bigone

Well, with fuel prices what they are , and going to be, do you think it will lighten up on amount of boats at the rigs on the weekend this summer. I know on my boat we are not planning any less trips to the rigs or the canyons, only more people on the boat to defray fuel cost

Captain Woody Woods

That is a good question. As for charters, quite possibly. Many of the orange beach fleet are switching to a cost plus fuel surcharge for their charters, much like many of the Venice fleet. They just cantmake a living with the fuel prices raping them. Will they lose customers? Quite possibly. But in all reality, many of those boats are booked up to 2 years in advance. True, diehard customers fishing on their boss's dime will stay true.

As for the big battle wagons, hell no it's not going to change anything. Is it something else to bitch and cry about it? Ya, but that's part of the game. A $1 difference is not going to put some of these guys with 60 foot sportfishers out of the game. Maybe run a bit slower out there, sure, but it will not prevent that crowd from heading offshore at all.

As for us smaller time guys, ya I will ask more people on the boat to offset the fuel price. Nothing wrong with that; and frankly, so long as I have a good crew of <U>experienced</U> anglers, I don't mind.