al gauron deep sea fishing & whale watching

This was the best deep sea fishing experience I have ever had. The crew, including Nipper, the dog were all great. The short ride to where we fished, made the amount of time actually fishing much longer than other trips I have been on. As soon as we dropped our lines we started reeling in the mackerel. The 2 of us filled 2 buckets of fish and brought home about 10 pounds of fillets.

We got a good deal on Groupon so decided to give Al Gauron's all day fishing a try. Looking at the website beforehand we got our disappointment out of the way that we would be throwing back all haddock - red fish were it for us. It was a cold day but the seas were very calm. We secured our spot at the front of the ship and noticed two gentlemen ('regulars') had saved the left front side for themselves. The boat was very full - literally elbow to elbow. As soon as we set off the two gentlemen started chain smoking cigars, which made a few of us quite nauseated and understandably unable to actively participate. One of our group couldn't fish at all with asthma. There was no place for our group to move to without offending and pushing others aside. Despite multiple complaints the gentlemen smoked until 2 or so, at which time our nausea dissipated and we were finally able to enjoy the last bit of the day. LIkewise, there were three other menfolk drinking heavily and listening to very offensive rap music (laced with multiple F, N, and C words and very shocking messages). The menfolk were not spoken to and although we were adults there were guys there with their small sons and I felt bad for them. Not sure if the deckhands could've addressed this without escalating the group so this was just unfortunate. Being so close our lines were very frequently tangled, which was frustrating as we couldn't untangle them and the two deckhands were rushing about trying to answer to multiple demands at once. The captain was responsive to moving the boat when fishing proved poor. Tragically, all fish we were forced to throw back got eaten up by seagulls since they were in shock from being pulled up 250 - 300 feet and couldn't swim under. We had brought a lunch but were pleasantly surprised to see you could purchase food on board for a reasonable price. My husband visited the restroom out of necessity but let me know I had better hold it. They will provide buckets of water for your catch and will fillet your fish for a reasonable price but bring your own gallon ziploc bags to store them. So if you can go during the week you will likely have an amazing time with less people. But they should consider capping attendance for weekend trips. And hang out at the back of the boat to increase your chances of breathing.

Took my 9yo son fishing and we had a great time. The crew were funny and kind, helping us novices out and the captain put on us on fish for almost all 4 hours. I had been waiting for this part of our vacation and was 100% satisfied. The prices are reasonable and we brought home fillets from 4 large blue fish. Would recommend for anyone interested in fishing in the Portsmouth area.

One fish was caught on our trip, not even a nibble after that. The crew was on top of helping everyone cast and fix lines. I believe I made friends with one of the members, wish I had gotten his name! He kept my family laughing by jokingly blaming the line snags on me! The view of the water meeting the sky was incredible as well. I'd like to go back sometime soon!

We took our teenage grandson on the four-hour whale watch and were not disappointed.Not only did we see several whales, but schools of dolphin, porpoises, seals, and ocean sun fish! The young lady narrating did a great job keeping us interested and informed. The inside cabin was a welcome relief for part of the trip back to warm up, have a few snacks, and relax. Definitely recommend for all ages!

earlier this year went on a trip and everyone was complaining but the captain did nothing, stayed in spots with not much fish for long periods of time... and when we were catching... he would just move... we caught lots of Acadian Redfish and not much else...Later read the fishing report for that day and it was BULL SH!!I have fished in this area on all of the local boats for many years and will Never fish with Gauron's again...Sad very sad

This is for the 8/8 trip. I've been going fishing with this business for the last 12 years. Off and on. I try to get in 3 trips a year. Here's why I and my kids come back. 1) safety is obviously first. This can be observed if you watch a listen to the crew. 2) atmosphere. It's nice to see that they have season pass holders. Because this is the unseen crew member. They themselves often assist new folks. But I have always learned something new when I get back to shore. Example I learned a new method of tying a hook from a crew member. But I learned to play a certain game from a regular customer. 3) the galley gal did an exceptionally good job on this trip. Right down to ensuring the certain supplies where not over looked. But I will say. Gary has always been my favorite. But that's only because he and I have something very much in common. I recommend anyone go more than once. You can't catch fish every time you go fishing. I caught all small fish that day. But I was given a fish to take home from a season ticket holder.( thanks my cooler)Now for my response. I am compelled to respond to a poor rating by Jimj. When I checked the reviews before heading out on the 8th. I read it. Something did not add up with me. Why this disgruntled customers would say some real hurtful things. But as a good observer I tossed a question on on that trip and got a good bite on that hook. Based on additional facts. Everyone that reads any of these reviews. Disregard Jimj's rating of July 2014. Or should I say Jim Beam. There is no basis for that rating. I validated it is not sharing all the facts of that journey. I did this by talking with no crew member just the customers. I will now close. Fishing is like baseball. You don't always catch a fish to KEEP when you go fishing ANYWHERE. Like baseball. You just cannot win them all. If you think you will? Well your setting yourself up for failure. But I am comfortable to say that you will always make it back safe and sound. Some may make it back Drunk too. If that's what you like to do the enjoy. See you before the season ends. Have a safe journey everyone !!!!

