Do/should guides actually fish when you pay for a guided fishing trip?

[Recurve1]

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies.

It makes sense that if a client is not catching fish after say 30 - 60 min the guide should try some techniques  or areas to see if fish are there, what lure works, is the client the issue or is it the fish/water, etc.  hopefully he could do this in a limited amount of time, then when he finds something he can instruct the client  with the new information.  This makes sense and a limited amount is understandable.

 

BTW the guide my friend is going with charges $300/half day and $500 for whole day walk and wade on public rivers that I already fish (and always catch fish) on.  No limited access areas.  No meals or transportation provided that I can see.

 

Needless to say I will not be paying for his service, I can use that money for a new rod and reel or waders!

 

Thanks again to all

[Pumpkin Lizard]

47 minutes ago, king fisher said:

That is the name of the game.  If it were fun and games, they wouldn't call it work.  I have guided my entire adult life, and have seen anglers who's skill level was  negative 100 on on a scale of one to ten.   Some people don't only not learn, but try as hard as they can to get worse.

 

One time I had a lady fishing for silver salmon.  The stream was loaded with salmon, and you could catch one on almost every cast with a spinning rod.  She insisted on fly fishing.  A skilled fly caster could cast far enough to present a fly to a salmon without spooking it and catch a salmon on almost every cast.  An average angler could cast well enough to hook enough to keep their rod bent for most of the day.  A beginner fly angler if they progressed well, would be able to hook a few and if they were quick learners may catch even more

 

After trying all morning to get this particular anglers casting skill to the point she could catch a couple fish, I realized she was never going to catch a silver salmon on a fly rod in that river.  It was getting close to lunch and she was getting very frustrated, so I suggested she take a break, from fly casting, grab a spinning rod, and catch a fresh salmon for shore lunch.  She looked at me holding a spinning rod, like I was the devil with a pitchfork.  She told me she would never cheat and use such an sporting method of fishing.  I wanted to tell her, that with her skill level, dynamite thrown in an aquarium wouldn't be considered cheating.  She couldn't cast a fly 6 feet with a nine foot fly rod  but held my tongue and tried to figure a way to survive the afternoon.  I tried every spot on the river, from the shore, drifting the boat, the boat anchored, or me walking the boat slowly through a hole.  I tried every size, color, and type of fly I had.  I did my best to teach her to cast, but to avail.  At the end of the day she was not happy, it was my fault she didn't catch any salmon.  All the other guides clients landed multiple silvers, and most of them on fly rods.  She was sure I was the worst guide in camp, maybe the whole state.  

 

For the record I didn't fish that day.  I had to be careful not to even let the fly touch the water while holding on to a rod in fear that a salmon would hit the fly  while dangling in the water, knowing I would be accused of sore mouthing all of the fish depriving her of an opportunity to land her very own silver salmon.  I did offer to hook a salmon for her, and let her land it on her rod, but I got the devil with the pitchfork stare again, and decided to exercise my constitutional right to remain silent.

 

I got up the next morning welcomed the new guest while they unloaded from the plane, smiled and said let’s t go catch some salmon.  Guiding is not easy, it is lots of work, but the good days make it seem like a vacation, and the bad days at least make for good stories.  

You can’t win in that situation.  

My brother does guide trips for trout, bass and pike in northeast. Those trips with inexperienced fly fishers who don’t listen are his biggest nightmare. It’s one thing when they can’t make a cast and another when your only hope of getting a strike is if you can make a cast and mend. Usually he can get them to toss an indicator rig with some nymphs and use the boat to mend the  line.

 

 

 

 

 

[TOXIC]

That’s exactly why the Senko made my job much, much, easier.  A few,pointers and with me watching their line, catch rates went up even for the most inexperienced. 😂

[Swamp Girl]

10 hours ago, TOXIC said:

with me watching their line

 

That's the key, isn't it? I was fishing a Senko two days ago at high noon and the Sun made it very difficult to see my line.

[Captain Phil]

19 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Just ask @Captain Phil, fishing guide is the worst job you could ever have 😂 

 

we called it adult babysitting 

 

everyone thinks you fish for a living then everyone thinks you shouldn’t fish 

 

how do you know how to put people on fish if you never cast ? 

