# Increased Prices-Morning Star



## LongIslandtoMD (May 8, 2005)

First, there is a good chance that this belongs on the "boating board" but oh well. I found this recent announcement from Capt. Monty of the Morning Star particularly interesting..."With apologies to all, as of Monday, June 20th a ticket will be $85.00." 

Now I am a Long Island transport and I can tell you that not even the Viking Fleet of Montauk charges $85 for a day trip. (The last time I checked).

Truth be told, I haven't been out with Capt. Monty, but everyone says that he is great. But $85? wow. 

I am not necessarily complaining about the price, rather, I wish that there were more partyboats (headboats) in MD. There is nothing like competition to control price.


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2005)

Well I'm glad ya posted it here; I wouldn't have read it otherwise.

I remember the Viking. Ain't it the largest partyboat in Montauk Harbor? I think that's the one I almost went on. I can't remember the price, though. It might of been $45 to $65. Surprising that that party boat is cheaper than the one you're speaking of because anything in Montauk is expensive as all heck, except hotel rooms in October.


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## BLUEFISH (Apr 18, 2001)

At times we have great headboat fishing down here in Virginia....our water ain't close to Mountauk.... I guess those live and fish around waters of Mountauk are lucky son of @#%$$#@


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## LongIslandtoMD (May 8, 2005)

*Viking Fleet*

The viking fleet has two boats leaving montauk (last time i checked) www.vikingfleet.com. Its a hell of a ride from just about all locations, but some of the best fishing. Okay, enough...this wasnt supposed to be a viking fleet commercial


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

I know that 85 is expensive but he wouldn't do it unless he had to. This has been a rough year for him and the other party boats in the area. The weather hasn't been too kind around the weekends not to mention the water temps delaying the sea bass run for several weeks. On top of all that the increasing cost of gas.


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## Hat80 (Sep 22, 2002)

*You need to go out with this Capt.*



LongIslandtoMD said:


> Truth be told, I haven't been out with Capt. Monty, but everyone says that he is great. But $85? wow.


Monty would be worth $100.00 a day! 

This dose belong on the boating board. How bout it Flea, move this thread. .....Tightlines


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## Tomasas (Sep 29, 2004)

*boats*

add 15$ a person and you can charter "Karen Sue" out of IRI... Best Capt and Boat fot Bottom fishing in the area IMO

Morning Star - no thank you! Capr is grat, but it's not worth paying charter boat price...IMHO...


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## Genghis (Nov 2, 2004)

Tomasas said:


> add 15$ a person and you can charter "Karen Sue" out of IRI... Best Capt and Boat fot Bottom fishing in the area IMO
> 
> Morning Star - no thank you! Capr is grat, but it's not worth paying charter boat price...IMHO...


Bingo. Why pay $85 for a head boat when you can get a six pack boat for $15 more? I'm sure that everyone's reports on Capt. Monty ring true and that he tries hard to get on fish, but I think at $85 you're approaching the point of diminishing returns, aren't you?


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## oldsalt (May 6, 2003)

$85.00 for a 55' foot fiberglass party boat
Licensed to carry 65 passengers 
Only 25 anglers per trip! That means plenty of room for each angler! Don't sound like a bad deal to me,plus you can reserve your spot at the rail.so what do you want.


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## LongIslandtoMD (May 8, 2005)

*Competition*

Like I said in a previous post, I am originally from Long Island. In the Long Island area there are literally hundreds (okay, maybe a _slight_ exaggeration) of partyboats and headboats to chose from. During the summer months most boats are working hard to find customers fluke, stripers, porgies, and blues. When you have three other captains at your dock working equally as hard for their fares, you better believe they are going to keep there prices down. Translation, decreased profit. Here is my real question: I live in the Baltimore area, and have to travel a good distance to find a partyboat....is fishing in the upper bay that bad? I know there are dock space/parking issues, but are cpk beach, deale,ridge,oc the only places that can sustain a party boat?


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## Talapia (Apr 27, 2003)

First of let me say that I am biased 
in favor of the MS.  

Second, I am the type of person
who would rather pay twice
the regular price of a "railed"
party boat and go on one
that I know has plenty of elbow
room. 