We've made it an annual tradition to do a full-day of fishing with Al Gauron in July. The fishing is not the best this time of year, but we ALWAYS have a great day on the water. The crew is always helpful. If you go in the summer, don't expect to catch much unless you are a jigger fisherman... this year, tho, we did haul in 3 keepers (14 year old got the biggest on the boat... alas, we were not in the pool), 8 too small, and 1 shark. Don't bank on getting the fish... but do plan on having a great day out at sea!

My wife and I took the 3 hour Fireworks Cruise and enjoyed it very much. There was a variety of music playing the whole trip except during the fireworks display at Hampton Beach near the end of the cruise. The crew was friendly and informative pointing out landmarks etc. and we had a "bonus" sighting of a whale during our trip. There is ample parking at a state owned lot adjacent to the ticket sales office; parking was $5.00.

My family and myself (9 people all together) booked the whale watching tour on July 19th and saw a few as we left the harbor and then nothing for 2 hours. What we didn't know was they had been in radio contact with some other boats (somewhere south of Boston) and found out where this family of humpbacks were hanging out and took us out there. WOW, it was amazing! This was really the highlight of my entire vacation - to go out and be that close to the whales. They gave us quite the show with lots of whale tails, fin "waves" and they were jumping as we left the area. Very cool!Props to the crew for taking us out there, we arrived back in the harbor 2 hours later than what was originally stated. Everyone seemed to have had an awesome tour! Thank you so much!!!

Been doing charters for many years with different charters in the area. Tried this one and not happy at all.. $5 for parking, $3 for burlap bag to put fish in, $1 for 1 plastic bag, $5 to clean 1 fish (at that time asked for tip also.) won the pool and was ask from the crew for 20% of the $$. Never got us on the fish. Felt scammed the whole day. 50 years of fishing I never heard of such a thing ! NEVER again and will not recommend to anyone ever.

I thought this would be a great trip but it turned out I was wrong! I went deep sea fishing all day and they over crammed the boat, but if you were a friend of theirs you got first pick of the best fishing spots while the rest of the people were fishing on top of each other. The fat old Santa Claus looking man was rude and not helpful one bit my line kept getting tangled up with his buddies lines and it took them over 20mins to come to our side of the boat to untangle the line! They were never around! They had nasty attitudes on top of it when they did come by. Then the guy driving the boat kept moving the boat every 20-30 mins.... so once you were untangled we were looking for a new spot....he did this 8 times! At the end of the trip he laughed and said " I could have found better fishing spots, I could blame the fishing on me but I don't want to cause it's Saturday and I don't care instead I will blame nature." But of course their friends or people who paid extra who had plenty of room to fish caught the fish.....I will NEVER go fishing with Al Gauron's they are rude they don't care if your able to fish or not! Plus they ban you from bringing beer on the boat because they want to sell it to you but if your one of their friends you can bring your own beer hell they'll even drink with you! I ended up paying for an expensive boat ride their were more people crammed on the boat then they were suppose to let on....they break regulations of safety just to make as much as they can!

No fun, no fish nothing. Waste of time and money. I will never go again. None of the people i was with was happy.Bad way of loosing a whole day.

I was in town visiting family and they bought 4 tickets for all day trip from Groupon and went down Tuesday July 1st to use them. We go to the ticket place to redeem them for our trip and they tell us sorry you can't use them July and August! They asked us if we read the fine print at the bottom of the page - which we didn't. Fine print like that should be clearly stated up front and not fine print at all.So needless to say they can't use them until September 3rd & I won't be there to enjoy them.And they told my family no cod and haddock can be kept in September and October only Pollock. Now they don't even want to go at all!Feel bad for my family -They got taken for a couple hundred bucks -plus $7 from parking.Kind of feels like a scam to me.

I've been on their fishing trips about 8 or 9 times now. Once for a full day and the rest were half day fishing trips. I wanted to give them 4-stars, but I've had mixed experiences. Definitely not a 5-star business as their boats aren't in top shape/cleanliness. The crew is a hit or miss as sometimes they're good, friendly and accommodating and other times it just seems like they don't care to help. If you're lucky to get a half booked boat and some fun fishing, great! Otherwise, the boats tend to fill up (they over book/fill) and you end up with a ton of people and tangled fishing lines all day. Sometimes the crew can't keep up with untangling the lines and the fishing is miserable. I always hope to catch some decent fish, not just mackerel. But it seems like they're trying to save gas and stay close to shore or not move much after they stop even if the fishing is slow. All in all, it's a hit or miss. But it's still fishing and you're out at sea with sunshine and fresh air. DON'T bring bananas on the boat as they're considered "bad luck". Good luck!