Huli Cat Sportfishing Whale Watching & Nature Trips

A rockin good time! 28 fish! Ceviche tonight! Thx Mike and Captain Tom!
Tom! My boys and I can’t wait to come back aboard! Let me know when you hv space! Salmon this time?

The Hulicat is my ‘go to’ boat for fishing. Every trip I bring home fish and most of the time it is limits of rockfish. Whether Captain Tom or Mike they know the spots and work to get you fish. The crab combo trips are worth the extra $$ when they are available

Our first fishing trip could NOT have been better (unless crab season was open) Captain Mike and Donovan made it an amazing trip. My boyfriend’s boys are getting ready to make a big move geographically, so we really wanted to do as many big ticket events before they left in 2 weeks. I originally wanted to m surprise my boyfriend with the trip but quickly realized I’d never be able to pull it off without him knowing. So I spilled the beans and he was thrilled about what I had pulled together. The pricing was extremely fair for the value of the trip. There were 5 in our group all together. I think there were 12 – 15 all together. My boyfriend’s youngest (12) was catching his limits with no bait. Yes. No bait! We all got our limits, 10 per person of rock cod, and one kelp green Ling cod (In pictures) We went ahead and had them filet them for us (I think it was a $ 20 charge per person) We tipped them as well. Remember this is a service they provide, a service industry. Tips are appropriate. We were mostly beginners and they were patient with us. We’ve been sharing our bounty of fish with our friends, and had plenty left after doing a fish fry for 10 last night. Well worth the money spent!

Last month we treated our two grown sons to a cod fishing trip on the Huli Cat for their birthdays, and my husband went with them. It was nice weather and the boat wasn’t crowded, my guys love fishing together, and they did catch cod. All good. But I was embarrassed about the gift I had given them when they returned home and described their experience with the crew: it was more like a fishing taxi than a fishing trip, they said. Once they reached their destination, the captain and crew spent the whole time fishing for themselves, and didn’t lift a finger to help their customers. The crew was catching (and keeping) the big ling cod, but didn’t offer any tips to help their customers catch the big ones.
Oh, and before they headed out in the morning, they had asked one of my sons to pick up three or four boxes of bait at the store, and when he asked to be reimbursed his $ 20 at the end of the trip, they refused, saying customers are expected to provide their own bait. My guys have been on many party boats, and never have been asked to pay for their bait — that’s part of the package deal. And, in this case, to provide the bait for everyone on the boat, including the crew?!
After I heard all this, I sent an email to Captain Tom describing their experience. He seems to be a nice person, but he wasn’t on board that day, and I thought he would be interested in hearing what happened. He didn’t respond

Went Rock-​Crab Combo yesterday on the Huli Cat. Everyone limited. Cpt Tom zoomed around to make sure we caught fish as some spots were not producing.
The only complaint I have is: it was too crowded on the boat. Lines were getting tangled not only on the same side of the boat but from the other side as well as we drifted over the reefs. My son spent more time untangling line with the other seasoned fishermen around him than fishing and for that he does not really want to go back. If he does not go back I do not go back.
I think for every rod post (which they use for salmon fishing) there were probably 1.5 rods so you do the math. Probably 3′ separating each rod. Ungh.

TAKE MY ADVICE!
I have spent half my life fishing out of HMB/​Santa Cruz/​Monterey and the other Half fishing out of SF, Emeryville and Berkeley/​delta. After experiencing almost every charter boat these places have and had to offer (multiple times) There are only two Boats I recommend as these guys consistently produce more fish than any other. Happy Hooker out of berkeleyor delta and the huli cat out of HMB. I recommend Happy hooker (in this order) for striper, halibut, sturgeon, rock and salmon depending on the bite. This guy knows the bay and coast line better than anyone I know. Dont believe me? Mention the happy hooker to any captian or deck hand in the Nor Cal fleet and they will say the exact same thing. Capitan Jim will be the fist to tell you the TRUTH about whats biting and whats not. No sugar coating from captain Jim. I recommend the Huli Cat for Salmon, Albacore, and rock Tom knows his stuff as well and won’t bs you about the bite. If you play the odds your best bet are these boats take it from the guys who been on charter boats in nor call since age 10. NEVER FORGET Its called fishing and not Catching for a reason.

