Captain or Mate?

[Squidnation]

There are some phenominal world class captain and mates sitting on the sidelines in this years WMO. This is the year that if I were fishing it on a 40+ private rig that I ran myslf I would really considering hiring one of these world class Mates or Captains. My questions is if you have enough dough to hire one of these guns - would it be a Captain or a Mate. Lets here your opinion and why. Personally I would hire a captain. The main reason would be the captain's ability to network with the best. If you are one of the best then you normally network with the best. Lets hear it.

[DropinBack]

Mate... gotta hook the fish... and in ocean city when bites can be limited... you have to make sure you capitalize on all of them... Yes... a captain can network perhaps better to see where "everyone else is going"... but so can a good mate... and in a tounement with this many boats it is no huge secrect where someone caught their fish...if you are commited enough to go to a spot just because someone else is going there... then just follow them to where they are going... plus... the fish seem to be a little bit of everywhere right now... so this year i think a mate would be the one i would hire in this particular case this week to capatilize on each bite...

[freebird2]

Captain because I need a job!

[HOLWACHAGOT]

I guess it would depend where the Captain was from for me. Who would you rather have in the pit than Brian Harrington? He's a Captain...but I would hire him up North just as quick as down South...his networking would likely offer more advantages Downeast than in OC...
I'd prefer the skill and ability to the latest intel...especially with the number of boats likely to be out there putting around.
Holwachagot

[OffTheHookB&T]

Definitely a captain, I've been lucky enough too fish with some of the best and a top captain can make all the difference in the world, especially if the anglers are any good. Plus alot of Capts run bridge rods and hook a fair amount of fish themselves.
OR I would fish with SQUIDLY BILL PINO, he's got more connections then anyone and he fishes 360 days a year, all over the world

[Team Bethina]

Captain!! You need to find em before you catch them. I made the mistake by hiring a "hired gun" to be an angler back in the `06 Los Suenos tourny. I ran to a spot that I was working all week. No other boats around. In the first 2 hours my crew was 0/17. The "gun" missed 10. On that day we went 7/35. Sure if I had better anglers we would have had a better percentage. But I was the only boat on `that bite`. And in the `06 WBS I had two of the worse anglers that Ive encountered. Good thing we had 4 practice days. Over the 2days I gave them over 60 shots.I had one guy tied for first and the other was in 7th place. The final day was only the top 5 guys. I get to my boat that morning only to find out I blew a oil cooler. The guy had to jump on another boat. they raised 1 fish and missed him. That is the case of a bad captain and bad angler.

[Sportsman]

I made the mistake by hiring a "hired gun" to be an angler back in the `06 Los Suenos tourny. The "gun" missed 10.

Good lawdy! Did you know this guy well enough to hire him?

[Deep C]

Though I'm a captain and biased, I have always paid heed to the saying "A good mate will always make a good captain but a good captain won't always make a good mate..." A good man who can do both is a hell of an investment...


That being said one has to ask himself what he wants the most help with. Some guys want to pick the spots and the spreads and do all the brain work. For him a mate to just do the detail work might be the right choice. Others want to enjoy themselves. Just fish and when the boat hits the dock go take advantage of the land based activities at hand. That guy might be better off choosing a hands on captain...

[gottaflylee]

I think your shooting your self in the foot to hire only 1 or the other, it takes 2 to tango, it takes a team that makes it work.

You can have the best Capt. in the world and it is not going to do you any good if whoever is running the pit can't hook a fish or rig a good bait and it goes the other way around, best mate in the world won't do you any good if the Capt. can't find the fish...

[SeaBiscuit]

Many good captains remain at the top of their profession while changing mates frequently. I'd hire a captain.
SeaBiscuit