY WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU I WOULD WALK OFF THE DOCK WITH LESS THAN A HUNDRED DOLLARS IN MY POCKET AFTER 12 HOURS OF WORK.

[Anthony of the ARK]

I WORKED ON THE CAPT. MICHAEL IN ISLMORADA FL. WHAT WE WERE PAID WAS 35 DOLLARS A TRIP AND HAD TO GIVE 20% OF TIPS TO THE CAPT. IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR A JOB DO NO WORK FOR ROBBIE'S, THEY WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU I WOULD WALK OFF THE DOCK WITH LESS THAN A HUNDRED DOLLARS IN MY POCKET AFTER 12 HOURS OF WORK.

that sux dude, most of the time we are there 15-30 minutes before anyone else, and we usually get tipped enough to compinsate for our work.one day I worked for only tips out of OCMD and after a 14 hour day if i i didnt get tipped the usual 300 (which is 15% of the charter) my capt would say i didnt get enough, i never got tipped under 300 agian

[reel fishy]

I WORKED ON THE CAPT. MICHAEL IN ISLMORADA FL. WHAT WE WERE PAID WAS 35 DOLLARS A TRIP AND HAD TO GIVE 20% OF TIPS TO THE CAPT. IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR A JOB DO NO WORK FOR ROBBIE'S, THEY WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU I WOULD WALK OFF THE DOCK WITH LESS THAN A HUNDRED DOLLARS IN MY POCKET AFTER 12 HOURS OF WORK.

Less than $100 for 12hrs, that really sucks and sad to hear. You could make more than that working at Burger King. That's the problem with party boats, most customers don't know how much to tip. If your captain was a freelancer and on a day rate that is why he wants tips. If he was a salary employee then that is a bit lame. Plenty of other charter boats down there for you to work on. Just put your time in on the docks and hope for the best.