westport sport fishing

As a business owner for nearly 25 years, I can say that Randy and Westport Sport Fishing do their job well. If you want to go out and get your money's worth of fish, Randy can make that happen. If you want to "just" enjoy the scenery and be able to say you went tuna fishing, this may not be the boat for you. The 2 day trips aren't cheap but if you can follow a few instruction and ask for help if you need it, you will have a very successful trip. I have been fishing with Randy for 5-6 years and have even taken and recommended friends. They have all been happy with the experience. Anyone who says Randy isn't a little salty would be telling much less than the truth. But with that being said, part of that saltiness is what makes him such a good Fishing captain. He doesn't operate the "Love Boat". He takes the Rampage to do "Tuna slaying". Yes, politeness does go a long way. But an empty fish sack is unacceptable to most serious fisherman. Randy does his absolute best to get you on the fish. He even offers a special for children under the age of 16. If you would like to discuss in detail, what to expect and how to have a fun and successful trip, contact me personally on facebook or call Randy's office and ask for my number.Lamont Nelson

Never fished with them, but a previous review talked about 5-10 / day being good. NO. this is really light. If you are happy with light catches, OK. But what I read in these reviews does NOT make for a good tuna trip.

Back in March my husband and I took a bottom fishing trip on the Ranger with Captain Don Davenport. It was soooo much fun and the deck hands were awesome. One of the guys was brand new but was doing an excellent job. We are now booking out 1 yr anniversary trip with them to go catch some salmon! Can't Wait!!!

Although we welcome all levels of skill and experience it is important to know what kind of trip you are booking. As our number one priority is to get people out and home safely it is also important to produce great catches on a daily basis. The second part of that is the tricky part. As there are many factors that make that difficult. Ocean conditions of course being one of them and the mode the fish are in and where they are. And sometimes even challenges added by the passengers themselves. Although not common it is important to remember the importance of following directions and to the do's and Don'ts. With all these factors one can imagine the challenge to produce every day. We are very proud of our catch record and post our counts daily. If the other boats did this you would see that our counts are among the highest in the fleet. Our program may not be the best program for everyone but you don't know until you try it. As for the crew, I am fortunate to have one of the finest crew's in the fleet. We are like family and have been together a long time. We work day in and day out and all of us live in the wheel house together for over two months every year during the tuna season 7 days a week in close quarters 24-7. As much as we like each other and work together as a team sometimes we call each other names or get impatient with each other. But at the end of the day we are all family. It is unfortunate that sometimes passengers overhear something they consider disrespectful or hurtful but it comes with the territory and at the end of the day we all know and understand the heat of the moment and the pressure to perform and I frankly would not want it any other way.

A group of 10 of us booked the whole boat for a two day tuna trip on the Rampage for Aug 23-25. One of our party had been on 5 tuna trips, did a lot of research, and determined the Rampage was the way to go. He was not wrong. Got on the boat at 8 PM Friday, motored out all night, fished all day Saturday, slept on the boat, and fished again Sunday morning. 42 hours on the boat, this is not a trip for the unadventurous! Expect cramped quarters because, it is a boat. The deckhands J.P. and Jeff were great, worked hard, and knew what they were doing. Randy the Captain was relentless in finding the fish for us. He was constantly on the binos or the radio to find the fish. Randy could be a little harsh when you're breaking off fish and losing the schools, but every time he said something, I learned something.Our first morning was pretty dismal fishing, but Randy made adjustments and found the fish. We had a great afternoon and an even better next day. I've been on the ocean for all kinds of fish (including Marlin and Sailfish) a dozen plus times, and this was the best boat and most amazing fishing trip I've had. We didn't quite fill the boat to capacity but came pretty close. The fish average 15-25 lbs and take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to land. With up to all 10 rods hooked up at once, expect combat fishing at it's best! As far as I heard, only 1 boat in the fleet caught more fish than us, and only 2 more.As another post said, take your motion sickness meds, don't be macho. 6 out of 10 of us (not me!) got sick. Most got over it once the fish were hitting. Expect to tip your deck hands about $50 bucks a piece, especially if they work hard for you. This is the only way they make their money. They will clean your fish for you for $4 per fish. It was well worth it as they are quick, and you don't have to deal with the mess. Expect to spend about $800 bucks total, but I brought home about 150 lbs of fresh fillets. Delicious and an awesome return on your money.The Rampage was a great boat with an awesome captain and crew!

Anyone have a preference for what boat and captain for salmon fishing? Taking a group of 4 in July and really want to catch some big salmon and especially the limit for everyone. Last time I went we did not catch nearly the limit and was disappointing.

Have now done several trips with Randy. Each better than the last. Don't know what changed, but I do not see any of the caustic Randy from my first trip. Now my only issue is the meals are the same each time, but not a problem as they are tasty, and heck it's only once a year. Remember - do not try to be macho. Take your dramamine! There are always barfers on the trips who "don't get sea sick". Yes you do! Do you want to want to waste your money and be miserable for 3 days? Also tip your deckhand. Thanks Randy, I will see you when the tuna runs out.

I have heard that in choppy seas you won't do good with tuna...not the case with this boat.Randy found the fish in rough seas,he is relentless. I booked a tuna trip and it started slow,I broke a line and scattered th first school. We struggled to find the fish but he found them. I caught 5 the first day and 10 the next. This guy is awesome, he will guide on how to catch them. Things happen fast on a tuna trip and he wants you to catch as many fish as possible. The deckhands are among the best I've used. Fish(and don't give up) and you will do very well with this boat! We caught fish even when it was dark. 5 stars all the way. JP is awesome as is the deckhand,tip well,because this is better than any boats you can find.