Third, most of us have to drive around
3 hrs to get to OC, and it sure is nice
knowing that you WILL have a 
spot, WHERE it is and that unless
the weather is really really bad, you
are going out. Before the MS, you 
were just rolling a dice to see if the
boats were going to go out. You
could take a day off drive 3 hrs
and the boat would not go out
because not enough folks showed
up for the owners. 

Now I like going on charters also,
but sometimes it's just nice to be 
able to pick up the phone at the
last minute and get 1 or 2 spots.

Fourth, I do not really consider
the MS a "Party Boat", I usually
go during the week and you may
have anywhere from 10 - 20 people
on the boat. With the "family"
feel on the boat I would describe
it as a "large" charter boat.


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## LongIslandtoMD (May 8, 2005)

*Talapia*

T: I definately hear where you are coming from....but what is your response to my last post ("I live in the Baltimore area, and have to travel a good distance to find a partyboat....is fishing in the upper bay that bad? I know there are dock space/parking issues, but are cpk beach, deale,ridge,oc the only places that can sustain a party boat?")? You are obviously a serious fisherman, and im curious your take on upper bay fishing...


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## Hat80 (Sep 22, 2002)

*Hello LongIslandtoMD,*

Yes, this time of year the upper bay is all but dead. In the spring is great C&R fishing for big stripers.

If you want to get a party boat worth going on, you'll need to go at least as far as Deale or farther south.

Sorry to say but this time of year, it's OC, AI, DEL, NJ, VAB or NC. As you will find out, we make allot of road trips here @ P&S. Thats one thing that makes this site so great. We're all good friends, all up and down the coast! .....Tightlines


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## Talapia (Apr 27, 2003)

Everything that the Boat Boss said  
plus once you get a taste of that
ocean "bottom" fishing, it just
keeps calling you back. 

I think that you will notice a progression, 
folks usually start going on the local
headboats, (Deale, etc) and then
they will eventually start branching 
out...Choptank, Sandy Point, Matapeake, 
after that they go a little farther out, 
AI, OC, VA Beach, NC, etc. It seems 
to be a natural progression. Once you
get to this point you basically know when
and where the best bites are. Croaker 
and Spot fishing are great, but that blue
water will be a constant pull on you.
Plus the more you fish around here, 
the more you will realize that the 
blue water offers an excellent year
round fishery. (Tog, Offshore Seabass, etc)
One more 
side note on the MS. Folks need 
to remember that 
Monty starts going out anywhere
from Feb to Apr. And as stated
previously, if the weather is safe
enough he goes out....period.
I can guarantee you that he actually
looses a LOT of money on a great
portion of those earlier trips. He 
has gone out with only 1 paying 
customer before... because they
drove 3 hrs to get there...He has
plenty of trips (tog) where he 
only has 4-8 people booked. He 
is lucky to break even on a lot
of these trips. That is why his 
regulars do not mind paying more
to go on his boat. The market place
will sort itself out in the long run. 
He is practically booked every weekend
during the summer and the weekdays
are fairly heavy also. $10 is not
going to make any difference.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

$85.00 is dirt cheap for a chance to fish with Monty. Anthony and me went out with him yesterday and let me tell you Monty won't sit on a spot very long if it's not productive. Some spots we were only on for 10 minutes. He also takes the time to properly anchor over a wreck so that the whole boat is positioned to catch fish, not just on side. Yesterday we stayed out an extra two hours just to make sure everyone on board was satisfied with enough fish. If someone isn't doing very well Monty is right there to make corrections. Yesterday we were marking tons of fish in 125' of water but the bite was almost nonexistant. So what does Monty do - lowers his underwater camera to find out why. Talk about something neat. Sure enough the camera showed 100's of sea bass with our baits inches from them. They just weren't eating. You'll never find a headboat captain that will go to the lengths for put his customers on fish the way Monty does. He's the very best in the business and his constantly sold out trips only go the support this. That being said $85.00 is dirt cheap. I'd pay $125.00 if that's what is came to.

As to the reason for the $10.00 increase it's plain and simple - the ever increasing cost of fuel. He told Anthony yesterday that his weekly fuel bill is well over $3000.00.

Catman.


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