Capt. Tom, I agree that you should make a buck when everyone else is exploiting the unsuspecting for the Mavericks Contest but we paid $ 500 for the Experience and it was disappointing.
After forking over the $$$ on-​line, no boarding time was given. Capt. said (over the phone) that you just had to show up early and he’ll leave before the second round of surfing begins-​whenever that was. So we get up early, drive over an hour to stand on the dock and wait for over an hour. At least it was only an hour and a half wait. It could have been worse.
After boarding, we had to wait another half hour for Late People. The other boats heading to the big waves had long gone. These Late People must be special.
Capt. Tom was not aggressive with pulling close enough to the surfers so no one could see much. The other boats with more assertive captains had much better viewing. For 3 hours we putted in small circles in rolling surf. It was so monotonous and dizzying with very little viewing chances.
None of the normal hospitality was give. No water? No snacks? Nothing? We’ve been on fishing charters, dive boats and other charters that always, always gives you a little something even if its boxed junk from Costco. Nothing to eat nor drink for 3 hours at sea. Really? Is that even safe?
After recovering from dehydration and tight circles in rolling surf, we went to his shop to get our $ 500 t-​shirt. Too bad as it was 5:05PM and the shop closes at 5:00PM even on the biggest business day of the year.
Oh, the shame and embarrassment of being taken for so much money. Do not make the same mistake! At least we helped the local economy and apparently some big ass corporate promotors but a t-​shirt would have been nice.

Booked salmon trip for ⁴⁄₂₉ and captain Tom did not showed up or called to inform fisherman’s of cancellation. This appears to be his style reading another review. This shows he does not care about his customers as how difficult is it to contact and say trip is canceled? What kind of effort be put forth if fishing on his boat to make it a enjoyable trip?
Getting ready the day before, then up at 3am and drive 30 plus miles to stand out side of his boat for 1.5 hours to figure out he is a no show is unprofessional and inconsiderate.
Beware if you book on Huli Cat and expect to waste your time. Also, there were six other fisherman whom boarded the Queen of Hearts and were also stood up. I understand if the winds are high or there was not enough people to make it profitable for their business to go out. JUST LET YOUR CUSTOMERS KNOW SO THEY DON“T WASTE THEIR TIME AND MONEY IS NOT TOO MUCH TO EXPECT AS YOU ARE RUNNING A BUSINESS.

I have been out on the Huli Cat four times so far, and each experience has been great! From a rank beginner to a novice fisher, Captain Tom and his deckhands have taught me to fish, always with patience and humor. From rockfish to salmon (and crab), my freezer and friends are full of fish. Another nice thing is that the captain and crew don’t cram passengers onto the boat (unlike some other sport fishing boats), so you have plenty of room to fish. They also try to make sure everyone catches limits. What else can I say? I’m hooked!

Went on one of Captain Toms Salmon trips. We were told that we would do a half day of salmon unless the fishing was good and then another half day of rock codding if the fishing wasn’t good. We did a whole day of crummy salmon fishing. 20 people on board and only seven small salmon were caught. He also had us fishing the whole day in super chop surf waters just off of Pacifica. It was a brutal day fer sure. I caught one Salmon about 9AM and it was just under so i had to throw er back… that was about the last fish caught on the Hulicat that day. we trolled up and down the choppy surf until 1:30 with pretty much nothing more pulled out. A couple of hours of rockcoding would of saved the day for me. and from most of the rest of the people on board.(lots of talk of mutiny). I will say this, the deckhand «wheat» was a nice guy that really seemed to like his job and helping people fish. Guess it was a bad day for ol Captain Tom. at the end of the day i would be hard pressed to book another excursion on the HuliCat

You won’t find a more helpful and personable skipper out there! I’ve nothing but great experiences with Capt. Tom on the Hulicat. If there are fish to be caught, Capt. Tom will put you on them. I think he knows all the rock piles between half moon bay and pigeon point! The vessel is pretty big compared to the other boats that leave out of this harbor, so there’s more room to roam.
Sounds like the previous posters had a horrible case of miscommunication.
Personally, I’ve had lots of great times on the Hulicat.

I was also on the trip that was stood up by the captain. Afterwards there was no follow up, no explanation, nothing.
There we were, ten people sitting on a dock with a sea lion we named George.
As the Queen of Hearts apologized that they did not have any room as they set off we realized that our last hope had just set sail. Horrible vacation trip out to the bay. Wasting the day and the PTO hours did not settle well with us. Will never recommend this boat to anyone.