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Message
Anyone work on a commercial fishing boat before?
Posted on 7/13/21 at 8:23 pm
Posted on 7/13/21 at 8:23 pm
Seems like grueling work. Intense pressure. Most of us go fishing for fun, food, or sport… what’s it like?
Posted on 7/13/21 at 8:27 pm to OldHickory
When I was in the Navy in Va Beach, I crabbed on and off with a local friend that was a crabber. It was fun the first couple of hours after that is sucked.
In spring of 1989 I ran trot lines near manchac will diving for worm wood... It sucked, your hands take a beating.
In spring of 1989 I ran trot lines near manchac will diving for worm wood... It sucked, your hands take a beating.
Posted on 7/13/21 at 8:34 pm to choupiquesushi
quote:
trot lines
I can skin a buck, I can run a troUt line…
Posted on 7/13/21 at 8:58 pm to OldHickory
I'm pretty sure the first thing that gets loaded on a long line boat is a pallet of buggar shuggar
Posted on 7/13/21 at 9:00 pm to OldHickory
quote:
Seems like grueling work. Intense pressure. Most of us go fishing for fun, food, or sport… what’s it like?
Started working summers bottom trawling for shrimp when I was 7 with my pawpaw he would pay me 20$ cash a day,, loved stopping at the store in the morning for a hubigs and a yoohoo. It was laid back since it was my Pawpaw’s retirement hobby and mostly used it for spending cash.
Transitioned to full time summers on skimmer boat when I was 11 and worked them all through high school and college even had a boat for a couple of years. Also gill netted speckled trout until it was shut down for commercial and mullets until it went to shite. Crabbed some and fished shark as well as pole fished for snapper and croakers and sheepshead.
All in all it’s brutal back breaking work 18-30 hrs sometimes with just cat naps between moving spots or picking up drags. It’s always hot cold or wet and raining. You get rich one day 8500$ In a night fishing mullets to 4 days straight not making a dollar. It’s nothing glamorous but the camaraderie and the lure of the big bucks makes a lot of people miss it.
I’m not one of those people!!
Posted on 7/13/21 at 9:06 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:
I'm pretty sure the first thing that gets loaded on a long line boat is a pallet of buggar shuggar
Had a cousin that fished on one for several years back in 90s in the long line hayday and they were all chemically charged!! I would guess that 97.3 percent of the commercial fishing boats have marijuana on board.
Posted on 7/13/21 at 9:10 pm to OldHickory
quote:
I can run a troUt line…
What's that?
Posted on 7/13/21 at 9:16 pm to OldHickory
I run a lot of recreational gear. Pulling crab traps is work. Pulling a trawl is work. Picking through the catch is work. 8-10-12 hour days on the water is tiring and I am doing this for fun.
Now running the trawl is fun and relaxing (until you get snagged). Digging through the sea life is amazing. I am glad I am just trying to get enough to eat and share a little with my family with my 16ft trawl, I couldn't imagine picking through all the by catch on a big boat with 40ft nets on both sides. Sure they have winches to pull in the catch, but that doesn't mean the job isn't grueling. I get tired of pulling 10 pots, I couldn't imagine pulling, emptying and baiting hundreds of traps. I personally like to stay for a few days so I can do a quick morning trip timed with the tides, catch a shower, nap, lunch then go back out on the afternoon tide change and try for some more. All too often though we do daily trips leaving at 2-3 am and getting back home 18 hours later. Nothing beats being on the water, but it beats you up, I couldn't imagine doing it commercially except for the small stuff like catching bait shrimp, live croaker, etc. Those guys run out a couple hours and sell their catch at a much higher price point than the dead stuff.
Now running the trawl is fun and relaxing (until you get snagged). Digging through the sea life is amazing. I am glad I am just trying to get enough to eat and share a little with my family with my 16ft trawl, I couldn't imagine picking through all the by catch on a big boat with 40ft nets on both sides. Sure they have winches to pull in the catch, but that doesn't mean the job isn't grueling. I get tired of pulling 10 pots, I couldn't imagine pulling, emptying and baiting hundreds of traps. I personally like to stay for a few days so I can do a quick morning trip timed with the tides, catch a shower, nap, lunch then go back out on the afternoon tide change and try for some more. All too often though we do daily trips leaving at 2-3 am and getting back home 18 hours later. Nothing beats being on the water, but it beats you up, I couldn't imagine doing it commercially except for the small stuff like catching bait shrimp, live croaker, etc. Those guys run out a couple hours and sell their catch at a much higher price point than the dead stuff.
Posted on 7/14/21 at 12:50 am to OldHickory
quote:
Why is it called a trotline? fishermen did indeed use baited lines that they ran along the bank/shore line; the word "trot" was used to describe their method b/c horses were used to pull the lines up and down the bank - along the shore line to cover a larger area. this is how the word trotline originated.
Posted on 7/14/21 at 6:23 am to OldHickory
quote:
I can run a troUt line
You about to get thrashed
Posted on 7/14/21 at 7:15 am to OldHickory
Posted on 7/14/21 at 8:36 am to OldHickory
quote:
I can skin a buck, I can run a troUt line…


Posted on 7/14/21 at 11:38 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:
I'm pretty sure the first thing that gets loaded on a long line boat is a pallet of buggar shuggar
Sounds fun
Posted on 7/14/21 at 11:40 am to OldHickory
quote:
can run a troUt line…
Oh boy
Posted on 7/14/21 at 3:20 pm to OldHickory
I havent "worked" on one but I've made many trips on shrimp boats. Everytime, the bag clears the rail it's like opening a present.
Posted on 7/14/21 at 3:28 pm to OldHickory
quote:
I can skin a buck, I can run a troUt line

Posted on 7/14/21 at 6:53 pm to OldHickory
I had a job in the great north woods working as a cook for a spell, but I never did like it all that much and one day the ax just fell. So I drifted down to New Orleans where I was lucky there to be employed , working for a while on a fishing boat right outside of Delacroix.
Posted on 7/14/21 at 7:20 pm to OldHickory
My neighbor grew up in Gloucester, Mass. and fished a majority of his life.
Took a friends boat out for him three weeks before his buddy got over a minor case of the flu and took his boat back out for the last time.
His buddy was named Billy....the boat was the Andrea Gail.
True story
Took a friends boat out for him three weeks before his buddy got over a minor case of the flu and took his boat back out for the last time.
His buddy was named Billy....the boat was the Andrea Gail.
True story
Posted on 7/14/21 at 7:29 pm to Shaken not Stirred
Best buddies dad was a commercial fisherman. He’d take us gill netting for mullet and would take us with his friend who had a purse seine. Shrimped with Dad for fun. We made money now and then but it wasn’t regular work.
We had some good times. Much respect for those who do it for a living.
We had some good times. Much respect for those who do it for a living.
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