TL;DR
- Tips are the main pay. Charter operators from Seward to Destin to Lake Michigan tell customers to tip the crew 15% to 20% of the trip price, and one Whittier, Alaska operator says its deckhands work entirely on tips, about $100 a person on a full day.
- Some captains add boat pay: a Hatteras mate quoted in 2022 got $130 to $150 a day from the captain on top of tips.
- The captain’s license for six-pack charters, the OUPV, needs 12 months of experience operating vessels, with 3 months on ocean or near-coastal water for an offshore endorsement. A day counts if it is 8 hours on boats under 100 gross tons. You must be 18.
- Coast Guard fees for an original OUPV are $100 to evaluate, $95 for the exam and $45 to issue, $240 in total.
- Seasons set the hiring: Gulf federal for-hire boats fished red snapper June 1 to October 26, 2026, a Lake Michigan operator fishes May to early October, and a Seward tour boat company that hires deckhands does most seasonal hiring January 15 to April 15.
A charter deckhand, often called the mate, runs the back of the boat on a sportfishing trip for paying customers. You rig rods, bait hooks, coach anglers, land and clean the fish, and keep the boat and the people in it safe. It is an entry-level job, and every day you log on deck counts toward a captain’s license.
This article is about charter work only. For commercial crew shares and fishery earnings, read how much deckhands make, and for credentials on every kind of boat, read deckhand jobs.
How is charter work different from commercial fishing?
Your customer is the angler, not the fish buyer, so you are paid for service instead of catch. Commercial deckhands earn a share of what the boat sells; charter mates earn tips from customers, sometimes with a day rate or salary from the captain. Miller’s Landing in Seward pays its marine crew a salary plus tips, on 8 to 10 hour days and a rotating five or six day week. The hours differ as well: a Hatteras charter mate in a 2022 trade article described fishing every day and going home each night.
The rules are different too. A six-pack charter is legally an uninspected passenger vessel: under 100 gross tons, carrying no more than 6 passengers with at least one paying, and it must be run by a Coast Guard-licensed operator. Because of that, you count as a crewmember under the Coast Guard’s drug testing rules, and 46 CFR 16.210 bars a marine employer from hiring you until you pass a drug test for that employer.
State rules add their own twists. In Alaska, deckhands working under the direct supervision of, and on the same boat as, a registered fishing guide are exempt from guide registration. NOAA’s 2026 rules also bar the skipper and crew from keeping halibut during a charter trip. In the Gulf, a Destin operator explains that state boats cannot go more than 9 miles out for reef fish, while federal boats carry a federal reef permit.
What does a charter deckhand do all day?
You work from before the customers arrive until well after they leave. Saltwater Excursions in Whittier lists what its deckhands do on an 11-hour day: keep guests safe, bait hooks, untangle lines, ice the catch, keep the deck clean, make coffee, coach guests on landing fish, fillet the catch on the way back, and wheel the fish to the customer’s car or the processor. Homer Halibut Hunters adds the hours on either side: prepping and cleaning the boat, inspecting gear, replacing lost tackle, and regulatory bookkeeping.
The job is similar elsewhere. The Destin Charter Service in Florida says the mate works the whole trip keeping hooks baited, removing fish quickly, and cleaning and bagging the catch. An Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina captain describes mates who rig rods, bait hooks, coach anglers, clean fish and reset gear between trips while the captain handles navigation, safety and strategy.
At remote lodges the schedule runs longer. Whaler’s Cove Lodge in Southeast Alaska tells guide applicants it hosts guests for 68 to 72 days straight, which means 68 to 72 days of work with no day off unless the weather shuts things down. Captains in a 2022 In The Bite article said what they want most is reliability, sobriety and people skills; one said boats were going through mates every few days because some would not show up.
How much do charter deckhands make?
