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October 2023 by Sophiano Limol
I was fortunate enough to have gone out fishing with these guys in 2019. I had a great time. Every fishing spot we hit we caught fish. The captain's secret spots are real! The young captain was good. Even though it was a halibut fishing trip, I was lucky to have caught a huge silver salmon as well. The only downside of the trip for me was I got my limit a little too early into the trip. I spent the remaining half of the trip sleeping in the cabin.
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September 2023 by Joe H.
Don't book with these guys. You can definitely find better fishing charters on the Kenai. I did a multi-day package with these guys and only one trip was done well. We had one good halibut day out of Ninilchik, but the rest of the days were pretty bad. One day, we spent 4:30AM to 5:30AM waiting on a dock at the river for our guide to show up. The guide had never done the trip before and didn't take the time to scout it out beforehand. Our entire group had the same horrible directions. We all saw each other driving around at 4AM, so we stopped, talked, and scouted around and found a dock on the river and assumed that that must be the place. We were able to reach the guide by phone who told us that we were probably in the right place and he would be there soon. Once he got there, things went fine after that, but I didn't appreciate how much time was wasted. The next day it was on to Seward. Again the directions sucked. They ended by saying turn right down a road. OK, then what? We parked, had lunch, left a voice message with the captain and crossed our fingers. Thankfully we got a text back apologizing for not contacting us the night before. We then got clear instructions on where to go. The experience on the boat was mixed. The captain worked his ass off, but his deckhands were worthless. Just a warning, yelling "fish on" seems to slow the deckhands down. They also got my bin confused with two other groups, so we all had to meet and agree to who got what. Next, halibut fishing out of Homer was a complete disaster. There were 14-16 guests with a captain and one deckhand. The crew worked very hard. However, how do you think drifting with 14+ lines in the water is going to go? Not good. We were tangled 80+% of the time. Several guests had no clue what they were doing and one guy had 2-6 lines tangled with his every time he brought his line in (which was about every 2 minutes). Some of the guests were ruining the experience for all, but there just weren't the resources to address it. We also had to stop at another boat to get weights because we didn't bring enough. Miraculously I did catch a halibut, but most did not. I also missed a trip because I wasn't notified in time. At first, these guys put the blame on me. I had to push back quite a bit, but they did eventually make it right. Another issue is that their gear sucks. I guarantee that many of their rods and reels are older than me. Some of the line was pretty frayed too. Some of the workers work very hard and some really suck (I was pretty annoyed when I lost a fish when a knot that a guide tied failed). Everything points to the owner just being too cheap to run a good fishing charter business. I hope the owner gets his stuff together, but until he does, find another fishing charter on the Kenai.
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September 2023 by Melissa Daugherty
One of the top adventures that I’ve been on in my life! We encountered bears close up on two different trails and also observed them from a distance. The guides were great, I would definitely recommend this trip!
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September 2023 by Angel Wilkinson
The Sundy took my friends and I out, along with 13 other people for an 8 hour halibut trip. When we got to the fishing spot and started catching Halibut, the deck hand started keeping our fish without telling us. One person from our group caught their limit in 15 minutes and was no longer allowed to fish.Then, when I told the deck hands I wanted to keep fishing and not keep small fish, they told us it was about to storm although there were no storms in the forecast and we needed to hurry. So, our group of 17 people caught their "limits" in 3 hours.The best part is when we got back to the dock (at 1pm instead of 4:30pm). The coast guard and federal agents were waiting for us and searched the boat. When the authorities entered the boat the whole attitudes changed of the boat crew. When the Police measured the fish carcasses, checked log books, and licenses, they were not happy! We should have had 17 fish over 28 inches and 17 under 28 inches. We only had 5 fish over 28 inches when we should have had 17! So, the charter lied to us about our fish size and were keeping way too many undersized fish! We got jipped. We paid $400/person and got small fish and a half-day excursion. This charter will take you to a "Chicken Yard" to where you limit out fast. If you're looking for "Barn Doors", this is NOT the charter for you, if they're still in business after the Coast Guard and Federal Police got done with them. They will also tell you to NOT leave a bad review, but this place is A RIPOFF!
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September 2023 by Steve Foster
Crew very helpful, Fishing was Awesome, Did everything for us. Including the fish packing for air travel. Got it home still frozen, fresh after 7hr flight. Highly recommend
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August 2023 by L N
Had a wonderful time. Booked a halibut trip but ended up with multi species. Captain Josh did a wonderful job of making sure we caught fish.
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August 2023 by Vicki Merritt
We went out today on the Sundy out of Homer. The captain and deck hands were patient and helpful. They didn’t rush us. Everyone caught their limit. We are going again later this week.
