Meet the Crew

Meet the owners

The J & M in J&M Sportfishing

John and Mat are both licensed captains and co-owners of the business. They both have over 25 years of experience on the ocean with a passion for fishing.
Both men grew up on the Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf and coming together to own a business on the wharf has been a dream come true.

Our Story

 

MONTEREY, CA. (March 23, 2017) — One of Old Fisherman’s Wharf’s venerable institutions, Randy’s Fishing Trips & Whale Watching, has been purchased and divided into two new outfits, Discovery Whale Watch and J & M Sport Fishing.

The two companies, one focusing on whale watching, the other on sport fishing, will officially open on April 1, with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony set for May 9th at 5:00 p.m..

Randy’s Fishing Trips & Whale Watching, which has been operating on the wharf since 1949 and since 1981 by Peter Bruno, was one of Monterey Bay’s top whale watching and sport fishing outfits, with two boats operating, the 61-foot Chubasco and the 53-foot Sur Randy.

Discovery Whale Watch offers daily 3-4-hour whale watch trips narrated by a marine biologist/naturalist as well as ash scattering trips, private charters and other outings. Their mission statement is: “We strive to provide our passengers with an inspiring, educational experience on Monterey Bay.”

Trips are weather permitting and travel to different locations within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to view whales and dolphins and other wildlife throughout the year.

J & M Sport Fishing specializes in sport fishing trips for a variety of species, including salmon (in season), rock cod, ling cod, Dungeness crab, sand dabs, squid, mackerel, halibut and albacore.

The new owners of the two outfits are John Mayer and Mathew Arcoleo. They are currently updating the Chubasco to make it more comfortable and accommodating as a whale-watching and fishing vessel and continuing to make updates and improvements to the New Horizon, the renamed Sur Randy. As of spring 2019, their plan of adding a third boat to the fleet, the Pacifica, officially came to pass.

 

About John Mayer

John Mayer was practically destined to become an owner of Randy’s Fishing Trips & Whale Watching.

At age 14 he got his first job washing boats at Randy’s Fishing. Within a couple of weeks he became a deckhand and by the time he was 18, he had logged enough hours on the ocean to apply for a captain’s license. And he got it.

He continued to crew on Randy’s boats as well as fill in as skipper when needed. He spent almost a dozen years working at the Fisherman’s Wharf institution.

In his late-20s, John decided to join Monterey Bay Whale Watch, where he ended up spending seven years and logged 3,000 trips out into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

“I adapted quite well,” he says of the transition from mostly fishing trips to whale watching. “Whale watching was just as interesting to me, if not more. What really gets me going is I really like to try and figure out what’s going on in the ocean. All the little things out there and how it all fits together.”

Born in Santa Cruz, but raised in Pacific Grove, John, now 36, has always had a deep and abiding interest in the ocean. So being a partner in both a fishing and whale-watching enterprise is a dream come true.

“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a deckhand with Randy’s Fishing,” he says. “I’ve always admired and respected the people doing this. But this is an expensive business to get into and I said I would only do it if the right person came along. And in Mathew, I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

John actually met Mathew through Mathew’s daughter, who was an intern with Monterey Bay Whale Watch. When Mathew came to Monterey with his daughter, the two men got to talking and found out they had similar visions.

The result was Discovery Whale Watching and J&M Sport Fishing (J&M taken from their first names, of course), in which they are 50/50 partners.

“We want to educate people and provide a great experience for them,” he says. “We want to tell the story about the ocean, its animals and its environment. And we’re putting together an all-star cast to do that.”

 

About Mathew Arcoleo

Mathew Arcoleo has spent almost 30 years in the high-tech industry in the Bay Area, but his roots are in Monterey and especially on Fisherman’s Wharf. You could say it’s in his blood.

Mathew’s great-grandfather was the first person to start a sport fishing enterprise on Fisherman’s Wharf and his grandfather and father both owned Frank’s Fishing Trips on the Wharf.

Not only that, young Mathew was affectionally known as a “wharf rat,” hanging out in his dad’s shop and working as a deckhand on his boats as a teen-ager before he left for college.

Born and raised in Monterey, Mathew attended Monterey schools as well as Monterey Peninsula College before he left to attend San Jose State, where he got a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He also got his MBA at Santa Clara University and was well on his way to a thriving career in the semi-conductor industry.

But he also knew that he would be drawn back to Monterey some day.

“It’s something I’d always thought I’d do one day,” he says about his return to Monterey and a business partnership on the Wharf with John Mayer, a fellow “wharf rat.” “I always thought of Monterey as my home. I even have a boat that I take out fishing or whale watching with my daughter, sons and  friends.”

And to solidify the Monterey connections even more, John Mayer was captaining the boat for Monterey Bay Whale Watching when Mathew scattered his dad’s ashes at sea; one of the  principals of MBWW, Richard Ternullo was a cousin of his; and his daughter, Brooke, worked as a summer intern on one of MBWW’s boats, which also happened to be captained by John Mayer.

It was on one of these excursions that Mathew and John started talking about their own venture on the Wharf.

With Randy’s for sale, Mathew and John thought it was their chance to fulfill that shared vision, but only if they could do it the right way, and that was with two separate outfits and another boat added to the fleet.

