I never leave bad reviews especially for fishing boats but this one is so bad I had to . I have fished lots of sportboats out of San Diego and have never left a bad review but this boat is so bad I had to . I have taken 2 trips on the tribute and BOTH were awful. They over book the boat with 30 passengers when it should be 20 max .. So there is no room on the rail to work to catch fish and the crew just stands around watching everyone getting tangled.. first trip we had 3 fish for 30 people. Second trip 5 fish for 30 people. Both times the other boats around us were killing it with 40 to 120 fish per boat while we got 5. Worst thing is the Owner blamed it on the fisherman saying we were outclassed by the fish. Not true. If his crew was good we should have limited out. I found out from some of his old crew that he is hard to deal with and thinks his shit doesn't stink. So much his old crew left him. So this year its an all new crew and they are very inexperienced. Which I saw first hand how bad things were. I will never fish this boat again. There is a reason why he is so cheap at $550 for 1.5 days. Its cheap because he can't demand a higher price like the bosts that catch fish. There are lots of really great boats in San Diego so don't waste your time with this one. read more

Tribute Sportfishing - The Tribute out of Seaforth. - Fishing Near Me - San Diego, California

My husband takes a trip with these guys at least once a year. This one has the most consistent fish counts out of most of the others in the area. Had to leave a review when I saw all the haters. You go on this boat to fish and fish only. Nothing fancy about it. He says you need to go for at least two nights to make it worth your time. Friendly and helpful crew. No cell reception on the boat fyi but what do you expect when you're in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Mexico. He always comes back with more fish than we know what to do with! read more

Tribute Sportfishing - Yellow fin toooners galore - Fishing Near Me - San Diego, California

I fish the Tribute regularly, most years I'll take 5 or 6 trips on the Tribute. Solid crew that work hard for the anglers onboard. Fishy boat that was originally the Polaris 3 built for Bill Poole in the mid 1960s. Reasonably comfortable bunks for the customers to sleep in. The owner and primary captain Mike Pritchard is a fantastic fisherman who consistently puts the boat on fish. The crewmembers are helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. Not to mention good sticks with the gaffs. Preserving precious fillets for the anglers to take home. I particularly appreciate that they still fillet your catch for you onboard. Now many boats don't cut fish so the anglers are left to either pay a processor or take whole fish home to fillet ourselves. While I am perfectly capable of filleting my catch i prefer to have the crew take care of it onboard. I highly recommend the Tribute out of Seaforth landing. If you want to catch tuna, yellowtail, and Dorado when they are around, the Tribute is a great choice of vessel. For everyone from beginners with rental rods to anglers with decades of experience, they can help you improve your skills. read more

As a passenger of the Tribute for more than 3 years, this is a phenomenal vessel. The captains and crew work very hard to put you on the fish and assist in catching fish if you're a novice. Moral on the boat is always positive, and the food has been great. Don't blame the boat for poor fishing conditions or your ability to catch fish! I've been on wide-open trips and trips that were very slow. The crew works the hardest when fishing is tough and they want you to catch fish every time. Take care of your crew at the end of your trip. They make their living from gratuity. Tip even more when fishing is slow. If you're going on a trip that departs after 6pm, make sure to have dinner beforehand as they typically don't have a dinner service on night of departure. Sometimes they have pizza port sponsored trips that serves pizza on the night of departure. Go out there and have some fun. Don't give up, put your time in the rail and it will pay dividends. read more

Tribute Sportfishing - Bluefin Tuna - Fishing Near Me - San Diego, California

Excellent crew that gets the job done. They have the experience and knowledge of the fishery and the techniques to ensure that your time on the water is maximized read more

Great Crew , Great boat. If you are in San Diego check them out. I couldn't say enough good things about our trip. Straight up Awesome!!!!! read more

Tribute Sportfishing - Great Boat , Awesome Crew My daughters first tuna trip and she limited with the help of Capitain and Crew. - Fishing Near Me - San Diego, California

