Really rude captain

Sunday morning I was in front of Bessie drifting and jigging/casting when SEA BREEZE 21 trolled within 20 feet of my boat in the direction we were casting. I gave a holler at the boat in a respectable(somewhat) tone and the captain proceeded to come out from the wheel and called me pretty much every name in the book. He also threatened to come over and.. well you can take it from there. All of this with my 15 year old son on the boat. Now im not sure why SEA BREEZE would permit such a person to captain one of their boats so I called SEA BREEZE charters and left my name and number hoping for a return call so I could explain what happened. Guess what? Not even a return call from the owner. Now I have no plans to charter a boat in the near future but this would be the very last number on my list. Now I'm not sure if anyone from this charter business reads this or not but if they do please let the owner know I would love to talk with him. What an experience and another black eye for trollers.

feel your pain. sunday afternoon on niagara I had a guy come right up behind me so close that I couldn't even cast off the back of the boat until he got by us. and the sad thing is there were 3 boats in the whole area. just don't understand why on such a big lake we have to be right on top of each other. oh well no harm no foul i guess...sorry about rambling on

I was fishing the same area on the reefs and watching a Sea Breeze boat I thought was jockeying around thought he was looking
for marks but he got close to others. I packed up and moved west of the pack and started my troll west and never looked back.
It a shame that a outfitter that big allows that sort of person to charter his boats. Here's hoping he calls and things are amicably resolved.

Gene

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BtweenShots

I was fishing the same area on the reefs and watching a Sea Breeze boat I thought was jockeying around thought he was looking
for marks but he got close to others. I packed up and moved west of the pack and started my troll west and never looked back.
It a shame that a outfitter that big allows that sort of person to charter his boats. Here's hoping he calls and things are amicably resolved.

Gene

---

I guess im not the only one then. I don't personally troll and don't have anything against those who do. They actually caught a walleye as they passed and the guy actually yelled back "I caught your fish as@$%@#". I'm going to send an email to SEA BREEZE to see if I get a reply that way. On a good note we did catch 6 keepers and a few shorts in the area.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dansdad

I guess im not the only one then. I don't personally troll and don't have anything against those who do. They actually caught a walleye as they passed and the guy actually yelled back "I caught your fish as@$%@#". I'm going to send an email to SEA BREEZE to see if I get a reply that way. On a good note we did catch 6 keepers and a few shorts in the area.

---

Rule of thumb is boat under power gives way to drifting boat (not under power) gives way to anchored boat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dansdad

Sunday morning I was in front of Bessie drifting and jigging/casting when SEA BREEZE 21 trolled within 20 feet of my boat in the direction we were casting. I gave a holler at the boat in a respectable(somewhat) tone and the captain proceeded to come out from the wheel and called me pretty much every name in the book. He also threatened to come over and.. well you can take it from there. All of this with my 15 year old son on the boat. Now im not sure why SEA BREEZE would permit such a person to captain one of their boats so I called SEA BREEZE charters and left my name and number hoping for a return call so I could explain what happened. Guess what? Not even a return call from the owner. Now I have no plans to charter a boat in the near future but this would be the very last number on my list. Now I'm not sure if anyone from this charter business reads this or not but if they do please let the owner know I would love to talk with him. What an experience and another black eye for trollers.

---

I have taken 2 different Sea Breeze charters and both of the captains were absolute jerks. I would never recommend them to anyone. They are just money grabbers and most of the other charter captains that I have talked to in the Wild wings area do not speak very well of them. You will probably not get any response from their management I complained both times and never got a return call. Im sure thats why their captains act the way they do it is a reflection of their management.

Back in the day when we did cast in the big pack of boats,would get trollers that came so close to us that had to stop casting.Was mostly small private boats.Did no good to yell at them because they were either oblivious they interfered with your fishing or just didn't care.Same story on the road.Some people have lack of respect for others.Would think of ways I could cast into their lines and tangle them all up.Never did think of way to do it without wrecking my gear and interfere with our fishing.We do most of our casting now in Canada, so have not had a problem with a troller coming too close due to lack of other boats.I am unfamiliar with the Sea Breeze charters,but social media now has ways of taking care of businesses that are inconsiderate to the public.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dansdad

Sunday morning I was in front of Bessie drifting and jigging/casting when SEA BREEZE 21 trolled within 20 feet of my boat in the direction we were casting. I gave a holler at the boat in a respectable(somewhat) tone and the captain proceeded to come out from the wheel and called me pretty much every name in the book. He also threatened to come over and.. well you can take it from there. All of this with my 15 year old son on the boat. Now im not sure why SEA BREEZE would permit such a person to captain one of their boats so I called SEA BREEZE charters and left my name and number hoping for a return call so I could explain what happened. Guess what? Not even a return call from the owner. Now I have no plans to charter a boat in the near future but this would be the very last number on my list. Now I'm not sure if anyone from this charter business reads this or not but if they do please let the owner know I would love to talk with him. What an experience and another black eye for trollers.

---

I wonder if a call to the USCG might have been the thing to do? It seems there is quite a bit of this lately, kinda like road rage.

I'm sure a nice cell phone video would make great evidence

Sometimes things get tight when you are working a school of fish and more boats start coming in on the action. I'll admit there have been times when I've been put in a pinch and had to be closer to another boat than I intended to be. The difference is I try to tip my hat and apologize rather than scream and threaten the other fisherman.

There are always going to be a few of those people who think they own the lake and their mothers never taught them any maners.

