I'm planning on taking a couple of friends from Australia fishing this July. I was thinking of going on a charter boat at westport one day and possibly a guided river trip the next on one of the peninsula streams.Any suggestions on a good charter boat at westport? I know bob is gone to AK in the summer, who would be your next choice for river fishing? Any info would help. Thanks.

You might try the "ultimate" out of coho charters, the skipper is Phil Westrick and has one of the best success rates.
Banock

Kevin Vassareno (sp?) on the Gold Rush, Steve Westrick on the, arrrgh can't remember the name!, or Brian Mirante on the Sea Angel. Brian was Kevin's deck hand for many years and just got his own boat this year. All of these guys are very personable, and I would fish with them at the drop of the hat. If you see Steve or Brian, tell them "Andy the Banker" sent you.

Westport/Washington charters (the charter office) run a lot of good boats, and they are great people to deal with.

Andy

Well I guess everybody has their favorites, mine with out a doubt is the Freedom with Chuck Custer. This is my Third year in a row now going out on the Freedom ( May 5th for 'Butts!), and I wouldn't have it any other way. A big comfortable boat, Great Captain that makes sure you get your money's worth, always has a great deck hand that works his butt off for ya. That's why I keep coming back to the Freedom.

But to be honest with you, I haven't heard a bad thing about any of the boats that operate with Westport Charters, so I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. Like I said, everybody has their personnal favorites, and that's just because they had a great time on that boat! So will you!!

Almost forgot, here's an address if you want to check them out.

http://westportcharters.com/ourboats.html

I used to deckhand in Westport, for bottom fish Kenny Culver on the Tequila is a fish catchin machine. Can't remember his name now but the Firecracker out of Deep Sea Charters for salmon. Good Luck

How true Umrules! I also have never heard a bad thing about any of the boats out of Westport Charters.

The only time I have witnessed an outraged Captain was when my uncle's buddy used the head to throw up in.
To this day my Uncles buddy continues to be known as "Indiana Schnapps". The man who just had to have the whole bottle of Rootbeer schnapps to him self at camp the night before. We knew he was in trouble as soon as he stepped on the boat *puke*.

Ole Indiana Schnapps was also a guy that talked big whoop for days ahead of our trip about his fishing prowess...he later explained it away citing alcohol lead to his demise...sure am glad he didn't taint his not backing up the whoop by whining about some conspiracy theory!

FJ...out.
Aye...those are my three dots! :p

Check out Deep sea Charters 800 562 0151. I have fished on the Scooter a couple of times and done very well. The scooter is a smaller 6 man boat. They work real hard to get you into fish and you seem to get a little more personal attention on the smaller boats. Deep sea Charters

I used to deckhand in Westport way back when the fishing was good. Last year was one of the best in a long time. It will be tough to duplicate last year but the forecast is looking good. The few charters that are left are all a good choices.
Westport,Deep Sea,Islander are just a few. www.westportwa.com will provide you with phone numbers for the charter offices and lodging.

Oh by the way Dogfish I was Kevin Vasereno's first ever deckhand. He's a great guy and we sure had alot of story book days. PFunk

Anybody done any bottomfish trips yet this year? I am going to be out in Westport in a few weeks and was planning to jump on a early season trip.
Just curious...

-JF

Thanks to everyone, great info!! I'm probably going to head up there in July, I'm trying to plan a trip the second day, down one of the rivers for kings or Steelhead. I'd like to show my friends from Australia an unforgettable time. Any suggestions on this combo trip? I figure mid July would give me the best opportunity to hook up in the Ocean and also in one of those awesome Peninsula rivers. I'm really looking forward to the charter trip out of Westport. The one and only time I went was when I was 9 years old .(1961) the rate was less than 20 bucks and they provided lunch!

Thanks again everyone for the info!! Good luck fishing this summer!

Last year the first part of the season alot of kings were caught out of Westport. What you need is a captin who likes to go for them instead of the silvers just because they are easy. I would have to recommend Neptune charters, the Sidni-B, Capt. John Seagle. The Boat is a 6 pack and is alot more fun than the big boats. I work as a deckhand and have the most fun fishing the small boats. You really get to learn how to fish. Good luck.
Rivernut