Hubbard's Marina Inc. a rip-off fishing trip! Misleading! St. Petersburg Florida
I took my husband on a 10 hour fishing trip for his birthday out of Hubbard's Marina. Their website claimed for this particular trip that we would travel 2 hours out, fish for approximately 6 hours, and then travel 2 hours back. We went 2 1/2 hours out, and 2 1/2 hours back and actually only fished for 2 hours and here is why.
We fished about 15 minutes at the first stop and then moved at least 7 times after that. We could not fish while the boat was moving so everytime we moved the lines had to come up out of the water. There was one time we moved when the captain said we would be going 4 miles to a new spot and once we got there, he trolled around for about 15 min and said "nobody's home" and left for another spot. We went one hour without fishing during that move.
To top it off, the fishing was awful. I paid a total of $160 for the captain to put us over fish, and he failed miserably. There was only one keeper grouper caught among 30 people, and that is what everyone went on the trip to catch. We brought home 4 fish between 2 people and they were fish we could have caught from a pier. There were alot of unhappy people on that boat. We felt like we went on a 10 hour boat ride with just a little fishing. We spent more time looking for fish than fishing.
The next day I proceeded to email Hubbards marina and let them know how disappointed I was with their boat. I was emailed back promptly by their manager and she assured me that this would not be dismissed. After 3 days she emailed me back and told me that after "investigating my issues" that the captain and crew performed their duties to the best of their abilities. They offered me a "20% discount off a future all day trip". I refuse to waste my money again on this ripoff. They say 6 hours of fishing and they were very misleading with that statement on their website. I wanted to get a refund for the rotten time I had but they didn't. I have already put in a complaint with the better business bureau in hopes others will not use this fishing fleet.
Dottie
Tampa, Florida
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Keith
Fort Campbell,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
There's a reason it's called "fishing", not "catching"
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, July 15, 2005
It's a shame you had a bad experience with Hubbard's Marina, Inc. especially when it included time with your husband - out enjoying the fresh air and companionship.
I know nothing of Hubbard's Marina or their operation. I am, however, an avid fisherman that has literally spent years on the water. The key to your dissapointment is your misunderstanding of nature. The boats' captain and crew make their money by putting you on fish and getting them in the boat.
They utilize their knowledge and equipment to find the best locations based upon structure, weather, tides, time of year, fishing reports, etc. to locate these fish. But guess what, mother nature doesn't always cooperate and sometimes the fish have moved to locations they don't normally inhabit. And when you are out on the ocean vs. a lake or pond, you have considerably more area to cover and to find fish.
I have been on lakes in Canada where you could look over the edge of your boat and see perfect structure for fish. I have spent hours in such situations with not so much as a nibble. That's why it is called "fishing" and not "Catching".
Be glad you had the opportunity to spend the time with you husband out on the ocean. Keep in mind that there are no guarantees when you are dealing with mother nature. The 20% off on your next trip was a pretty generous offer seeing as how they really didn't need to offer you anything.
Keith
Fort Campbell, KY
USA