Guide Fishing Etiquette

[Chris at Tech]

As mentioned by several above...

 

Speak to the guide, explain what you want out of the trip or trips, and ask him permission on saving spots.  Heck, you can even ask the guide to specifically target community holes to get you started on that body of water.

[mcipinkie]

We were on Dale Hollow.  I don't know what hump they sat on.

[TnRiver46]

44 minutes ago, mcipinkie said:

We were on Dale Hollow.  I don't know what hump they sat on.

Ah, thank you sir. I’ve never been there but from what I understand it’s always tough unless it’s a blizzard . They have an under 16 over 21 slot right now that makes the tournament weights very odd. 

[mcipinkie]

This was 2004. 

[Darth-Baiter]

Open communication. My friend works a lot.  He fished a few tournaments. He hired a guide to help him practice and prefish unknown lakes. 
 

my recent guide would slow down and point out good kayak spots for me. 

[the reel ess]

 

1 minute ago, the reel ess said:

I asked a guide I fished with in FL if it was OK for me to return to the first place we fished and he said it was public. In other words, have at it. I can find it on the map and return if I wish. Come to think of it, it's almost the same time of year again. But it's FL and he fishes all over So. FL. It's highly unlikely I'd see him. Even if I did, I'd be in a kayak and he'd zoom right past me. We fished a different place the next day that was not open to the general public. You had to be on a list to get in. We had the whole place to ourselves.

 

[ajschn06]

On 11/29/2020 at 5:35 AM, CountryboyinDC said:

I believe I would ask the guide up front, and let him or her know that was your intention.  I know that a lot of guides would get pretty ticked if you did that, particularly if you didn't mention it up front.  I don't take a lot of guided trips, so take this for what it's worth.  For example, there's a guide on the New River in Virginia that won't let you have a powered-on phone on you on the raft.  If you want to take pictures, bring a camera that has no GPS capabilities.  I understand and respect what they're doing - I know how long it takes to find spots.  But there may be someone else like @Bluebasser86 that can show you a more general approach of fishing a lake near you.

That guide doesn't sound like someone I'd want to spend any amount of time with...

On 11/29/2020 at 9:51 PM, mcipinkie said:

I'm not criticizing anyone, just putting out my beliefs.

 

I'm 74 years old, been fishing all my life.  Probably started 65-70 years ago.   Fished my first bass tournament in 1975, so have some experience.

 

I never have, nor never will, hire a guide.  To me, it's not about catching fish.  It's about figuring it out and finding them, then catching them  Same way in hunting.  I know guys that hire a guide.  He puts them on a deer or turkey stand, and they shoot one, and call them selves hunters.

 

Several years ago (2004), my tournament partner and I qualified for a national circuit classic in eastern Tennessee.  We drove 600 plus miles over there, spent a week pre-fishing, swung for the fences and went home with our tails between our legs.  The guys that won, and this was within the rules, hired a guide.  He told them to sit right here, throw a brown jig across that hump for two days and you will win this tournament.  They did and did win.  Two new boats.  Just didn't seem right.

 

Now I understand the real world.  A lot of guys don't have boats suitable to go fish a big lake.  Don't have the experience, and don't want to spend the time it, to get out on Toledo Bend or Sam Rayburn or some giant body of water and catch fish, but not me.  I'll earn it myself, or I won't have it.

 

Just my $0.02.  If you disagree, welcome to your opinion. 

I would agree with this- I also see most guides advertise that they provide all the gear.  Going out on someone elses boat, with their poles, and the bait they told you to fish does not seem like fun to me regardless of the end result.  A big part of the excitement for me is putting my arsenal together and deciding how I want to deploy it on a given day...

[CountryboyinDC]

3 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

That guide doesn't sound like someone I'd want to spend any amount of time with...

I'd recommend him.  He's very up front with that information, and he has a reputation for putting folks on big fish.  I have only fished with him once, but depending on what happens over this winter I would like to go with him or one of his guides in March/April.  I think it's okay to like to do things yourself the way you want to do them, but it might be tough to find a guide that accommodates you.

[ajschn06]

14 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I'd recommend him.  He's very up front with that information, and he has a reputation for putting folks on big fish.  I have only fished with him once, but depending on what happens over this winter I would like to go with him or one of his guides in March/April.  I think it's okay to like to do things yourself the way you want to do them, but it might be tough to find a guide that accommodates you.