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August 2023 by Nancy Herrick
Our family had a great time halibut fishing with Ninilchik Charters. They made sure we caught our limit and had fun. We will definitely book with them again.
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July 2023 by Rebecca B.
Great captain and crew! We had beautiful weather, calm water and easy fishing. As a result, we were able to return as soon as everyone caught their limit. Would have loved to be able to spend the extra time fishing, but grateful that we had such a lucky day.
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July 2023 by Wynne C.
Update: despite the last minute setback mentioned below, I had a good experience today on the smaller boat out of Ninilchik with Cpt. Thomas. Everyone landed a halibut or two. Out of 5 fisherman, we landed three halibut over 38" and some small ones. Not as big as I had hoped, but a good experience nevertheless.------------Everything went smoothly over the past month as I booked/planned my travel to Alaska from California- a trip of a lifetime of sorts for me, such that I ended spending/investing 6K+ total for the opportunity to fulfill my dream of landing a giant (4ft+) halibut. They told me if that was my sole focus, then I should definitely head out of the Homer, AK port. it was a major commitment, not only for me- but for my wife who was willing to accompany me, since she knew how much it meant to me... after enduring ~6hrs of flights (+3hr layover) and driving 6hr (one way) from anchorage to homer, I received a call from them-- just as I was pulling into "lands end hotel", which i booked soley for this. ---- Unfortunately, they decided to cancel my original booking out of homer (larger boat w/capacity 16+) and sent me to a smaller boat (full capacity) from ninilchik instead (40-60m) drive.Prior to booking, weeks ago, I was ensured by Dustin that my boat out of Homer would head out no matter what (ie: even if the resulting ticket/sales came too low and only my wife and i were on it). But they (corporate?) decided not to honor our original terms, i assume to save on costs.note: i do not blame Dustin for this. it is out of his control. I write this only to hopefully illuminatue how poorly it seems to be run and focused over money-firstI understand things can change, ie: massive storm can cancel a trip, but this instance, at least to me, was just out of corporate greed and i ultimately have to pay the consequences. The excuse given to me was that they needed to perform maintenance on the boat, but i hope its obvious to folks reading this that it is not -- with several contradictions. note: Dustin himself was decent enough, so I have no ill will there. it is Ninilchik Charters itself that needs to be held accontable
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July 2023 by Peg Redding
Do not book with Ninilchik Charters out of Seward.My nephew booked a multi species charter on 6-8-2023 with Ninilchik Charters out of Seward.First of all the boat was only about 25’ and the Captain was very young and had been in Alaska about 1 month. Second after riding for about 1 1/2 hours one of the motors quit working. They had had the oil changed a few days prior and the plug was not put back therefore causing motor to stop. They didn’t even make it out far enough to fish for Halibut. My nephew caught 2 - 6” fish. The other 3 people on boat did not catch but 1 or 2. Four foot swells added to the calamity especially when you are stalled in the water. Please refund my nephews money asap as Ninilchik Charters did not fulfill their contract as advertised. Thank youThank you for acknowledging the disappointing fishing day. Appreciate it.
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June 2023 by will
Went out with Ninilchik charters yesterday! Even before the trip started they went above and beyond to get us on the water as we were looking to book a trip before they actually opened making us their first trip of the season! Amazing group of guys! Had an amazing time. Started out not so great as my wife’s phone fell out of her pocket and into the harbor while getting on the boat lol. The crew as very fast to react however unfortunately there was never a chance to get it. Very happy that a crew member made every effort to try though! Very knowledgeable about fishing! Unfortunately my wife became seasick and asked to go back. Captain Thomas was very understanding and agreed. However he was determined to get us some fish and when we got into calmer water and noticed my wife was feeling better asked if she would feel comfortable fishing in the calm water which she agreed to. We ended up having a great time! 10/10 would go fishing with these guys again.
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April 2023 by Allie Alaska
Anyone but these guys. Rookie 6pack "Captains" who thrive on chickens and getting back to dock first. Do not let them process your fish. Good luck if you need a refund...even if They cancel!
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December 2022 by Sarah Cameron
Very impressed! We had a great time on a halibut charter this week! Our captain and deckhand were so hard-working and great! Everybody on the boat limited out and the experience was awesome .
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December 2022 by Qifan Gu
Ninilchik Charters cancelled my trip the day before and explained with mechanical issue, while one day before the cancellation they reminded me of the departure of the trip. I doubt whether it is true mechanical issue, but that is fine. I fortunately found another fishing charter and had a good experience. However, until today which is 20 days after the cancellation I still haven't received the promised refunding from Ninilchik Charters. Why it only took one or two days for them to decide to cancel my trip, while it has taken so long to do the refunding that is much easier?**Update: they completed the refund after about 23 days. I will be giving a 4-star in this case.