 

Being a bass fishing guide is the worst way you can ever make a living. The hours are long and the pay is little.  Many people show up with no skill, no common sense and unrealistic expectations.  The only way to be successful is to hang live shiners on a hook and wait for a fish to appear, then hope the angler can hook and land a fish.  Truth be known, more money is made selling live bait to customers than fishing.  Bass fishing with artificial lures takes skill and experience.  Unless the fish are jumping in the boat (not often), it is rare to have a great day. 

 

My best customers were out of town tournament anglers who wanted to know how and where I fish.  They always wanted me to fish.  They were not looking for spots or advice, they wanted to see what I did and then make their own decisions.  I met some great people this way, some of them you would know.  

 

My second best customers were avid weekend anglers with skill and experience.  It was always a pleasure when they booked me and I enjoyed them all. Again, they wanted me to fish.  This man came to me from Minnesota in the dead of winter.  He told me in Minnesota bass are considered rough fish and trout are the sport fish. I found this odd.   He wanted to catch a big Florida bass, so I gave him my favorite Rattle Trap. This was the result. 

 

[Mike L]

21 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

That's the key, isn't it? I was fishing a Senko two days ago at high noon and the Sun made it very difficult to see my line.

Not all time but yes, line watching is key for certain soft plastics, a stick bait of any kind is certainly one.
But only using one indicator to detect a strike can hinder you at the same time. 
 

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t just get caught up in only one way. 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[Swamp Girl]

8 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Not all time but yes, line watching is key for certain soft plastics, a stick bait of any kind is certainly one.
But only using one indicator to detect a strike can hinder you at the same time. 
 

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t just get caught up in only one way. 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

I hear ya, Mike. When I couldn't see the line, I had to be super alert for any changes in line tension. 

[Goby]

I am not sure I would want to be a guide in 2024, the businesses I own now expose me to enough humans and most of them are not pleasant these days... Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy, but people just seem to suck a lot more than they used to. It genuinely seems like the people you bend over backwards for the most are the most unappreciative too... 

 

The absolute only way to guide is 100% independent, do your own thing, your own way and market yourself to the kind of clients you want. It may take you a while to build a clientele, but it's 100% worth the effort.

 

I am actually impressed a guy can get 500 a day for walk in Bass trips, most rivers you can walk in and fish Bass, you are not catching giants. I wonder how much repeat business he gets though...

 

Tennessee does have some gorgeous rivers though, their game wardens utilize jet drive boats I designed, spent a bunch of time down there running rivers in jet sleds, many years ago. 

[Mike L]

5 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I hear ya, Mike. When I couldn't see the line, I had to be super alert for any changes in line tension. 

There ya go 

Try to hold the line in a joint between your knuckles as soon as it hits the water. 
 

That is the most sensitive part of your hand. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[rangerjockey]

Yes, 2 lines in the water are better than 1 for establishing some kind of pattern.

I have a couple buddies who guide here. Lets face it, 90% of the people they guide can't really fish. They are tourists who want to experience a famous lake. So, this time of year they will be drop shotting night crawlers. It's the easiest and safelist way to get a family of 3 or 4 on fish.

It's a different trip for the other 10%.

[gim]

I've been on a guided fishing four times.  Both in Florida saltwater fishing.  First time in Tampa, second was a 3 day trip to Key West.

 

Every time I went the guide did a little fishing.  But their first order of business was getting us to the spot, finding the target species, and trying to catch them.  One of the days our guide caught a keeper sized yellow snapper and he offered it to us to take home, so that was a benefit of the guide fishing.

 

I never got the impression that the guide was doing it so they could catch the fish themself.  I was with my wife once and my Father in Key West and we had good fishing every time, so we tipped handsomly with straight cash.

 

I intend to do it again when I'm able to.

[Susky River Rat]

I feel like the guide should help with the pattern. Once he gets you on fish he should be looking for the next best bait for you to throw while giving you prime access to all the spots. His prime goal should be getting you in fish and giving you the best pattern they can. 
 

For musky in my opinion him fishing is crucial. He should always being using something different than you. The very small windows or getting a follow earlier in the day to come back to during a prime time help.  I’ve had more multi musky days with someone else fishing with me than alone. Now if you are getting lots of follows he should be putting the rod down and suggesting what to change to make them eaters. 