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I don't like to leave poor review and I know the Tribute has a Great reputation, unfortunately they did not live up to it yesterday. Last week I saw great fish counts for yellowfin Tuna and decided to book a trip, I far prefer private boats but fish were too far south. I should have known the trip would be a Challenge when I first met the crew, One guy I think Shane was awesome, obviously experienced, then the other two guys were totally clueless. As we got underway it was obvious greenhorns, I talked to the cook and it was his second trip, he was complaining about the set-up and logistics. He stated the Capt and crew had a fall-out and this was a full new crew?? His words not mine.. It was obvious from the start, we headed south and stopped about 1230am on a small patch of blue fin, picked up 1 that Shane hook for a passenger and handed off, only one crew up so difficult to get any help, several of us hooked up, only one landed.. We stopped on several more BFT spots and picked up a couple. As sunrise came and we started to Pattie hop we found a few, lots of 2-4 lb yellowtails, unfortunately the bait was half dead and 8-10 inches long. Not crews fault, just the reality. I looked into the bait tanks and realized more than half the bait was dead on the bottom of the tank. I asked the crewmen if we got fresh bait and he shrugged his shoulders. Through-out the day we stopped on patties, picked up a few small yellowtails, the challenge was once you got you first bait, there was not more, The crew would put out a couple baits in each trough and leave, if you lost a bait or wanted to change, nothing, not till someone came back after the stop, more times than I can remember, I went to change out a bait and nothing in the ready, To a point I wanted to go up and net some for the troughs, people were standing around looking for a deckhand. Every stop, folks were asking for bait with no one around. Early in the day they call out troll numbers but after 16, the rest of the day no one was paying attention or knew who was up on the troll?? We found a couple great patties but would drift away and stay away for 10-15 mins hoping rather than return and keep them active.. I want to be honest, we got a ton of baby yellowtails. I should not complain, but it was the general attitude of the crew and cook that was very, I don't give a rats A$$ and then by 330, the boat was out of bait, we stopped at a school of dolphins, Capt said get some bait out and the crew couldn't find any live ones.. Many of us started to throw Jigs from the bow because of the bait situation. At about 530 PM Capt said, we are done,, we still had 12 hours!! No Tuna stops on the way home, not many will come on here and admit it but 3/4 of the fishermen were extremely disappointed with the trip, There we lots of grumbles about the crew and cook. from the Galley to the Deck it was just not what many of us were used to. Many were talking about what it was like, but, It was too bad, they have a great reputation and track record. Yesterday was not their best day and while the fish count may look good, the experience was not.. But again, Everyone has a bad day or two. I think it is important for reviewer to know where they are right not before selecting a trip aboard this boat, they have some rebuilding to do! read more

Mike and his crew are outstanding at their job of fishing. They will put you on the fish if you give them the chance. The boat and the bathrooms are clean. (Which clean bathrooms are rare on charted boats ) lol the boat rest low to the water! Having 30 anglers on at one time could be very tight but if you can get on with 15-20 anglers do it!!! read more

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I was on a quest to get my wife hooked up on some offshore fish after failing on two other previous trips. I selected a 1.5-day trip for us aboard the Tribute out of Seaforth Landing. This was an October trip & Captain Mike Pritchard decided to head south into Mexican waters to look for tuna. The pressure for me to get my wife on fish was on, so I brought my lucky trolling outfit & my favorite trolling lure: a Zuker feather in the Mexican Flag color. The clacker soon goes off on my old Penn Senator 9/0 reel while trolling & I grab the rod & give it to my wife. She scores with a skipjack tuna, her first ever offshore fish. We never did find the bluefin tuna Captain Mike was looking for, but we found more skipjack tuna & small yellowtail to keep us occupied. My wife ended up with 1 skipjack, 3 yellowtail & lost 2 other fish. We also did another trip (a 2 day) on the same boat & the wife limited out on bluefin tuna. In fact, she was the only passenger to do so. She also caught 5 bonito & a small yellowtail to go along with her 2 bluefin tuna limit. On trip 3 me & the wife got blanked, but hey once again we had many schools of bluefin tuna that did not want to bite for us. That's fishing. Overall, the Tribute is a excellent boat to fish. We caught fish on 2 out of 3 trips. Captain Mike Pritchard is very competent & will give you full effort when it comes to fishing. His crew is excellent, professional & exceeds in customer service. The meals prepared by Chef Daniel in the galley were hearty & satisfying. The crew does a great job of keeping the boat & restrooms clean while underway. More importantly, my wife was able to catch fish with these guys & she really enjoyed her time fishing with the Tribute. The Tribute specializes in overnight, 1.5-day, 2 days & 2.5-day trips. Very highly recommended by this Yelper. read more