“We believe in having two companies, each one focusing on its core,” says Mathew, who currently lives in Campbell, California. He has a wife, Carrie, an elementary school teacher, daughter and two sons. Mathew hopes to return to Monterey one day. “Discovery Whale Watching is for whale watching.  The boats used will be clean and set up for that. J&M Sport Fishing is all about fishing.”

Captains

Our Captains are highly trained in the latest regulations and technologies in the sport fishing industry. They strive to put you on the highest quality fish each day while operating safely and making the trip enjoyable for everyone.

Name: JJ Rasler

Years on the ocean: 15+ years

Hometown: Seaside, CA

Specialty: Captain

Favorite Hobby: “Coaching high school football for the local teams and fishing and hunting.”

Name: Danny Frank

Years on the ocean: 25+ years

Hometown: Pacific Grove, CA

Specialty: Captain

Favorite Hobby: “I like raising baby goats and practicing my archery, but not at the same time.

Name: Rod Stoltz

Years on the ocean: 15+ years

Hometown: Martinez, CA

Specialty: Captain

Favorite Hobby: Scuba Diving

Deck Hands

Our Deck Hands are there to show you the ropes. They will help you get set up and assist you on deck throughout the trip. They maintain safety and regulations on deck while we are out at sea in addition to the captain. The deckhands do provide a fish cleaning service on our return trip to the dock or at the pier once the trip has ended.

Name: Britt Simon

Years on the ocean: 6.5 years

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Specialty: Fleet Manager, Naturalist, and Deckhand

Favorite Hobby: “Watching Hockey – Go Kings Go”

Name: Kevin Klein

Years on the ocean: 6

Hometown: Carmel Valley, CA

Specialty:  Deckhand

Favorite Hobby:

Name: Alfredo Chiappini

Years on the ocean: 4 years

Hometown: Westerly, RI

Specialty: Deck Hand

Favorite Hobby: Free Diving

Name: Caila Devlin

Years working on the ocean: 7

Hometown: Alameda, CA

Specialty: Deck Hand

Favorite Hobby: Crabbing and Sailing

Name: Andrew Zazeski

Years on the ocean: 10 years

Hometown: Bremerton, WA

Specialty: Deck Hand

Favorite Hobby: Fishing

Name: Daniel Gross

Years on the ocean:

Hometown:

Specialty: Deck hand

Favorite Hobby:

Name: Andrew Boushka

Years on the ocean:

Hometown: Ketchikan, AK

Specialty: Deck hand & Office Staff

Favorite Hobby: Travel

Office Staff

Our Office Staff is there to get you all set up for your trip! Give them a call or walk in to our shop at the Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey from 7am-5pm for questions, bookings, licenses, gear and more. They will give you the latest weather updates, fish counts and availabilities so you can plan your trip.

Name: Caila Devlin

Years in the industry:

Hometown:

Specialty:  Deckhand & Senior Office Staff

Favorite Hobby:

Name: Briana Garcia

Years in the industry:

Hometown:

Specialty: Assistant Shop Manager & Videographer

Favorite Hobby:

Name: Evyn Essert

Years in the industry: 2

Hometown:

Specialty: Guest Experience & Office Operations

Favorite Hobby:

Name: Amanda Urena

Years in the industry:

Hometown:

Specialty: Guest Experience & Office Operations & Photographer

Favorite Hobby:

Name: Kaila Marsden

Years in  the industry: 2

Hometown:

Specialty: Guest Experience & Office Operations

Favorite Hobby:

Our Vessels

We have two vessels we use for fishing here at J&M. The Chubasco and the New Horizon are in service throughout the year based on our daily schedule. Both vessels are fully equipped for fishing, outfitted with all necessary safety equipment, and certified and inspected annually by the U.S. Coast Guard. Each vessel has live bait tanks, two restrooms on board, an inside cabin and snack bar (also serves beer and wine).

The Chubasco is a 63ft vessel that can fish up to 40 anglers at a time but is certified for carrying up to 59 passengers.

The New Horizon is a 55ft vessel that can fish up to 30 anglers at a time but is certified for carrying up to 47 passengers.

Both vessels are available for private charter based on availability.

 

We also recently acquired the 4th addition to our fleet-a 32ft Boston Whaler named The Samurai! She has been completely outfitted as a tuna killing machine and will mostly be running trips out of San Diego, CA targeting Tuna & other pelagic species!

I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Our Location

J&M Sportfishing has recently purchased the landing and business that used to be Randy’s Fishing & Whale Watching Trips. We are located on Monterey’s Historic Old Fisherman’s Wharf. There are many gift shops and restaurants on the Fisherman’s Wharf. After finding a convenient place to park you will stroll past these fine establishments. Approximately ¾ of the way down the wharf at the Crab House Restaurant is a wood surfaced finger pier that turns to the right. We are in a light blue building that is marked as Discovery Whale Watch (our sister company at the landing). The building is situated behind the Crab House Restaurant and is visible to the parking lot. You should check in 1/2 hour before your departure time.

PLEASE NOTE: GPS Directions are INACCURATE! If You are Using a GPS input the Address –> 250 Figueroa Street, Monterey, Ca 93940 . Using this Address will give you the CORRECT Directions to the Wharf Parking lot

Wondering what to do with your filleted fish? Head over to Cafe Fina around the corner from us on the wharf and make a reservation for their Fresh Catch Meal Deal. They will prepare a nice fish meal for you that compliments well with side dishes and drinks on their menu.