Deckhand, co-captain, fishing coach, and the person who works most closely with your family on the back deck.
Captain Troy operates the boat and makes the major decisions. Sam helps turn those decisions into a safe, organized, hands-on fishing experience for your group.
Sam McClaren holding a large wahoo caught during a full-day offshore trip.
On a private fishing charter, the captain runs the boat.
The deckhand helps run the experience.
Sam is beside your family when the fishing begins. He helps prepare tackle, bait hooks, coach children, guide beginners, untangle lines, handle fish, take photographs, watch the fishing deck, and clean the fish your group keeps.
That role matters more than many people realize before stepping aboard.
Sam helps make the fishing understandable, organized, and enjoyable.
He works directly with guests throughout the trip, helping children and beginners gain confidence while keeping rods, tackle, lines, fish, and people moving safely around the back deck.
A knowledgeable, patient deckhand can change the entire feel of a family fishing trip.
Sam McClaren is the deckhand and co-captain aboard Distraction.
He is originally from the Tallahassee, Florida area. He is married, has two young children, and genuinely enjoys helping families experience offshore fishing.
Sam is calm, soft-spoken, patient, and steady.
Those qualities matter when children are excited, beginners are uncertain, several lines are in the water, and fish begin coming over the rail.
When the action begins, Sam may become the fishing coach, tackle hand, fish handler, safety observer, photographer, and back-deck problem solve, all within a few minutes.
Guests often spend more time working directly with the deckhand than with the captain.
That is not because the captain is uninvolved. Captain Troy is operating the boat, watching navigation and weather, studying conditions, positioning the boat, and making the larger fishing decisions.
Sam works beside the guests where the fishing takes place.
Captain Troy determines where the boat goes and how the day develops.
Sam helps your family participate, understand, learn, and enjoy the fishing once the lines enter the water.
A good deckhand does much more than put bait on hooks.
Much of that work continues from the time guests board until the fish are cleaned and the boat is reset for the next trip.
Children often learn quickly when instructions are simple and encouragement is genuine.
Sam helps children understand what to do without turning the moment into a technical lesson or making them feel pressured.
Sometimes he helps position their hands on the rod. Sometimes he explains when to reel. Sometimes he helps them wait until the right moment.
At other times, the best approach is simply allowing a nervous child to watch before joining the action.
The goal is to help children feel:
Learn About Kids Fishing Charters
Sam speaking with local students about careers in charter fishing and life on the Gulf.
If you have never fished offshore, you are not behind.
You are exactly the kind of guest a good deckhand should be prepared to help.
Sam explains:
You do not need to arrive knowing everything. You only need to listen, participate, and allow the crew to help.
See What to Expect on Your Fishing Charter
A fishing deck can become busy quickly.
Hooks are sharp. Sinkers are heavy. Fish have teeth, fins, spines, and sharp gill plates. Lines cross. The boat moves. Children become excited. Adults become excited too.
Sam watches those details and helps keep the fishing area organized.
He may direct a guest to move, wait, raise a rod, lower a rod, stop reeling, step back, or remain clear while a fish is brought aboard.
Those instructions are not meant to take away from the fun. They help everyone continue enjoying the day safely.
Learn About Fishing Charter Safety
A private charter gives your group an opportunity to learn as the day unfolds.
Sam may explain:
That turns the trip into more than simply catching fish. It becomes a hands-on Gulf fishing experience.
A skilled deckhand must be able to rig tackle, handle fish, clean fish, fix problems, and anticipate what the fishing requires.
On a family charter, he also needs patience, awareness, kindness, timing, and the ability to help people feel comfortable.
We take the deckhand position seriously because the person working on the back deck represents the boat, captain, business, and entire guest experience.
Sam understands that the job is not only about handling fish.
It is about helping people.
Captain Troy and Sam have different responsibilities, but the jobs are connected.
Captain Troy operates and positions the boat, watches weather and navigation, studies the fishing conditions, and makes the major decisions.
Sam prepares and manages the fishing deck, works with the guests, communicates what is happening behind the helm, and helps carry out the fishing plan.
When your group keeps legal fish, Sam cleans and bags them after the trip.
Fish cleaning and bagging are included in the charter price.
The work does not end the moment the boat returns to Orange Beach Marina. Sam still has fish to clean, equipment to organize, and a boat to help prepare for the next trip.
Leave a cooler in your vehicle so your cleaned and bagged fish can be transported after the trip.
See What Happens With Your Fish
The deckhand gratuity is separate from the charter price.
Each trip on our pricing page shows a stated minimum cash deckhand gratuity so guests understand the minimum total before reserving.
The stated minimum deckhand gratuity should be paid directly to Sam in cash after the trip.
Additional gratuity may be given when guests believe the service and effort deserve it, but the stated minimum remains part of the expected trip cost.
Showing the deckhand amount separately helps families understand where their money goes and makes sure the person working most closely with them is compensated directly.
See Charter Prices and Minimum Deckhand Gratuities
Guests often remember Sam because he is beside them during the action.
He helps when a reel tangles. He explains what happened when a fish escapes. He encourages a child who is struggling. He celebrates when a beginner lands a first fish.
He helps keep the day moving without making guests feel rushed.
That kind of attention changes the feeling of a trip.
It is the difference between simply going fishing and feeling like your family was genuinely taken care of.
Sam helping display a greater amberjack while keeping the fish and guests positioned safely.
Most families, children, first-time anglers, grandparents, and mixed-experience groups should begin with the 6 Hour Family Fun Trip.
It provides a legitimate private offshore experience without making the day unnecessarily long or complicated.
If you are uncertain, select “Not sure yet. Please help me choose” on the reservation form. Captain Troy will help before confirming the trip.
Captain Troy makes the final weather and sea-condition decisions.
Those decisions consider wind, waves, wave period, thunderstorms, lightning risk, visibility, safety, comfort, and the group scheduled that day.
Sam helps manage the fishing deck during changing conditions, but the final decision about whether to leave, continue, change the plan, or return belongs to Captain Troy.
Safe offshore conditions do not always mean perfectly flat water.
If your group requests an early return because of seasickness, fatigue, anxiety, or discomfort after departure, the full trip rate still applies.
Read How We Evaluate Fishing Charter Weather
Sam McClaren is the deckhand and co-captain aboard Distraction. He works directly with guests on the back deck throughout the trip.
Sam helps with tackle, bait, coaching, safety awareness, fish handling, photographs, tangles, deck organization, fish cleaning, and bagging.
Yes. Helping children and first-time anglers learn at a comfortable pace is a major part of Sam’s role.
No. Beginners are welcome. Sam helps guests understand what to do so they can participate without feeling embarrassed or overwhelmed.
Captain Troy has final authority over the boat, weather, navigation, fishing plan, passenger movement, and safety.
No. The stated minimum deckhand gratuity is separate and should be paid directly to Sam in cash after the trip.
Yes. Sam cleans and bags the legal fish your group chooses to keep after the trip.
If you want a private Orange Beach fishing charter where your family is coached, helped, encouraged, and looked after on the back deck, Sam is an important part of that experience.
Check Availability and Request Your Trip
You may also call or text Captain Troy at 251-975-8111.
Distraction Charters
Orange Beach Marina, Slip E-12
27075 Marina Road
Orange Beach, Alabama 36561
Call or text: 251-975-8111
Orange Beach Marina is convenient to guests staying in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan, Perdido Key, and throughout the Alabama Gulf Coast.
Park in the lot on the right marked in yellow. Walk west along the red-line walkway past the restaurant and toward the left side of the dock store.
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