[SC53]

I’ve only been on a few guide trips in my life. Two were saltwater flats trips and one on Headwaters. The SW flats trips, the guides never fished. The poled the boat around all day and told us what to throw and the approximate location.  We caught fish on both of those.

The guided trip on HW was with a guide that didn’t fish.  I discussed this with him beforehand. He ran to the spots and once there, he ran the trolling motor from the back of the boat.  He recommended what to throw is all. Towards the end of the day I told him to fish and he declined as that wasn’t what he did.
The reason I talked to him about that was because I’ve seen a number of guides that post pictures of the fish they, not their clients, caught on their charters. That to me is wrong but that’s me.

If it’s discussed beforehand ( and it should always be) and you, the client, agrees that the guide is allowed to fish, then that’s all good. 

If I’m not catching fish, based on where the guide takes me and offers advice as to what to throw, then I might ask him to fish to figure out a pattern.  But once it’s established, I expect the fish to be mine to catch, not his.

[Bankc]

3 hours ago, Goby said:

I am not sure I would want to be a guide in 2024, the businesses I own now expose me to enough humans and most of them are not pleasant these days... Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy, but people just seem to suck a lot more than they used to. It genuinely seems like the people you bend over backwards for the most are the most unappreciative too...

I wouldn't want to guide if I was working for someone else (do guides even do this?).  But if I ran my own company, I'd have no problem telling those few who just want to be mean to go stuff it!  I'd drop them off at the dock the second I caught wind of that kind of behavior.  And if they were bad enough, it wouldn't even be the dock we launched from. 

 

It took a lot of work, but I've finally convinced by bosses that the customer isn't always right and we don't need everyone's business.  It took years of tracking data and tons of delicate conversations on my part to finally convince them that maybe 5% of our customers are the cause of 50% of our yearly losses.  And they still don't fully trust in it.  They'll still give a bad customer the benefit of the doubt for far too long.  But they've at least started to learn how to tell customers "no" and "take your business elsewhere" when they get bad enough.  It's a different world now, and everyone has to evolve with it.  Most customers want your products or services.  And even good customers will have bad days.  But a select few don't want what you have to offer.  They just want you to feel their pain. 

 

I certainly wouldn't want to rely on guiding as a primary source of income.  The pay is too low and costs too high for something so unpredictable and seasonal.  But, I could see it being a good job for someone to supplement another, steady income.  Like maybe someone who's retired or a school teacher with summers off. 

[TOXIC]

4 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

That's the key, isn't it? I was fishing a Senko two days ago at high noon and the Sun made it very difficult to see my line.

As Mike pointed out it is one of the main ways.  When I fish a Senko weightless I use BPS EXCEL mono in fluorescent.  Not clear, not green.  It helps with the line watching and actually gets brighter blue in the sun.  My old favorite was Berkley Tournament Pro mono in Photochromic.  Sadly discontinued.  Another tip to help when line watching is to focus on 2 different spots.  First where the bait enters the water and is sinking, pulling your line down into the water and second where the line leaves the water coming up to your rod tip. That’s 2 points separated by your line laying on top of the water.  Good gear helps feel the thump in the rod but many times it’s a suttle pickup moving your line left, right or some other unnatural way.  As I have said, when I throw a senko, my mind goes completely blank and I am visualizing what the Senko is doing as it falls.  Hyper focused. 
 

Back to the main topic, as I said, different methods require different guide skills.  Saltwater, especially blue water is totally different from wading which is totally different from trolling.  I did some trout walk in fly guiding in the Blue Ridge mountains off the Shenandoah river and I fished on those trips as well.  I was pro staff for Bass Pro and a lot of my clients were referred through the store I was headquartered out of.  There were all different skill levels.  I was also sponsored by a local marina that kept a “brag book” with pictures of all the guides and their catches and contact information.  There’s a lot of negative talk about guiding but there are also tremendous highs.  Putting someone on their first bass, putting someone on their biggest bass, seeing the pure joy in kids eyes catching bass, having a tournament angler call me after pre-fishing him to tell me he won the tournament, guiding for multiple Wounded Warriors tournaments I got to give back to those who were willing to give all.  Those are the moments that make guiding rewarding more than just the $$. 

