Why do we tip the mates?

[reason162]

Originally Posted by Flukenstein

...a $20 tip on a $300 pool is not good enough.

That is very shabby indeed. Poorly done.

-roger

[fishguy]

F*****g A Right. Unfortunately the only people who will read this thread are fishermen, not the typical skinflint summer mo-mo most responsible for walking off the boat after the mate busts his ass untangling his families mess all day long and making sure his kids have fun and stay safe.

As for the fishermen who WILL read this post, and I use the term fishermen very, very loosely, and still stiff the mate or tip a paltry sum for an honest days work I say this: you are cheap scum. That work ain't easy and you will never send a kid to college on a mates pay or get health insurance either. Pony up you cheap bastards, even if you don't catch a keeper. It's called fishing for a reason.

15-20% is standard when you go out to eat and you are only there for an hour or so having plates and drinks brought to you. Even just a half day trip is over 4 hours and working deck is a hell of a lot harder than carrying plates and placing orders. (I'm not taking anything away from waiters/waitresses/bartenders. They have their own special hell to deal with too) Don't you think mates deserve the same consideration? I sure as hell do and tip accordingly and so should everyone. Don't like the service? Don't go back and find another boat. Plain and simple. No excuses cheapskates!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Not sure what it is for mates and if it even applies to them, but the minimum wage in NJ for service industry employees in the restaurant business like waiters and bar tenders is $2.13. Not a heck of a lot of money and these people rely on tips to make up the difference.

In my mind there are a few sensible rules when it comes to tipping mates.
- If you catch fish or not the mates deserve a tip
- As a general rule it should be between 18 to 20% of the fare.
- If you get exceptional service and you can afford it than more
- If you are smart and require a lot of maintenance like me or you are fishing with a kid who will need a lot of assistance you might tip in advance to insure good service.
- If the mate has to clean a lot of my fish (usually not the case with me) I will tip them a buck or so a fish in addition to the tip.

If you can't afford to tip properly that's one thing, but being cheap is another. Tip with your conscious knowing what you can afford and the level of service you get. Most mates deserve it, if they don't they shouldn't be a mate and won't be around very long.

[TDaly25]

I consider myself to be as self-sufficient a fare as they come. I tie my own rigs, untie my own tangles, unhook my own fish and fillet all my own fish. On my regular charters on which I know the crew and most fares, I generally fillet all the fish for the boat.

On head boats I always tip a minimum of $25. On Charters it ranges from $25 to $50, depending on the number of additional passengers. Any pool won (most recent was earlier this week) usually goes directly to the mate(s). If its an u usually large pool, I'll sometimes reimburse myself the cost of charter, but only seldom. I do my fishing for the fun of it, not to make money.

[Flukenstein]

There's been a lot of agreement on giving a reasonable tip to the mates. Several mates have expressed what it's like working on a party boat and have made good points regarding the actual fishing trip and all the prep and clean up work involved. Is there anybody who would like to make a case or offer an explanation as to why they believe otherwise? We'd love to hear from you.