I’m up in the Bay Area, I kinda get a kick out of the comments regarding the $2k price tag. It’s not so much the boat trip that gets you, it’s the travel, hotels, gas, food and tackle shop stops lol. It’s taking a road trip and a fishing trip if you’re coming from a distance.
I was in your position two years ago, planning for trips in ‘22. Actually, things are probably easier now, I had to contend with pandemic hoarders, alot of times I had to buy gear on sight, budget be damned lol. Sounds like alot of the cost details have been worked out but a few side bits.
Get a passport…..you never know what’s gonna happen next year. Better safe than scrambling to get one last minute.
Don’t forget to get an Ocean Enhancement stamp for your license….we don’t need it north of Santa Barbara but you gotta pay up when fishing south. It’s only like $7.
Buying tackle at the landing can be expensive, you definitely pay the convenience tax. If you want a one stop shop for jigs, hooks and floro, fisherman’s warehouse in Sac should have everything you’ll need. Since you have time to shop, you can probably set up group or shared buys with your buddies on jig assortments from the BD classifieds. I know guys were selling rigged jigs with heavy floro pretty reasonably (diy on these adds up when you factor in crimp sleeves, chafe springs, heavy swivels). You can also find guys online selling torpedos for sinker rig fishing fairly cheap, you can wind up fishing anywhere from 4-16 ozs. Look for sales, floro can be expensive….especially when you’re trying to have a bunch of different sizes.
Gas prices suck in the summer, I paid over $7 a gallon for diesel on highway 5 last year. Who knows how much they’re gonna get us for next year.
Take enough coolers. On our first trip, me and a buddy had two day limits of fish in the 50-70lb class. When we got to the processor, they rolled out a cart packed with fish and me and my buddy were high fiving over the haul……then the dude told us that was only one of the orders….and we each had the “holy sh!t” look on our face. If i remember correctly i packed about four processed fish into a 72qt ice chest with no room for dry ice. We froze em at my buddy’s house in SD and I split my fish into two 72 qt coolers with dry ice for the ride home. And I don’t know if it’s customary but I tipped the guy that loaded us up, $20. Nothing major but he gave us a bunch of ice too. Plus I bought smoked fish, cheese and spices at Fisherman’s Processing…..impulse buys, don’t regret it lol.
More incidentals. I had to buy a sleeping bag, not sure if boats are back to doing linen service or it’s being your own still. Sun protective clothing, hooded shirts and face shields, I preferred them over sunblock. Both my trips had pretty bad weather, night fishing was cold, lightweight grundens and a breathable hoodie were perfect.
Regarding boats…..you can kind of get a good idea on the quality of the boat by their online bookings. The high liners will be booked solid a year out, the good boats will be pretty solidly booked right before the season starts and …..if you watch the fish counts this year, and it gets wide open…..the ones to avoid will have availability during a HOT bite lol.