I get it- don’t want anyone taking your spots.  For a guide, I’d understand that.  But I can’t have my cell phone powered on?  Gimme a break...

[TnRiver46]

13 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

I get it- don’t want anyone taking your spots.  For a guide, I’d understand that.  But I can’t have my cell phone powered on?  Gimme a break...

Yeah that’s a little overboard. Every single client I’ve ever taken out has their phone on for pictures . Also it’s a little insulting, like I can’t remember where we were with my brain??? I can travel to fishing locations by smell 

[CountryboyinDC]

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I can travel to fishing locations by smell

That's fishing ninja stuff.  Actually, I can find places on the James by smell.  The paper mill in Big Island, the hog farm just below Buchanan......

I do think it's a little overboard, but it's on the website and they tell you before you start.  I will say that without a map, I probably couldn't find some of the places I went with the guide.  I know the put-in and take-out, but in a 12 mile stretch with few manmade structures or unique features would be hard.  But I'm a mortal, I'm probably who the ditty "Rangers in the dark, exchanging azimuths" was written, after observation of my land navigation skills.

[txchaser]

19 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

I get it- don’t want anyone taking your spots.  For a guide, I’d understand that.  But I can’t have my cell phone powered on?  Gimme a break...

IMO this is a clever marketing tactic - spots are so good you can't have your phone on etc etc. Creates mystique and exclusiveness. Sure some people will be turned off, but others will be even more excited.

[GaryH]

Communications is the key. I'm headed to Texas in June for a 2 day tournament and  I already called and asked a guide if I could book a half day trip just to pick his brain. Since I've never fished the lake I was at a major disadvantage. I'm just inquiring of patterns and anything about the lake I need to know.  Not his hot spots Just trying to get on a level playing field.

[cheezyridr]

this has been an interesting thread for me. right now, i don't have a boat, so there are lots of local places i can't fish, or would be pointless to try without one.  it never occurred to me to hire a guide for local fishing.  now i have something i can maybe do next season that won't require me to go on a long trip. it's always been a bucket list thing that one day i would hire a guide in fla to catch giant bass, or some northern state for big pike.  now i might look into hiring a local guide to catch bass in a place i couldn't otherwise fish.  thanks to the o/p for giving me a good idea.

[Mbirdsley]

Guides are not going you to take to their way off the beaten places or honey hole spots ( unless your willing to pay big $$$$).  Chances are they are going to take you to the very spots that all the locals know and Honestly, if they are good they shouldn’t have to take you to a ultra top secret location.  the way this works is if a guide is taking you to a spot it becomes public knowledge and they know this .  Any guide who expects a paying client to keep some secret spot a secret is a fool at best. If I want a spot to stay hidden I don’t people to that spot. 
 

in the end YOU are paying him to find the spots and put you on fish. This happens all the time in Michigan.  The fastest way to get a crash course In how to fish a species, spots or learn a technique  is just to pay a charter/guide 
 

Iike others have said if you want to learn a lake or technique just tell the guide What you want to do. With all that said and done  talk to several guides as some guides are better than others when it comes to teaching. 

 

we learned this the hard way on Lake Michigan.  There are some spots you take paying clients to, there are some spots you take friends to, and some spots you take family to. However, you always keep spots back for your self.  Never tell everybody everything.  Somethings are best left a secret unless like I said they open up the wallet. 

[.ghoti.]

Easy solution to this one.

 

Stop fishing “spots”. 
Start fishing conditions.

[TnRiver46]

17 minutes ago, .ghoti. said:

Easy solution to this one.

 

Stop fishing “spots”. 
Start fishing conditions.

Bingo 

[soflabasser]

Worse guide fishing etiquette I see is when guides spend more time fishing than teaching the customer. There is a reason why someone hires a guide and it is to learn not to watch someone fish. Anybody can be a good bass fisherman but not everybody can be good at teaching someone how to bass fish well.

 

[Mike L]

13 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

Easy solution to this one.

 

Stop fishing “spots”. 
Start fishing conditions.

Exactly!

 

 

 

Mike

[mcipinkie]

I don't want to make this a diatribe, but unfortunately, pattern fishing and condition fishing has gone away with GPS and modern electronics.  It's spot, or at the best, area fishing now.  Maybe there are different spots depending on the seasons, but IMHO that's how it is.  

 

Regardless, I'll earn 'em, or I wont' catch 'em.  I don't buy fish.