for all you party boat fisherman, i was just wondering how much you guys tip the crew at the end of the trip. i always figured if i ran up a good galley tab and get all my fish cleaned just a few bucks would suffice. my last overnight tuna trip, after paying for the fare, fish cleaning, and the galley tab which grandtotalled close to $200, all i had left in my pocket was $10 which i ended up giving as tip. for some reason i felt kinda stingy but it was all i had. sometimes these trips can get quite expensive and i was just wondering what was the proper ettiquette for tipping such as the 15% at the restaurant. on local 1/2 and 3/4 trips 15% isn't too much but overnighters and longrange trips will bruise your wallet pretty bad at 15%. from my experience san diego crews seem a little nicer and a bit more professional than local crews. but i think that just reflects how they are being tipped. most san diego boats i've been on, the jackpot winner gave the entire winnings to the crew. the vibe is a little different down there. anyways, i'm curious about what everyone thinks about this matter.

Well my philosophy is tip as much as you can. It should also reflect the work that the crew did. If i think the crew wasnt good i wont tip as much. Most of the time those deckhands work hard and deserve a little appreciation. Between me and my dad on the last overnight trip we gave them 60$ on top of galley tab and fish cleaning. That was well worth it. For only one pearson on an overnight trip 20$-40$ isnt uncommom.
hope that helps
Daniel

I usually tip %20.

If I win the JP, I will use it to pay my fish cleaning then give the rest to the crew.

I will usually leave like $5 for a 1/2 day, $7-8 for a 3/4. If the cook doesn't share in the tip pool (i.e. separate tips), then I'll give him/her something too based on food quality and service, usually 15%. You are right as far as one-day trips and longer, that really adds up. However, I will try to tip as close to 15% as possible especially if the guys worked hard for me/us. That is a long work day and they deserve it. If I win JP and had a great trip, I will have the galley tab taken out and leave the rest with the crew. They usually have thrown in the fish cleaning for the JP winner. I will always leave 100% of the JP if I frequently fish with a boat (after galley tab cleared). If it's a particularly large JP at an unfamiliar landing/boat, I leave between 50-66%. Or I might take out my trip cost with a huge JP and then leave the rest as there's enough they'd still be stoked. If a crews' help was spotty (only one guy did his job), then I will tip him only out of view of the others and specify that it is for him only. Don't reward bad behavior.

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