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July 2023 by Shuai Liu
Worse fishing charter. Paid for fishing 6am to 3pm. We were done by 11am the captain won’t let you throw back small fish back and if you didn’t hit limit they will place small fishing in your bag. The captain was fishing the entire time so the boat can hit limit faster. They placed 4 small fish in my bag without my permission and told me I was done.
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April 2023 by Sandra T.
We hired Riptide to scatter my fiancé's daughter's ashes out at sea. It was scheduled for departure time of 2pm. I understand your on a time crunch. I had specifically told everyone that they needed to be on time. But as you know it's hard to get a total of 12 people to be somewhere at a specific time. I think we did great! My mother in law showed up at 2:05 pm- we were out of the dock by 2:07. Mr Smitty never gave his condolences to my fiancé. Did not show any kind of compassion or empathy at all! In fact he was very irritated and did not hold back in letting everyone know. He made my nieces feel horrible. We basically drove the boat out to scatter her ashes asap. And return back to the dock. We were back by 2:55..So if you're looking for some kind understanding or compassion..This is not the company I would recommend. As a business owner you should give yourself 15 minutes wiggle room. They should just stick to non sensitive events. Fishing and whale watching.
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March 2023 by Alex J.
WORST Partyboat fishing option on the entire west coast.First the boat "Riptide" was built at the same time frame as Noah's Ark & the rental equipment as well.Captain Smitty's sole objective as it pertains to rockcod fishing is as follows...Catch the quickest number of small rockfish as quickly as possible & return back to the harbor as quickly as possible.Upon arriving at the rockcod fishing spots, Captain Smitty will Instantly begin fishing & begin to catch as many rockfish as possible irregardless of the size ( read dinks)...to add to the paying customers daily bag limits.So the end result is...you PAY to catch your own fish & enjoy the FULL day out on the water...vs...Captain Smitty wanting to catch your fish for you &...GET BACK to the Harbor...AS QUICKLY as POSSIBLE!!!...I'd would fish on a leaking inner tube in shark infested waters during a hurricane before subjecting myself to just 1 second of fishing on he Riptide with Capt(?) Smitty!!!... Queequeg
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October 2022 by Chance Hickey
Not the best experience, deckhand wasn’t very helpful, left my wife with a broke line for like 20 min captain made a bad turn and got everybody snagged then charged for new set ups.. no offer to fillet our catch for us, plus we only fished until 1pm Would not recommend
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September 2022 by Tim Caruso
Sept.24 trip Captain Smitty put us on big fish (11 people) done in 30 minutes, whale breached, whale flukes extra no charge?!! Thank you for the awesome fishing trip Captain Smitty and Deckhand Lee you guy's are great.
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September 2022 by James C.
I was able to go on the Riptide Charter with a great Captain & Crew. They taught us to fish for Salmon and let us do as much as possible increasing our chances to catch fish.The Captain stayed on the fishing grounds when other boats called it a day because of the slowdown in catching, he told us to be patient and we would catch fish, and we did!We stayed until our Charter done and we had caught our limit of two huge Salmon each. Everyone was able to reel in a fish as we shared the rods until all of us brought in their first catch.Captain Smitty has the experience to help you catch fish when others give up.I would recommend Riptide Charters for your next fishing trip if you want to catch fish, in fact I hope to do it again. I will go with Captain Smitty on the Riptide or I will skip it until the next season.Thank you Captain and the Crew for giving me the experience of a lifetime.
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August 2022 by Robert Putnam
Captain “Smitty” runs a fun exciting experience. My buddy and I went out for a salmon fishing trip and had a blast! He and his first mate Lee were very helpful when it came to reeling in the fish and also filleted our fish for a small charge at the end of the day.Overall it was a great time and would highly recommend it!
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August 2022 by Rafael Nieves
I caught my max and so did the rest of the boat! The deck hands are really helpful! The captain is super friendly! I went there yesterday and I’m going again tomorrow!
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August 2022 by Robert P.
Captain "Smitty" runs a fun exciting experience. My buddy and I went out for a salmon fishing trip and had a blast! He and his first mate Lee were very helpful when it came to reeling in the fish and also filleted our fish for a small charge at the end of the day.Overall it was a great time and would highly recommend it!
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August 2022 by Michael B.
Wanted to go fishing with a friend and our sons. Due Diligence showed the Riptide "Fish Reports" with all or close to all limit days and tons of fish being caught. Booked a party if five and we were off. Boat is old and in need of work, not a big issue. Captain Smitty smoked cigars the whole day, not bad unless you like fresh sea air. Everytime there was a fish on the deck hands were grabbing poles and very aggressive, bit of an issue. My main issue is that our boat of 12 caught four Salmon, my party of five caught none. I get it, not every day fishing is a winner, but our day didn't show up on their "Fish Report". They ONLY report the good days. I think that's bad practice and sets high expectations. Won't be going back.
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July 2022 by charles bronson
I was lucky enough to get on Riptide with capt. Smitty and deckhand Lee for a day of amazing salmon fishing.The boat was a salmon catching machine. The capt and deck hand worked really well together and the captain hooked and handed at least a dozen fish for the unlucky anglers on the boat. I didn't come fully prepared with gear and Lee made sure I had everything I needed. I would highly recommend this operation to anyone looking to fish in Half moon bay.
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June 2022 by Todd Littlefield
Perfect day out on the Riptide. Captain Smitty and Lee put us on the fish early and our boat limited in an hour. Thanks for the great experience, we will be back
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June 2022 by Jonathan Z.
I was talking and this guy was so rude I called to see if he has a jet ski and he said no ohh no Nd hung up after I was still talking bad Business person I own my own company and I would never treat my customers like that horrible service
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May 2022 by Roman Lisi
Whether it’s whale watching, memorial services, or fishing(my favorite) Smitty and Lee run a very professional operation. I recommend this boat to anyone looking to experience all of what the San Mateo coast has to offer.
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July 2021 by ROBERT CARRILLO
Date of Trip 06/26/202111 anglers for Full day 5am-3pm Salmon fishing.2 Halibut was caught and no Salmon in sight.Cons-1) He does not show the fish report every day. I know its called fishing but at least tell the truth of the days you went fishing and didn’t catch a fish.2) The captain and the deckhand communication was terrible. Didn’t explain anything and when you asked questions, they just grunted and said he was busy. The captain talked over a load speaker but over the engine noise and the ocean waves, no one could hear anything. We asked the deckhand questions and he just grunted and moved on.3) Although we had an all-day fishing trip, we only fished for 3 hours. We went out to 20-25 miles out to sea and trolled for a bit before we returned back to where we started from to fish there that region. This would have gave us 5 hours more hours of fishing time.4) The deckhand gets mad at you when you touch the pole. The deckhand will handle your rod for you. As an avid fisherman, whats the point of fishing if the deckhand is doing everything for you. I understand if you never fished before but kinda pointless.Pros-1) Nothing really.As an avid fisherman, I spend 7-18 days of fishing for big game a year from around the world, so I’ve seen some bad days and good days of fishing. In my lifetimes, I’ve fished out on sea 300+ days on charters and this Riptide is one of the worst ones out there.I will go to Halfmoon bay fishing again but I will not use Riptide again.
