Choosing A Guide
Let's say you are looking to find a fishing
guide to take your family, friends, employees, or work
associates on a fishing trip. Where would you start to look?
Probably the Internet would be your first choice, or maybe your
local fishing magazine, or your local tackle and sporting good
stores. What you would find is that there are thousands of
guides to choose from. It doesn't always mean that the first ten
on your search engines, or the sites with the big flashy ads are
always the best. It just means that they spent more money on
advertising. How do you find the right guide for you? You ask
questions and you listen to their responses. If they are
knowledgeable and well informed, you should feel comfortable
that this is the guide service for you. Here are just a few
things that might make it a little easier for you to pick the
right fishing guide the next time you are looking.
Experience - You should choose a
guide for his experience of the rivers and the species of fish
you are looking to catch. They should be willing to teach you so
that you can take what you have learned while on the guided trip
and use it on your own. Besides wanting to catch fish on your
guided trip you might want to learn the river's holes, type of
water that holds fish, and the different techniques used to
catch these fish. Remember, ask plenty of questions!
Personality - Your guide should be a people person. We
have to be, since we are always dealing with new people with
different levels of fishing ability and attitudes. One thing you
must remember is that you are there to have a good time.
Catching fish should be a bonus. A good personality can make
those slow days on the water much more enjoyable. No matter what
guide you ask, they all have those slow fishing days!
Success - You are using a guide to increase your
chance of catching fish as well as having a great time. Ask your
guide if he ever gets skunked. He should be able to admit to it,
because it happens even to the best of us. It might not happen
very often, but it does happen. Make sure the guide is more
interested in putting you into fish than just putting your money
into his or her pocket. Poor water conditions, unfavorable
weather, or low numbers of fish in the river, all can contribute
to a possible slow day fishing. Your guide should recognize
these "crow-eating conditions," as we like to call it, (no fish
catching) and call to give you a chance to reschedule or go
ahead as planned and fish.
Safety - Safety is one of the most important issues to
keep in mind while searching for a guide. There is only a few
ways that you as a client can check to be sure the guide you are
considering is a safe one or not. It all has to do with his
licenses. Ask to see his guide licenses and proof of insurance.
Most of the rivers in the state of Washington require fishing
guides to have a US Coast Guard license. Guides fishing these
waters without the required license void their insurance,
leaving you and your family unprotected in case of an accident.
US Coast Guard Licenses also requires the holder to be on a
random drug-testing program and hold current First Aid & CPR
card. Make sure he or she goes over all of the safety equipment
on his boat and shows you where everything is located. He must
have these items on hand every trip. Not all of the guides in
the state of Washington will be able to come up with all of
these items. Your safety should come first among all
considerations!Equipment - High end equipment is
important! Good guides will use only the best equipment which
insures that you won't loose a fish to a bad reel or broken
pole. It will also provide you the opportunity to try out some
new equipment which you might want to later purchase for your
own fishing excursions. A guide who does not maintain adequate
equipment is not interested in helping you catch fish.
References - Most of the guides today have some
sponsors. Don't hesitate to call these sponsors for a good
reference. To get sponsors, usually must provide a trip to allow
companies to evaluate who they are sponsoring. Probably the best
reference for any guide is word of mouth. Talk to your fellow
fishermen and ask them about the guide you are thinking of
using. Get more than one opinion, because one bad trip for a
guide goes a long way on the riverbanks, but a good report will
go even farther.
Costs - There is no standard as to what a guide must
charge for his or her services. One thing to remember is you
definitely get what you pay for. You can figure that for 8 Hours
on the river fishing, your guide spends another 2-3 hours
driving and 2-3 hours preparing and cleaning up his boat and
equipment. That is a 12-14 hour day your guide puts into
ensuring his clients' success. He puts a lot of time and effort
in being well informed and knowing where the fish are and how to
catch them. So, if you have a good trip don't forget to tip the
skip. Your guide appreciates it and the next time you use them,
they will remember you for it.
These are just some suggestion to assist you the next time you
are considering a guide. Hopefully, when you choose a guide
service for your next fishing adventure, these tips will help
you pick a guide to ensure a safe and great experience.
Reasons For Choosing A
Guide
Here is something that one of my clients wrote after a season
on the water, with his own boat and who now fishes with. Just a
little something to think about...
Boat Vs. Guide
I decided this river fishing looks easy and I will get my
own boat and save a lot of money over hiring a guide. I did
the math. Consider that you might go 2 times a month
realistically on average (probably less) .
Per month:
Boat payment $270.00
Insurance $30.00
Bait & Tackle $30.00
Gas for Boat and Truck $50.00 per trip
1 trip a month @ $380.00 = $4560.00 per year for 1 trip a
month
2 trips a month @$460.00 = $5520.00 a year for 2 trip a
month
That's not including all the poles and fishing gear and
maintenance! That doesn't include all the $$$ spent on bait
and tackle for your buddies who don't have the right
equipment and don't pitch in for gas. That doesn’t include
my psychiatric bill for the stress & hair loss. Oh don’t
forget the repair charges for the hole I put in my boat.
I have since sold my boat and fish once a month with John. I
spend $1800.00 a year and catch twice as many fish with a
fraction of operator's stress. I was spent close to $5000.00
that year and not having near the fun. I blame the guide for
making it look so easy to catch all those fish!!!!
Reasons to Hire A Guide:
2 Springers = 30lbs times $8.00 per/lbs = $240.00 that trip
paid for itself.
2 Steelhead = 20lbs times $6.00 per pound = $ 120.00 It cost
me $30.00 to fish with John.
I wanted to catch a fish.
You will catch more fish with a guide. A lot more!!!!
I wanted to relax.
I didn't want to run my boat and try to fish at the same
time.
I didn't want to fish from shore.
I'm tired of combat fishing and limited success.
I didn't know where or how to fish a specific river.
I wanted to learn from a professional, the river and
techniques for catching fish.
