Hey Angler Dude,
Glad you posted about your trips. That's the kind of thing that these boards are for. A few weeks ago Brian and I went on a bummer trip down in Ventura. In talking to people about it I learned that the boat we were on had provided some good trips for some people that I know and some bad trips for others. I guess the thing you look at more than anything is the quality of the experience vs. the quality of the fishing. I used to go out twilight fishing a lot on the Seahawk which is a beautiful boat with usually a very good crew. I remember two nights were we ran with very light loads and had wide open calico bites. It was phenomenal. Then there were other nights were we tried 5 different spots and hardly any fish were caught and the jackpot was a 10 inch rockfish. When you got home at 11pm you thought to yourself, wow that really sucked! But it was the fishing that sucked not the experience, because even on those bummer trips the captain did what he could and the crew did likewise. So I felt like that's kind of what you were saying there and that's cool, it's just important to understand that fishing is fishing and it ultimately depends on the fish. Trust me, when the seals come and kill the bite, Jason is more disappointed than anyone on board. He just doesn't show it because no one likes a grouchy swearing captain.
As for the 2 for 1, I am the guy who does the stardust website and I do apologize for not taking the 2 for 1 off sooner. There's always a lot to do when you're the webmaster and sometimes things don't get done the same day. Jason does the 2 for 1's during the slow season to get interest in the boat. When it's summer time and he's got 49 reservations like tomorrow, there isn't much reason to do a 2 for 1 any more. Almost all the boats up and down the coast do this, it's pretty much the standard deal. If you're looking for 2 for 1's check the Santa Barbara Independent for 2 for 1's on the twilight on the Seahawk. Merit usually does that when he starts running them. No guarantees on the fishin!