Mostly what customers tip, and operators publish what they tell customers to tip. Here is what charter businesses in each region say on their own pages:
| Operator | Location | Tip guidance to customers | How the crew is paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saltwater Excursions | Whittier, Alaska | 20% of the charter, about $100 a person for a full day | Deckhands work entirely on tips |
| Crazy Ray’s | Seward, Alaska | 15% to 20%, or about $80 a person | “Deckhands work for tips” |
| Miller’s Landing | Seward, Alaska | Happy customers often tip 15% to 25% | Salary plus tips |
| Homer Halibut Hunters | Homer, Alaska | 15% is appreciated | Not stated |
| Destin Charter Service | Destin, Florida | 15% to 20% to the first mate | Not stated |
| HI-TECH Sport Fishing | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | Customarily 20% | First mate works for tips only |
| Kinn’s Sport Fishing | Algoma, Wisconsin | 15% to 20% | Tips split between crew |
| Fish Ocean Isle | Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina | 15% to 20% when there is a mate | Some mates’ only pay is tips |
Tips are the customer’s choice, not a guarantee, and a slow week of bookings means a thin week of pay. Some captains add boat pay. In the 2022 In The Bite article, a Hatteras mate said he expected $130 to $150 a day from the captain plus tips, with charters there running $1,400 to $1,600 a day; at those prices a 15% to 20% tip on one boat is $210 to $320 a trip, split among the crew. The same article quoted private-boat mates, who do not get tips, at $150 for day work and $200 for fishing trips. For how charter pay compares with commercial crew shares, see deckhand pay.
How do you go from deckhand to charter captain?
Log your sea time and get an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels license, the “six-pack.” Under 46 CFR 11.467, a near-coastal OUPV needs at least 12 months of experience operating vessels, including 3 months on ocean or near-coastal waters, and limits you to 100 miles offshore. A Great Lakes and inland OUPV needs 12 months, including 3 on the Great Lakes; an inland-only OUPV needs 12 months. The Coast Guard counts a month as 30 days, and on vessels under 100 gross tons a day as 8 hours unless it decides the boat’s schedule warrants less, never under 4.
The other requirements are routine. You can hold an OUPV at 18, and every applicant has to show physical health and pass a drug test under 46 CFR 11.201, which also calls for a first aid course certificate no more than a year old and a current CPR card for original officer endorsements, with narrow exceptions for limited licenses. Fees under 46 CFR 10.219 for an original lower-level officer endorsement are $100 for evaluation, $95 for the exam and $45 for issuance.
Above six passengers, a boat is no longer an uninspected passenger vessel under 46 U.S.C. 2101, and the next license up is Master. A Master of near-coastal vessels under 100 gross tons needs 2 years of deck service on ocean or near-coastal waters, with up to 1 year allowed from Great Lakes or inland service. Running your own charter can add permits: Alaska guides register with ADF&G for free, and Southcentral and Southeast Alaska halibut charters operate under federal charter halibut permits, which NOAA limits to one halibut trip per day. Whaler’s Cove supplies those permits to its guides. For state guide licensing in other places, see how to become a fishing guide.
Where are fishing charter jobs?
Wherever saltwater anglers go, and most go to the Southeast and Gulf coasts. NOAA counted 201 million saltwater recreational fishing trips in 2022: 36 percent in the South Atlantic region, 28 percent in the Gulf of Mexico, 24 percent in the Mid-Atlantic, 9 percent in New England and 4 percent in the Pacific, Western Pacific and North Pacific combined. Florida led the states with about 75.6 million trips and North Carolina was second with 20.6 million (Fisheries of the United States 2022). Those figures count every kind of trip, not only charters, but they show where the customers are.
In Alaska, charter jobs cluster in ports such as Homer, Seward and Whittier and at Southeast lodges such as Whaler’s Cove. The state’s labor economists list charter fishing among the visitor industries that new cruise docks in Southeast are expected to feed, after 1.8 million cruise passengers visited Alaska in 2025. On the Great Lakes, Wisconsin and Michigan ports run salmon and trout charters; Kinn’s Sport Fishing in Algoma alone runs 10 charter boats.
Open listings are at deckhand jobs and fishing guide jobs, and in Alaska at Alaska deckhand jobs.
When do charters hire, and when is the season?
Charters hire in the off-season for a spring or summer start, and the fish decide how long you work. Alaska boat operators hire over the winter: Major Marine Tours, a Seward tour boat company that hires deckhands and senior deckhands, does its peak seasonal hiring January 15 to April 15, and Miller’s Landing posted its 2026 deckhand and captain openings ahead of a May start.
| Region | Season (sourced example) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Southcentral Alaska | Miller’s Landing staff work May through September | Charter halibut anglers in Area 3A cannot keep halibut on Wednesdays, or on Tuesdays June 2 to August 25, 2026 |
| Southeast Alaska | Whaler’s Cove crew arrive May to mid-June, guests from about the third week of June to early September | Area 2C charter halibut closed Thursdays June 18 to September 10, 2026 |
| Gulf of Mexico | Federal for-hire red snapper season June 1 to October 26, 2026, 147 days | 19 days longer than 2025 |
| Lake Michigan | May to early October at Reelin Leland; peak late April through October | Best salmon from mid-May through summer, per the same operator |
Sources: Miller’s Landing; Whaler’s Cove Lodge; NOAA Fisheries, 2026 charter halibut regulations and 2026 Gulf red snapper for-hire season; Reelin Leland Fishing Charters.
