Let me say right at the start, the reasons are many — starting with the most important: safety.
All charter boats and skippers must comply with strict standards of safety in boat construction.
Skippers are trained to professional standards of boat-handling skills, and these are inspected and tested on a regular basis.
Can you say the same about your average boat owner?
So the number one reason is safety, without a doubt.
The next on my list is local knowledge.
Wherever I select as the place we go to fish, I always go for an operator who knows and fishes that region on a regular basis.
There is no substitute for a home ground advantage.
Other aspects I look at when considering a charter are, of course, the cost.
Compare the amount needed to tow a suitable boat, fishing gear, etc, to the charge per person of going out for several hours on a charter boat.
Also consider the standard of the gear, such as rods, reels, the type of line and end tackle.
And last but by no means least, the results from previous charters.
You don’t bag out every time you go fishing, but you do want to go home with something in the bag.
So I put a lot of thought into whether or not to choose a charter, and which operator.
By using a charter, you will end up financially better off, and the results will also be better, with more to show for your day on the water.
When it comes to freshwater fishing, there are few charters to select from, and the costs to go it alone are nowhere near as great.
Most inland anglers are kitted out for their own fishing, and their knowledge of where to fish is greater, so results are, too.
So in a nutshell — saltwater: charter; freshwater: no.
The places that I have chartered from include Whyalla and Robe in South Australia, Eden and Narooma in NSW, and in Victoria mainly Queenscliff, Williamstown, Portland, Werribee and Mornington.
All have had varying levels of success — some more than others.
When you add up the cost of towing a boat to those places, chartering is the only viable option.
For more on saltwater fishing, let me start with Rod Lawn at Queenscliff.
He has been bagging pinky-size snapper, flathead, and varying species such as trevally and squid — mainly near Point Lonsdale Jetty.
North of the NSW border at Eden, John Liddell said that when the boys from Freedom Charter could get on the water, the fishing on the inshore reefs had produced snapper, morwong, flathead and kingfish.
Off the shelf, tuna have been sighted.
It was the same further north, according to Graham Cowley at Narooma, although the kingfish were not as big as a couple of weeks ago.
There is one other operator I check in with, and that is James Luddington, who charters out of Lady Barron on Flinders Island.
He only operates during the warmer months in spring and summer.
Now, a look at the local scene.
There are some freshwater charter operators, but they are few and far between and cater mainly to fly anglers.
Although there are some cod specialists, at this time of year fishing is mainly confined to the big three: Dartmouth for trout, and the Hume and Eildon for cod, yellowbelly, trout and redfin.
Reports have been patchy, but keep at it.
Keep safe and good fishing.
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