Well re DH's big fish itch, I can share this.
Commercial fishing is tiring and sometimes dangerous work with very long hours if you are going to be successful at it. It also requires government licensing. and if you take passengers for hire, it requires stringent testing by the Coast Guard. It took me a year to prepare for my CG test. The tests are long and difficult and take up an entire day. They require an enormous amount of memorization. I had study books that spanned 18 inches on my bookshelf and also I paid Houston Co. for computerized training.
Once you get your CG ticket, then there are the state guide licenses. Some states, like Maryland and Alaska, have long waiting lists that take years to reach the top. Unless you are fortunate enough to first get your CG ticket, and then pay someone who is retiring to transfer their license to you. I don't know about other states, but in Alaska that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and in Maryland you are looking at 5 to 10 thousand dollars to buy a license rather than wait 5 or 10 years till you get to the top of the waiting list. Also, in Maryland, you must serve an apprenticeship on someone else's vessel before you can get the state license. The CG also requires a certain number of hours on a vessel comparable to what you are being licensed for before you can even take their tests.
Once you begin, it is a low profit business. If you love the water and want to fish and boat every day, you do get your boat expense and depreciation paid for via tax deductions. But a typical day on a Maryland charter boat is up at 4:30 am to ready the vessel. Depart at 6:30 am to work a long hard day under the hot sun and humid air. Back in at 3:30 pm to clean fish. Then a boat scrub down leaving you exhausted at 5 pm. And you get to do it all over again the next morning.
I loved this life when i first retired from corporate life in 1992. I met many wonderful people and had many wonderful adventures.
But then as my body grew older and my joints ached longer, it got to be a job not an avocation. IN 2003 I got my first tasted of RVing when I took off from fishing for the entire Maryland season. I found the running expenses much lower, and the pleasure and enjoyment much larger. I could still fish when I wanted to. But now I fish for me rather than for paying high demand customers. There is nothing I can compare to the pressure of finding fish for customers who have high expectations. Insurance, fuel, slip fees versus campground fees, interesting places to visit, and the most interesting people to visit, all weighed in on the RV side. At my age, the decision was a no brainer.
If DH is thinking more in terms of a small bass boat and quiet waters, then the costs and amount of work is less, though the government testing requirements will still be stringent if he choses to do this for hire.
A lot of guides work illegally, skipping all the testing, but I would not advise that course. One mishap with a customer, and you would be in very deep doo doo as an unlicensed guide.
I repeat all this not to discourage DH, but to help make sure his eyes are wide open. Someone did this for me when I first caught the fishing guide option, and I was glad they did.