How do you get hired by a charter captain?
Show up, ask the captain directly, and prove you are reliable. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says many new fishers find work through family or friends, or simply by walking around the docks and asking, and charter harbors work the same way. Go in the off-season or early spring when captains are rigging boats, not at 5 a.m. on a charter morning. Bigger operators post openings on their websites: Miller’s Landing listed deckhand and captain jobs for its 2026 season.
- Be ready for the drug test. Every charter hire needs a pre-employment test under Coast Guard rules, and employers such as Whaler’s Cove also test at random during the season.
- Get first aid and CPR now. You will need both for the OUPV, and they make you more useful on day one.
- Offer to help on the dock, cleaning fish, washing the boat and fixing tackle, so a captain can see how you work.
- Start a sea-time log on your first trip, with dates, hours, the vessel and the captain’s name, so you can document your 12 months later.
- Post a job-wanted profile with your availability dates, home port and any experience so captains can find you.
The In The Bite captains were clear about what keeps a mate employed: show up sober and on time, keep a clean appearance, and treat every customer’s trip as the one trip they get that year.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license to be a charter deckhand?
Federal law puts the license requirement on the operator of a six-pack charter, under 46 U.S.C. 8903. As a deckhand you must pass a Coast Guard drug test before an employer can hire you. In Alaska, deckhands working under a registered guide on the same boat are exempt from guide registration.
How much do charter mates make in tips?
Operators tell customers to tip 15% to 20% of the charter price, and one Seward operator says customers often give 15% to 25%. A Whittier, Alaska operator puts a standard full-day tip at about $100 a person. What you take home depends on how many trips you run and how the captain splits tips.
How long does it take to get a six-pack license?
You need 12 months of experience operating vessels, counted as 30-day months of 8-hour days on small boats, with 3 months on ocean or near-coastal waters for a near-coastal endorsement. Whaler’s Cove’s 68 to 72 straight guiding days, for example, add up to more than two months of service in one summer; a part-time mate takes longer.
Can I work as a charter deckhand with no experience?
Yes. Captains quoted in the trade press put reliability and people skills first, and the BLS says most fishing workers learn on the job. Fishing knowledge helps, and a first aid card and a clean drug test make you easier to hire.
Sources
- eCFR, Title 46: 46 CFR 11.467, OUPV requirements; 46 CFR 11.428, Master of near-coastal vessels of less than 100 GRT; 46 CFR 11.201, general requirements; 46 CFR 10.107, definitions; 46 CFR 10.219, fees; 46 CFR Part 16, chemical testing (sections 16.105 and 16.210), accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- Legal Information Institute, 46 U.S.C. 2101, definitions and 46 U.S.C. 8903, self-propelled uninspected passenger vessels, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- NOAA Fisheries, “2026 Regulations for Charter Halibut Anglers,” Alaska Region; “NOAA Fisheries Announces the 2026 Gulf of America Red Snapper Recreational Federal For-Hire Season,” April 1, 2026; Fisheries of the United States 2022, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Sport Fish Business, Guide, and Vessel Registration, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, “Jobs forecast for 2026,” Alaska Economic Trends, January 2026, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Fishing and Hunting Workers, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- Alaska charter and lodge operators: Saltwater Excursions, Whittier; Crazy Ray’s, Seward; Miller’s Landing, Employment and Fish Processing Guidelines; Homer Halibut Hunters, FAQ; Major Marine Tours, Employment; Whaler’s Cove Lodge, 2026 Employment Opportunities, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- Lower 48 charter operators: The Destin Charter Service, FAQ; HI-TECH Sport Fishing, Rates; Kinn’s Sport Fishing, FAQs; Reelin Leland Fishing Charters, FAQ; Fish Ocean Isle, “How Much Do You Tip on a Fishing Charter?”, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
- In The Bite, “A Mate’s Pay in the Sportfishing Industry,” November 2022, accessed Sep 13, 2026.