So I've pondered whether to write this review or not and ultimately decided it was the best thing to do for anyone considering the Tribute out of Seaforth Landing. 2 Stars means it Could've Been Better. Let me tell you that this is more of a 1.5 Stars, could have been A LOT better! We booked the full boat for our inaugural company fishing trip for the first weekend in July. By comparison to other boats of the same type that our partner companies fish with, they were about 35% higher- and that didn't include the $500 fuel surcharge they tell you about AFTER everyone is already onboard-Surprise! Yes- the owners set their own costs. I figured;" its the height of bluefin season and so goes supply and demand", and that would have been great if we were into any BlueFin! Look, I fish so I get that there's no guarantee of getting into any fish-we've all been skunked before and you know the saying "that's why its called Fishing and not Catching". That qualified, it did not get any better leaving the dock (a bit early 8:45?) as the captain, Tyler seemed okay- we really didn't see him for the rest of the trip other than hear him on the speakers- but hey, he's driving the boat. Apparently this crew had just gotten on the boat with us and the last crew jumped off with the last trip, except the cook, Nick. Nick spoke with me and said he was beat and had been up for about 48 hours straight and he needed to get some rack time but would take care of us in the morning. That made sense to me so off he went. No Customer Service: The rest of the crew seemed very indifferent and even inconvenienced that we were going out- pretty snotty and not very customer service oriented at all. When our VP asked if we were getting bait, they told him "oh no, we already did that on the way in". Now, I've never seen that occur on any trip I'd been on and as it seems... from accounts of an acquaintance on the previous trip, that we were lied to. Does that mean there wasn't enough bait in the wells, no, there was, but much of it had rolled over or was tired. They're usually a lot faster and harder to catch when put into the hand wells, these ones were easy to scoop up and the deckhand was pretty slow at that. He mostly just slept in the chair on the bait tank. Fact is, they lied. Oh, we're not done: It was pretty rough going out and actually for the entire trip with a good majority of our team getting seasick. When we went into the galley to check for water, there was none. Only beer and sodas in an ice chest with very little ice. Tribute- you really need to step this up- especially for what you charge! When I asked the other crew member if we could get some water for our guys, he said he'd look into it (Remember- cook already went to bed). Of course, he never moved his ass off of the seat and went back to doing what he was doing.??? I think this guy was the #2 as he mostly sat up top and glassed the water. The guy asking was a VIP who also books full boat trips for his Co.! Fishing: We were told that we would be going for Yellowtail, I presumed all the Bluefin had quit and gone home? In any case, this is what we were told and they gave us great counts to justify the hunt for Yellowtail. Based on that, we figured most if not everyone (27) would probably be taking fish home so we were okay with it-Nope! We started in the morning with a paddy that they'd spotted and when we pulled up and dropped on it, we pulled in 4 yellows, a good start but then it died off fast. Then we went on the troll as we were south of Ensenada but there was no control over the troll, who was up or anything at all. It was just a free for all if a rod went off. We did get one small Dodo on the troll with one of the guy's personal sticks. Anyway, this became a boat ride very fast with a straight run south, u-turn and straight drive back north paddy hopping or a drive-by on any little patch of kelp seen along the way. I know these boats like to save fuel but hey guys- we did pay your extra $500 surcharge on top of the overpriced trip. We did see another charter boat out there with us, they were all over the place; to our left, our right, zig-zag'n behind and alongside. I think they were focused on fish and not profits by saving $ on bait and fuel. After a few very short stops to cast out quickly and reel back in, Tyler called the day early and steamed for home, getting us in around 6:45 PM (we could have fished for another 2 hours based on my past trips). If the bad weather, tired bait, crew attitude and the fact that we landed only 7 fish for the entire boat (including a mackerel) wasn't bad enough, the crew was talking about our guys to others on the dock as they exited- how seasick they were and weren't really excited about the fishing. Not entirely true, as each grabbed their fishing pole and bucked up when it looked like we were going to cast bait again. Then passing the other boat I mentioned earlier- loaded with fish, insult to injury. Good Luck! read more

