That's My Story

TIPPING YOUR SKIPPER Pt. 2 – Published Jan. 05 – Western Outdoor News

Previously, in this column I had written about the touchy and sometimes awkward subject of tipping in Mexico. I had covered bellmen, waiters, drivers and other service folk so let’s hit the big one…your fishing tip.

Having a fishing operation, this is probably the most asked question from anglers. You’ve had a great, good, so-so, or bad day on the water. You’re ready to get off the boat, beach or dock and you know it’s tip time. You’re expected to put something down and your skipper is kinda expecting something too. You may or may not have had good communications with him all day and you just have no idea what’s enough or what’s too much. You sure don’t want to look like a jerk, right? You have to fish with this captain again tomorrow…or not. By the same token, you sure don’t want to be excessive either. Hmmmmm…

As mentioned previously in this column, to me, tipping is completely discretionary. It’s all up to you. You can leave absolutely nothing if service was that bad. Still, I tell my own clients not to judge by how much fish you caught, but by how hard the guy tried. There’s never any guarantees. It’s fishing. He can’t control the weather or the fish or the water. So, if he put in a good day’s effort, then a tip is appropriate. Generally, if you do the “10-20 percent rule”, you’re in good shape and everyone smiles. So, if your panga is $250/day, a 25 dollar tip split between you and your fishing buddy is great. Drop more if you feel it’s warranted. Etiquette-wise, if there’s a deckhand, you can tip him a little something, but it’s best to give the money to the skipper and let the captain do the splitting.

Can you tip too much? Sure. I see it all the time. Overly generous and grateful client are very much appreciated, but here are two problems. The skippers can sometimes start expecting high tips and get sniffy when someone gives them a “normal” tip. If you get used to steak, burgers stop sounding good. Secondly, remember, who’s getting the money. Remember what it was like when YOU were young and you suddenly came into a nice windfall of cash. Right. You went out and had fun. I have seen young skippers (and sometimes experienced veterans) simply disappear for a few days on a bender enjoying an unexpected “fat wallet.” Money never gets to their families not to mention the problems it creates for the fleet operator who suddenly has an AWOL captain. These days if someone tells me they really want to drop a big tip on a skipper, I ask them to give it to me. I’ll either dole it out to the skipper in increments or give it directly to the family (aka “wife”) and make sure the skipper watches the transfer of money into my hands so he knows I’m not holding out on him. Most skippers are appreciative of that and know it’s for the better.

Conversely, what’s a bad tip or “bad tip etiquette?” This happens just as often. It’s rare when someone gets no tip. Sometimes, it’s justified, and the client, feeling awkward and often angry, will tell me exactly why he didn’t tip. What can I say? The customer is always right. However, I know there are two sides to every story so I will make sure I get the captain’s version as well. On those days when the tip is light or non-existent, I’ll explain to the captain what happened. Assuming there really was no problem (sometimes, hey…we all get jerky clients no matter what business you are in), most captains realize that it all evens out. The next day, someone could over-tip them.

The more awkward times are when there is no problem and the client undertips for various reasons. I have often heard, “I gave the captain 5 bucks and 10 bonito” or “I’ll tip him at the end of my trip.”

Let me share what that means from the captain’s perspective. Many captains depend on that tip to put gas in the boat the next day and tortillas and milk on the table for the kids. It’s a simple matter of cash-flow. When gas is 2-3 dollars per gallon and you just burned up 30 gallons of gas for the day, that 5 bucks won’t go far. The 10 bonito were junk to you and are probably junk to him. If he can, he will sell it to the market for a few dollars at best. He might just toss them into the vegetable garden. He probably cannot keep the fish anyway. When you fish for a living, chances are your refrigerator is already stocked with fish and anyway, knowing many of the captains, they have tiny freezers anyway that are probably smaller than your lunch ice chest. So, the 5 bucks and 10 bonito weren’t any big whup to him. Thanks for the smile, Senor.

Comparatively, let’s say you plan to give a big tip at the end of your 3 days of fishing. Again, cash flow is the issue, but it’s also an attitude issue. Unless the skipper is your regular captain and you’re best amigos, he probably won’t understand and he’ll come talk to me about it. First, there’s no money to re-fuel the boat for you tomorrow. Secondly, he may not understand what you’re doing and think you stiffed. He’ll come talk to me thinking something was wrong despite the fact that you had an excellent day on the water. Besides, what if your next few days are bad fishing? Also, put yourself in his place. If you get rewarded daily for a job well done, your attitude tends to be a little better the next day, right? We all like to know our efforts are being appreciated.

What about the money the captain earned from the booking you made? Well, that differs from fleet to fleet and skipper to skipper. Often, the skipper does not own the boat you just fished on. Maybe a dad or grandfather or father-in-law owns it. Sometimes, it’s a partnership of guys that own it. In that case, the skipper is either being paid by the owner of the boat and earning as little as $10/day and really depends on your tip. Sometimes, the skipper earns more, but it is his responsibility to also re-fill the boat with gas as well. If the captain owns the boat he stands to make more, but sometimes the fleet owners only pay at the end of the week or end of the month. Not that fleet owners are holding out, but sometimes it just takes awhile to process those credit cards or the clients only paid at the last minute or are walk-on clients. So, the tip is critical, and like even the waitress at your hometown Denny’s it’s counted on as part of the daily wage.

Bottom line, those are the realities of the business. Just put yourself in your captain’s shoes (or lack thereof) and treat him as you’d expect to be treated. Most fleet operators I know and work with take good care of their skippers and consequently, the skippers do well ergo resulting in happy clients who reward a nice day on the water. If you reward effort it’s a win-win all the way around.

That’s my story.