[Mike L]

6 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Another tip to help when line watching is to focus on 2 different spots.  First where the bait enters the water and is sinking, pulling your line down into the water and second where the line leaves the water coming up to your rod tip. That’s 2 points separated by your line laying on top of the water.  Good gear helps feel the thump in the rod but many times it’s a suttle pickup moving your line left, right or some other unnatural way.  As I have said, when I throw a senko, my mind goes completely blank and I am visualizing what the Senko is doing as it falls.  Hyper focused. 

Excellent Tip!

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[king fisher]

I have previously commented from a guides perspective on this thread, now I will tell the other side of the story from my limited experience as a client on the subject.

 

My first ever experience as a client was six years ago, fishing for bass here in Mexico.  For my birthday may wife bought me a weekend bass fishing trip at a local lodge.  I had zero expectations, and was determined to have fun regardless of the number and size of bass.  At the time the Bait Monkey had not found me hiding in Mexico, and I didn't have much in the way of bass tackle, so I opted to use the lodge equipment.  The equipment was good, and a small box of soft plastics, 3/8 oz bullet sinkers, and hooks. was all they fished with at this lake, and the bass didn't seem to mind hitting the same thing every day.

 

My guide was pleasant and spoke English far better than I spoke Spanish.  He drove the boat to a bank on the other side of the lake and pointed at the shoreline.  First cast I hooked a bass.  I caught bass on every few casts.  The bass were plentiful, but all of them were small.  Around a pound with a 1.5 pound bass being a big one and nothing over two pounds.  The guide was quick with the net, and counted every bass with a clicker he had in his pocket.  When a plastic worm would get tore up he simply broke off some of the worm and I fished with a shorter worm.  He wouldn't change worms until what started as a 7 inch worm was about one inch.  To this day I refer to that common practice as a Mexican Ned Rig.  The clicker counter was because at the end of the day it was important for the guides to no the exact number of bass caught.  I assume the quality of the trip was gauged solely on the numbers of bass landed

 

My guide positioned the boat with a tiller controlled electric motor on the stern.  He did make a cast now and then, but was to busy driving the boat to do much fishing.  I considered him more of a boat driver than guide.  When I would ask him if I should fish faster, he would say yes, when I asked him if I should slow down he would say yes, deeper yes, shallower yes.  He had the same  answer for every fishing question I had.  If I had been a complete novice angler, I doubt he would have done much more than point at the bank and drive the boat.  A complete beginner would have caught some bass, but not near as many as they would catch if the guide would have been an excellent instructor.  I got the feeling that he thought his job was to position the boat, net the fish, keep count of the number of bass, and try and save as many inches of soft plastics as possible.  I caught lots of bass, had a few laughs, and had a great time.  I learned very little about the fishery but had a good over all experience  The guide did what the lodge owner expected of him, so in the end I felt he did his job well.  If I were the owner of the lodge, I would hire guides that were more enthused about fishing and were always striving to perfect their guiding - teaching skills, but I don't own the lodge, and all the guests seemed very happy.

 

My next guided bass fishing trip came a year later on Lake Chapala.  My guide had his own bass boat, and was not associated with a lodge.  He was an excellent guide that was a true professional.  His knowledge of the water, and techniques to catch the bass were excellent.  He was able to teach me a new technique with precise, and patient instruction.

 

He loved to fish for bass, and did fish while I was fishing, but he always fished in order to help me with my fishing.  The bass were located under thick matts of grass, and in tall tulles.  I had never punched matts before, but had been instructed to bring the proper gear for this technique.  I borrowed a heavy rod from a friend, and brought my own reel loaded with 65 pound braid. 

 

It didn't take long for me to get the basics down and land a few 2-3 pound bass.  My guide was constantly telling me where to pitch, and what kind of abnormalities in the matt to look for.  He would pitch his bait to targets, and quickly reel the line in before a bass could get to his lure, when he saw movement in the reeds.  I would then pitch my bait in and catch the bass that moved after his bait.  This worked many times I appreciated how hard he worked to get me on to fish.  He also would cast a spinnerbait out on the other side of the boat, looking for bass in the more scattered grass towards open water while I punched the thick cover towards shore.  He caught one bass while doing this and I quickly switched over to a spinnerbait and landed some of the biggest bass of the day.