I very rarely post, I'd like to thank all the pro captains for all there help, I've fished the lake a few times a year for 30 years or so and now have had my own boat for 3, if it weren't for the charter captains posting on here I still would have a hard time, with that being said Sunday I was on #s I've used for a few of those years now, ene of locust just after daybreak sea breeze boats came in and were going every direction there had to be 12 or 15 of them, I usually try to give charters the room they need because it is how they make a living, but on Sunday I was alone with my twin daughters and my wife at daydream and by 7 there was no (give a little take a little from any them) I do run fire line so the next time that happens I will clean everything they have out, hate to be that way and never have but this wasn't the first time with them, it so so bad my daughters were worried we're be hit. Sorry for the rant but wanted to let everyone know its not only a few being bullied

You are correct about Sea Breeze charters. They believe they own the lake and they will not give way. I would never recommend them to anyone.

I can't say I've ever had any direct issues with one of their boats on the water, but we're in Green Cove and every single one of those a**holes seem to think that the "No Wake" signs are a polite suggestion. I've considered calling the ODNR to report them, just not sure it'll do any good. I'll never go out with that outfit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hoytman86

I can't say I've ever had any direct issues with one of their boats on the water, but we're in Green Cove and every single one of those a**holes seem to think that the "No Wake" signs are a polite suggestion. I've considered calling the ODNR to report them, just not sure it'll do any good. I'll never go out with that outfit.

---

I concur with rudeness and no wake zone. We also own condos in Green Cove. I believe that if the ODNR gets enough calls they will have to do something. Another issue is the length of their trolling lines from mast to board.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by capitalwalleye

I concur with rudeness and no wake zone. We also own condos in Green Cove. I believe that if the ODNR gets enough calls they will have to do something. Another issue is the length of their trolling lines from mast to board. I have been told that the max length is 3 times length of boat, so the max line out should be 90'. Trying to confirm this info. but have not been able to find it. Buddy last weekend suggested they just put out a little more and we would go underneath.

---

WOW! Sounds like I opened a long overdue can of worms. I was hesitant to post about my encounter at first but I'm absolutely glad I did now. This problem goes way deeper that I ever thought it did. I have not heard anything back via phone or email from the owner. If I do I will be sure to let everyone know his response. For those at Green Cove I encourage you to take action if you have current issues with them. And thanks to all for all your moral support.

Someone can always call the sheriff's office and ask if they can patrol the area with the patrol boat. I'm sure if someone explained what is happening in the Marina they could get a boat in the area during prime times.

sea breeze boats they have around 30 boats i personally know a few of the captains and they are great friendly and long time captains but there is always a few bad apples. this was a few years ago but we were on the fish that was feeding high when a seabreeze boat goes by and sees us netting and he stops 30 ft from us and was drifting right on top of us he looked at me and asked if i was going to move we said no we were here first we were both casting. soon they was 6-7 more boats in our line of drift all catching fish but when the capt took off he ran so close to us that he actually knocked my buddy down. so i made a phone call when we got home and i did receive an apology but it was from our friend who is a 40 year capt but again not all are bad in my opinion they have so many boats they need all the captains they can get and getting a licence does not make them a good person. i bought my first boat when i was 18 years old and im now 58. so first or second year capts dont know it all but again the older more experienced capt are great. but again just a few bad apples dont make them all bad

I've met a few of the captains the past few years and haven't had any issues face to face. That said, I have never seen a single one of their boats come in at idle. I'm not saying we haven't all bumped up the throttle in a no wake at one time or another, but those guys are throwing a pretty hefty wake every time in and out.

I have been a captain for Sea Breeze since I got my lincense on my 18th birthday and now am 36. And before that first mated and worked summers since I was young. Have been wanting to comment on this for days but the site would not allow me until today. I'm not going to condone what our captain did or didn't say to you and your son while fishing last sunday. Because if he did what you said he did he should be fired. Knowing that there is always 2 or more sides to every story we contacted the customers that were on the boat with him in the morning and their version was also very different. However there is not any sense of arguing over versions of the same story. Bottom line is emotions run high when there is that many boats in a small area competing for the same fish. One thing I can tell you is whenever possible no one that fish's for a living every day would ever purposely get close to another boat and risk the chance of creating a huge mess for both parties involved. Frustration is the word that comes to my mind when you have been fishing the same spot every day for the last week and set your gear in at 545 when there is no boats around to speak of except for your colleagues. Then after a first successful pass turn around and see that you will never be able to get back to that spot with your customers and get them their fish. So often try to move on and find new grounds only to basically be moving the pack of boats with you. Or sometimes a boat will just stop and drift right in front of you with little time to react to prevent disaster.
That being said everyone has the same rights to the fish, Charter boats and Private boats. However when 35 boats have the same name on them everyone sees them in the same area it tends to collect a lot of boats and usually becomes a traffic jam when trolling.
Every captain has had a cluster with their lines and like I said earlier would never risk tangling everything up purposely and causing downtime for their clients.

There is no group of fisherman on the lake with the amount of combined experience on Lake Erie as Seabreeze has. We are also very involved in the conservation of the lake with having close ties and working with the DNR and polititions that help to create laws and legislation for the ever and always changing issues this Great Lake has.

Unfortunately incidents are going to happen as long as there are still boats fishing on the lake. Hopefully with the huge bumper crop smalleyes it will help us all to spread out a bit For the remainder of the year and the next several years.

Good Fishing

I'm new here and new to fishing Lake Erie and I was out in the reef area Memorial day week end. I was amazed at the amount of boats all going every direction at once. However on Sunday My wife and I were drifting and it was in fact a Sea Breeze boat that continually made passes close to me, not overly close but if I could of added half the distance to my cast I would have gotten into their lines.