How to Hire a Mate for a Sportfishing Boat: What to Ask and What to Look At

For years people messaged me looking for a mate, and the minute I offered to post it publicly, they said no. They didn't want the whole dock knowing they were looking, and they didn't want a pile of messages from people who'd never wired a fish. The other options were calling around or paying an agency. I built CrewConnect to be that in between. Whether you use it or not, this is how I'd go about hiring a mate.

Settle this before you post

The program. Give the builder and length, your home port, whether you fish tournaments or private trips, and how much you travel. A mate on a boat that runs Florida, the Bahamas and Costa Rica lives a different life from a mate on a boat that fishes one port on weekends.

The term. Say whether it's full-time, seasonal, trip by trip, or a fill-in for one tournament. People plan their year around this, so say it up front.

The job itself. List what the mate runs: rigging and baits, setting the spread, wiring and gaffing, the cockpit when a fish is on, and the boat work in between, like washdown, maintenance and keeping the tackle right.

Pay and what comes with it. Give the day rate or salary, travel, housing on the road, and how tournament winnings and tips are split, if they are. A number or a range in the post gets you better replies than "pay based on experience."

The level. Be honest about who you need. A first-season deckhand and a mate who's run a cockpit at a big tournament are two different hires.

What to ask

Ask questions a good mate answers easily and a talker can't.

• Which boats have you worked on, for which captains, and for how long? Then call those captains.
• Walk me through how you set the spread on a normal marlin day.
• What do you do in the cockpit from the bite to the release?
• What's your routine at the dock after a long day?
• Who taught you?
• Why are you looking? A lot of good mates look quietly while they're still on a boat. That's normal, so don't hold it against them.
• When could you start, and can you travel?

What to look at

References first. A phone call with the last captain tells you more than any résumé. Ask one question: would you hire them again?

Documents. Depending on where you fish, you may want a passport, a TWIC card, STCW Basic Training or a drug-free card. On CrewConnect, crew list their certifications and can upload certificates like TWIC and STCW to their profile, so you can see what they have before you call. Paperwork doesn't tell you how someone works, so still make the reference calls.

The cockpit. If you can, take them on a day trip or fish a smaller tournament together before you commit to a season.

How they talk about their last boat. You'll learn a lot from how someone describes the captain and crew they're leaving.

How to do it on CrewConnect

Sign up as hiring, then paste your old job post or upload it. A PDF, a Word file (.docx) or a photo of a flyer (JPG or PNG) all work. We fill in your listing, and you review it before it goes anywhere.

Your name and your boat stay hidden. Crew see the job and an alias, not who you are, until you choose to show them or accept an intro. Nobody knows you're looking until you say so.

Crew are ranked by a fit percentage, so you can see who fits and by how much. Crew who list every certification you require show first, and everyone else who fits is listed below them.

If you're in a hurry and want the most reach, post a public listing instead. Once it's up, anyone can read it without signing up, and crew need a free account to contact you.

Posting and hiring are free right now.