Tribute Sportfishing - Fishing Near Me - San Diego, California

Great boat, I have been fishing with them for years, crew is awesome. The deckhands are alway there to help you catch more fish.

Horrible charter experience very expensive boat ride. Very unfriendly captain.trip was misrepresented we will never go out on this boat ever again what a total rip-off. read more

We went fishing on the tribute. Captain Rick made everyone go and rent 100# setups and 2 speed setups for a $100.00 extra on top of the ticket price. Then decided to go fish for yellowtail. It was a one and half day trip. Thought we would fish for bluefin at least one night, but we drove right pass the fleetand went to the dock. What a expensive boat ride. read more

Wow great boat and great crew. Went Friday 11/24 the conditions were tough but captain Mike kept at and put a good catch together. I highly recommend giving this boat a try oh and the FOOD was great read more

Save your MONEY folks DO NOT book a trip with these people. My father, boyfriend and father in law went fishing on a 1.5 days and it was a bad experience overall. They got their fish stollen by the crew and a fishing rod (they kept saying they didn't have the fishing rod, until my dad went and looked for it himself and found it. They were also extremely verbally rude, would shove near the rails and were not helpfull at all. Never going back with them. read more

Went on the Tribute July 6th I believe. Rough seas, but didn't bother me. I saw white debris go float past the port side. It was a section of the boat. Part of the rub rail and a length of planking 5' above the water line quite literally separated from the wood frame on the port side of the boat leaving a gaping lengthy hole. Fortunately the inner sheathing held and we slowly made our way back to Seaforth Landing. We were about 100 miles out. The Tribute provided free food and drink...no dinner........ but NO REFUNDS! Only a "raincheck" that expired in December 2022 was offered. When I asked about this I was told it is good anytime. I was told they had to put an expiration date on it. Really.....then why not a full year. Of course the "fuel surcharge" of $20 wasn't returned either....even though it was our first day. I didn't take this as fair. When getting off the boat, they would not allow anyone toward the front of the boat to see the whole damaged/open area. "I've been ordered not to let anyone up there." I did take a picture from a distance, which only shows part of the damage.....if the inner sheathing/hull didn't hold....the ship would've taken on water in the rough seas we were in....in my opinion. The ship itself is about 58 years old. To me, when you hide the damage....that means you really have something to hide. I signed up for another trip. For my own safety, I checked with the Coast Guard to insure the Tribute owners followed proper protocols. They did report it to the Coast Guard who inspected the boat and worked with the shipwright for the repairs. The wood behind the hull apparently had dry rot. It was repaired properly and was certified for service. I wondered about the rest of the wood behind the hull. I still wonder, but there were no problems on the second trip and I was told the boat was in "excellent" condition. Still, I won't go again. The second trip also had some issues. The food was ok, but they stopped fishing early and announced they were transferring our bait to a 2.5 day boat that was in need. Well....okay, but why cut us off early? Also, they should know when to cut off people from the grog. There were two deck hands. The curly dark haired fella did an excellent job and worked hard. Wish I could've just tipped him and the cook. read more