Testimonials

My phone rings Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.  It’s Captain Dave Hansen.  “The threshers are biting!!!  No one knows yet!!  Wednesday morning me, my wife and our 2 boys are on the water with Captain Dave.  After less than an hour of trolling half the spool on the 50 wide is gone I’m on my first thresher ever.  After 20 minutes, he comes to the boat, we released him.  My legs are shaking.  “Let’s get another one,” yells Captain Dave.  Less than 10 minutes later we’re on again.  This time it’s a double hook-up.  I grab one and since my 2 boys are only 7 and 10, Dave grabbed the other one.  My wife, Dina, who never drove the boat before was driving at Dave’s command.  “Left, right, tap it in reverse, forward.”  A few minutes passed, Dave’s thresher comes off, my spool is almost gone, he takes the wheel and after a few aggressive maneuvers, I’m getting line back.  Finally, it is at the boat.  We get it in, it is a solid 240lbs!  By 10:00 a.m., only 2 hours had passed since my first thresher, and we had caught a total of 5 threshers!!  Since we we’re all exhausted, we made a stop at one of Dave’s honey holes and the kids caught all the calico bass they could handle.

I don’t care how much you think you know about fishing, you owe it to yourself as a private boat owner to hire Captain Dave.  You will learn something new, as well as have an extremely fun day on the water.  Dave Hansen has not only made me a good fisherman, he gave my boys an experience at fishing they will never forget.  He became a great friend as well.

Mike Pollock

Alta Loma, CA

July 2005.  My husband is thrilled.  He just got his first boat, a new 26’ Seaswirl Striper Diesel.  It had almost every gadget ever made. 
      First trip out, we went to Catalina.  I was very nervous with my husband driving the boat so far for the first time.  Fish count “0.”  Second trip out, we finally caught some fish.  Fish count “2 mackerel, 1 tomcod.  Third trip….painfully obvious my husband doesn’t know shit!  Felt bad that I could probably catch more fish off the rocks in Hawaii.   
     Enter “Captain Dave’s Saltwater Guide Service.”  I felt comfortable around Dave instantly.  On the way out, he taught my husband how to dock the boat (Dave has unbelievable patience), showed him how to use that $5,000 radar, understand the fish finder, and overall just gave him a clue about the entire boat and its equipment.
     We were in the middle of nowhere, but we caught 6 mako sharks and about 200 mackerel for the kids.  That’s another great thing.  He was also very good (patient) with the boys, then 6 and 9 years old.  The boys were so excited to catch so many fish.  For before then they were getting the feeling that fishing off Newport Pier was much more fun. 
     Future days out with Dave have resulted in: 5 thresher sharks!  80 mako sharks in 5 hours!!  Yes, 80!!  In the times out with Captain Dave we caught 100+ calico bass and sand bass (not the little tiny bass), limits of quality rockfish, and too many barracuda, bonito, and yellowtail to count.  Oops, almost forgot about countless limits of lobster.  On all these trips we also all gained a knowledge of other types of marine life out there (types of whales we passed by, dolphins, sun fish, etc.) 
     Hiring Captain Dave was one of the best things we ever did.  Besides learning how to fish, where to fish, and how to use our boat properly, Dave has become a friend that we will always keep in touch with.  He is very knowledgeable in what he does a great person and always fun to be around.

Dina Pollock

Alta Loma, CA

Bought a fishing boat and wasn’t comfortable operating it or fishing. I saw Captain Dave Hansen’s guide service add in Pacific Coast Sportfishing magazine and made the call. First trip out he taught me how to use all my equipment on board but more importantly he taught us how and where to fish. 

Brought home a boat load of fish and learned all his secret spots.  He is the real deal!!! Any questions call me 714-323-3300. It was the best money I ever spent and he is a fun guy…but don’t bring any bananas on the boat.
A Happy Fisherman
Mike McDonnell

To: dthansens@hotmail.com
Subject: From Erik and Michelle
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:02:10 -0700

Dave, we can not tell you how informative the day was when you came on
our boat. As relatively new owners of a boat purchased for the ocean,
we have spent the last 2 years getting to know the boat and the ocean
at our back door. Though we have had a few successes with Halibut and
a shark, more often than not the fish box was empty. Though we are not
novice at fishing, we were indeed need of some guidance. Well, no
more! Your insight into fine tuning of our electronics, hot fishing
spots, and some new techniques for fishing these waters, has made a
tremendous difference in how and where we fish. It was an epic day
with you and the Barracuda on the water (picture attached). Your
knowledge on the water was amazing and your patience in teaching us
made learning easy, not to mention your fun personality. We look
forward to bringing you back aboard for Mexico and some Marlin!

Went out fishing with Captain Dave Hansen. He is everything and more than what everyone says. Took three of my buddies and myself on the Reel Time, a 30 foot pursuit, to get me dialed on some of my electronics and some spots off the coast. Dave plugged us in on some great bass spots off Dana Point and Laguna. We tried to go do the Thresher thing and soon as were at the grounds Dave saw some Bonito crashing and for the rest of the afternoon it was on!! The biggest bonito I have ever seen. The best part of the day was we were the first ones on the spot and by day’s end it seemed that all the local fishing charts were on our back swim platform following us! Limited out and threw the heck out of the iron. I highly recommend Dave!

Randy Kosich
Vice President
Rancho Vista Mortgage Corp.

I purchased a new center console fishing boat last year with the ambition to learn how to fish our local waters and catch what I had been reading about in the sports page for years. Not having a boating background and feeling like a novice in the ocean I knew it was going to take some time on the water before feeling totally comfortable with this new venture. After listening to some “live from the water” reports online I heard this gentlemen by the name of Dave Hansen introduce himself as a salt water guide service. I was struck by the add because it was more than a fishing guide service it was a lesson in operating your own boat including teaching on all of the electronics onboard, exactly what I needed before I could imagine chasing fish all around. Short story is Dave and I became good friends and I owe him a big “thanks” for all he has taught me this past year. I would highly recommend Dave Hansen’s Salt Water Guide Service to anybody new to boating / fishing or for that matter any current boat owners that just want a little more knowledge with the electronics they already have. While you are learning the ropes some outstanding fishing opportunities always seem to present themselves when you are out with the Captain Dave and some memorable fishing days can be expected.

Gary Evans
Corona, CA

As new boat owners and novice inshore anglers we were looking at expediting the learning curve for our new venture. We listened to the daily reports by Dave Hansen each morning and knew he was the guy we needed to help us out. Dave taught us boat skills such docking, mooring and proper anchoring techniques. We learned how to successfully utilize our boat electronics to catch fish locally and at the islands, best of all Dave provided us with many hot spots he has fished over the past 20 years. We figured with Dave’s expertise we saved at least a couple of years in stumbling around looking for fish. We continually fish with Dave whenever possible because he not only taught us some valuable lessons he also became a lifelong friend.

MaryAnn Evans
Corona, CA

Just a super day fishing with Captain Dave Hansen! He is an expert who knows how to find and catch some real trophy fish. My wife and I had never caught a Yellowfin Tuna before until we hired Captain Dave and not only did we both catch our first tuna each but we ended up with eighteen tuna in the boat on a beautiful afternoon in the blue water along the coast of Dana Point. However the best part was sharing some good laughs about that epic day of fishing and Dave trying to call “in” other boaters on the great fishing we were having under the dolphin pods that day, we did not see any other boats in sight  we had the ocean to ourselves. Just can’t say enough about the wonderful experience we had with Captain Dave, it was the highlight of our summer fishing. Thanks for the great time Dave!

 Gary & MaryAnn Evans
Corona, CA