Charter-Fishing Job Is Hard To Hook

A LIMITED number of licenses are issued each year and expenses add up quickly, but for some, it's the only life.

So you love to fish, and sometimes you take a group of friends. And sometimes you think, "Maybe I should charge for this."

It's difficult to launch a career as a charter-fishing captain, and even more difficult to succeed at it. But for some, it's the only life.

"You might not make a lot of money at it," said Carl Nyman, owner of Fish Finders Private Charters out of Shilshole Bay. "It's really as much of a lifestyle as anything else."

Nyman grew up fishing the waters of Puget Sound, and often took friends fishing. After a while, he was taking his friends' friends and families, and he realized he should be charging for it.

But growing restrictions on salmon takes and salmon seasons have driven many charters out of business. Some continue to operate, cutting overhead and making the best of the new rules. Others operate when they can and take other jobs during the growing off-season.

Despite the difficulties of entering this line of work, the allure of being out on the water with just a few people, teaching them to fish, and catching salmon is strong.

"It's really a neat job; you meet a lot of people," said Eagle Enterprises Charter owner Art Johnson of Edmonds. "We get a lot of novice fishermen, and you learn to approach different types of people in a different way."

"In my other jobs - in music and in restaurants - I was always in the background, and I thought people were really unfriendly," Nyman said. "But the people I go fishing with are all very friendly and nice."

To become a charter-fishing captain, you need a commercial Master Captain's license from the Department of Fish & Wildlife. Such licenses are restricted, said Diane Ludwig, who works for Fish & Wildlife. Only 198 are in circulation, and you can get one only if somebody gets out of the business.

Many captains sell their licenses, which is perfectly legal. Annual license renewal costs $488.

The Coast Guard requires a separate license. A charter captain must demonstrate boating skills and have a certain amount of experience plying inland waters.

Some captains put in extra time on the water to earn an ocean-going license. Johnson did just that, so he could lead halibut trips to Neah Bay, Clallam County.

One of the keys to being a good captain is keeping control of everyone on your vessel. Johnson has a deckhand, a retired police officer, who helps keep order. While Johnson does allow passengers to bring alcohol on board, he does keep a close eye on them.

"Somebody once asked me, `Who died and made you God?' I said, `the Coast Guard,' " he said. "Only three or four times have we ever had to tell someone to slow it down."

"Alcohol is something I try to discourage," added Tom Wolf, who runs Puget Sound Flyfishing out of the Tacoma area.

"Fishing takes a lot of concentration. I tell people to save the beer for when they're done and they have something to celebrate."

During the busy summer months, charter is still profitable. Most passengers pay $60 to $100 a trip, which lasts two to six hours - some captains do more than one trip a day. For Wolf, a full day's fishing is sunup to sundown. He takes two people in his boat for $350, including equipment, training and lunch.

"We used to be able to haul 2,000 people in a year," Johnson said. "Now if you do 700 you're one of the top boats."

Annual income before expenses can be $40,000 to $100,000 a year. But expenses are constant; insurance, moorage, maintenance and safety inspections can add up to $20,000 a year.

Nyman saves significantly on outlay by doing as much repair work as he can himself. While he was training himself for this career, he took a marine-engineering course from the Seattle Maritime Academy. As the charter business has changed, he has put the training to good use.

While many species of salmon are listed as endangered, charter captains say they find little evidence of a shortage.

"We used to think we had a pretty good day if we had eight or ten Kings on the boat," Johnson said. "Last year it was not uncommon to turn 25 fish loose. I think there are more fish than is the perception."

"Politically it's a volatile situation, with a lot of people pointing fingers," said Nyman, who supports a five-year moratorium on all salmon fishing. "Sportfishing people are willing to catch and release, and they're supportive of quotas, but that flies in the face of what commercial fishing wants."

Many charter captains, like Nyman, will take trips south of Seattle, past Vashon Island, where salmon are a bit more plentiful. Other captains have set up operations in the Tacoma area.

Wolf concentrates on fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and he continues to find people interested in fishing for cutthroat trout.

"There is still a market," Nyman said. "You can still do catch-and-release, you can catch Kings with the smaller leads, and you can do bottom fishing." But because so many operations have folded, Nyman said, this summer there may actually be a shortage of charter captains.

"There used to be 20 charters in my area," said Johnson, "and now there are only four. Some are barely hanging on."

Alex Goff is an Olympia free-lance writer.