Thank you very much. My Uncle & cousin & I had a blast. We are already trying to recruit more people for next year. Randy, Scott, JP, you guys made this one awsome trip!! We learned more about tuna fishing in just your short pep talk, than on all the other trips that we have wasted our money on. Will defenatly be back.

I made a reservation to go tuna fishing and then checked TA and was a little taken aback by the reviews. I also figured that they did not sound very diffferent from a lot of trips I have been on. Although I mainly fly fish, over the years I have probably done 10 salmon charters, several bottom fishing charters, a sturgeon charter, and a "big game fish" charter. In that time, there has never been a captain or a deckhand that I would particularly like to take home with me. In fact, I think the captain of one of the charter companies that I have used the most is a total SOB. However, he produces fish which is why I go.So here is the rundown. I did a 2 day tuna charter. You leave at 8 or so at night, spend the night on the boat, fish all day, sleep on the boat again, fish in the morning and head home. The boat was pretty nice for 10, there are berths with sheets and pilllows, a table that seats 4 and a bench seat that seats 3. Everyone else has to sit outside. This is pretty standard for these things, there is not room for everyone inside, and a lot of people hang out on deck. I have no experience with tuna, but one of the people picked Randy after multiple charters because his deckhands bleed the fish and put them on ice so you leave with sushi grade tuna. This was not the case on their other charters.The two deckhands were definitely the most personable of any charter I have been on, I talked to both of them and heard how they got there etc. They made it a great experience. Both are anti-drug, drinking etc, wanting to have a good boat, which is not the case for a lot of charters. Randy the captain does not hang out with the passengers much, he is mostly all business and drives the boat. His job and reputation is based on getting people fish, if his numbers are low, people will not want to pick him. He may take this a little too seriously at times. We caught lots of fish and I had lots of fun. However, here is where some people may think otherwise. The tuna area finicky now and so it is possible to scare off a whole school by doing something wrong - and you will do something wrong! The deckhands are pretty ramped up when you are on the fish, and so will yell at you to move, reel, or other things. One off the guys continually explained that they wanted you to get fish and when 100 things were happening at once (which it does frequently) they don't have time to stop and explain. He is totally right, and I did not mind at all - every time they told me something, I learned more and by the end of the trip I was pretty good - I still sucked - but got lots of fish.Randy was a bit caustic at times, saying come on folks you are missing fish - etc. He also would hook up fish and hand them off - also saying - I got lots, what is your problem. Well the problem is that we don't do this all the time, again I take it with a grain of salt. I think that Randy put it into perspective when I heard him say "I am working really hard to get on the fish...don't blow it by ..." I would recomend that he work on his interactions, but that is how he reacts, he is doing his damnest to get you fish, and reacts when it does not work.So bottom line, I had a blast, got too many tuna and learned a lot. I would go back and fish with Randy at any time. But if you are thinned skinned, this may not be your boat. On the other hand, this was no different than any other boat I have been on.With regard to the other comments about driving around and not fishing. Randy is watching his fishfinder. If there are no fish, he is not going to keep fishing. One other note: Deckhands do not get paid! They work for tips. I think that this is expoiting the people that are deckhand and really think that it should change. It is the way it works on every singe boat. Concider that your trip actually costs 20% more than you are paying and then give 20% to the deckhand. They are worth it. It really is not a tip, it is they salary.

It is our goal to make every effort to provide a fun and safe trip for everyone. When the fish do not cooperate we work hard to find some that will. Because there is no sense wasting time in an area that is not producing. Then when fish are found there is no guarantee those fish will feed.It is my policy to search for the right patch of fish instead of sitting in a group that is not catching.Sometimes we find what we are looking for and we are hero's. Sometimes the y are just "off" the bite. I would rather die trying then to just sit in one place not catching.

I took my daughter on her first charter fishing trip a couple of days ago. I was nervous because of the other reviews but this wasn't our experience, at all. The boat was clean and the deck hands worked their tales off. The one time that Randy said anything was because we were all fishing too close to the bottom and losing a ton of gear. He was extremely polite about it and there was absolutely no yelling at all.There was a young boy who caught 3 big lingcod and Captain Randy was so excited for him each time- it was fun to see! Everyone caught their limits and went home with a ton of fish. He made sure to point out whales on the way out and the way in.As opposed to the other tales of being yelled at, I went to Captain Randy after I had a rod break because I had caught the bottom. I wanted to pay for the rod because I felt so bad. Instead, he told me that they catch a ton of fish on light rods (so much fun!) and I was just the unlucky one to be holding it when it gave. I didn't have to pay for the rod- and I'm busy trying to figure out when I can sneak out for another trip.Extremely affordable rates- so happy to have found the Rampage!

The nature of an open party charter is to have several groups or individuals to share a boat. In most cases there is never a problem with courtesy being extended from one angler to another. And there are some "dos and dont's" to follow to avoid complications. Some times however there are certain individuals that even after a friendly request refuse to extend courtesy to other anglers. Which puts us in a position to correct the situation. These requests are not always respected. This puts us in the position to have to take firmer measures to avoid any inconvenience to other anglers. By no means do we ever skip diplomacy as a first step.