 

Towards the end of the day he took me to a place where he thought we might be able to catch a larger bass.  The spot had a couple standing trees, mixed in with a couple of boulders.  I switched to a square bill and he lined me up for a perfect cast that would go over branches on both trees, and make contact with the a boulder on the retrieve.  For once I made a perfect cast and caught a 5.5 pound bass which was my big fish of the day.  

 

I fished a few more times with this guide and always landed quality bass, greatly improved my fishing skill, and as a bonus he provided a nice lunch.  He was an excellent teacher without becoming overbearing, and was always trying to get me more and bigger bass.  He did fish, but never to my detriment.  He was not fishing for himself, he was only fishing to help me catch more and bigger bass.  I told him I didn't care if he fished for fun, and he said he might if he had a chance

 

Unfortunately a quality guide costs more than I can afford.  I decided if I wanted to get back in to bass fishing at my new home, I would have to find a way to fish on my own.  I couldn't afford a boat so I bought a kayak.  I told the Chapala guide that I had bought a kayak, and wouldn't be able to hire him any more, but would try and send him some business.  He thanked me for fishing with him, and even told me of some great places to kayak fish for bass.

 

Like I said at the beginning of this post I have very limited experience as a client but feel I have had examples of two extremes.  One guide was mostly a boat driver, and the other a true professional fisherman.  Both were great experiences, both took me to the bass, but I prefer a guide who wears more than one hat.        

[Pumpkin Lizard]

4 hours ago, Bankc said:

I wouldn't want to guide if I was working for someone else (do guides even do this?).  But if I ran my own company, I'd have no problem telling those few who just want to be mean to go stuff it!  I'd drop them off at the dock the second I caught wind of that kind of behavior.  And if they were bad enough, it wouldn't even be the dock we launched from. 

 

It took a lot of work, but I've finally convinced by bosses that the customer isn't always right and we don't need everyone's business.  It took years of tracking data and tons of delicate conversations on my part to finally convince them that maybe 5% of our customers are the cause of 50% of our yearly losses.  And they still don't fully trust in it.  They'll still give a bad customer the benefit of the doubt for far too long.  But they've at least started to learn how to tell customers "no" and "take your business elsewhere" when they get bad enough.  It's a different world now, and everyone has to evolve with it.  Most customers want your products or services.  And even good customers will have bad days.  But a select few don't want what you have to offer.  They just want you to feel their pain. 

 

I certainly wouldn't want to rely on guiding as a primary source of income.  The pay is too low and costs too high for something so unpredictable and seasonal.  But, I could see it being a good job for someone to supplement another, steady income.  Like maybe someone who's retired or a school teacher with summers off. 

I knew some really good fly guides out west who basically used to joke that you could hire them if you passed the interview:) Seriously they were half kidding. They were always booked with repeat business. They could afford to get selective.
 

When I started going out to Montana in the 2000s I was fishing with a guy who was exclusive with a small lodge.  For five or six years I could book him but after a while he had no availability because I always plan my trips at the last minute.  We became pretty good friends and used to drink beers after fishing. We know each other’s kid’s names and stuff. 
 

To make ends meet when he was younger during the winter he would go be a head guide in Chile for a lodge. Later on he would switch to Redfish in Louisiana. 

Fast forward many years and he still guides but also has an outfitters license and has multiple guides also working for him so he doesn’t need to leave his family all winter. It still can be stressful, sometimes the rivers you are guiding have bad year and you end up losing money burning gas to guide further and further away from home.

 

 

 

[thediscochef]

I know people that hire a guide to learn, others that just wanna go fish, others that go to catch. What they all expect of the person with the boat is usually different. The best guides will do their best to give both people their desired experience within reason. There isn't necessarily a right or a wrong when it comes to a guide fishing on your trip - it's situational. I've had guides that would fish to locate and see what's biting what, but when they get bit they shake the fish off and put the rod down. I've also been on an eight hour trip where the guide caught three nice fish and didn't stop fishing despite nobody else getting bit. More often than not, expectations will often be met at the same level of their communication

[Captain Phil]

13 hours ago, thediscochef said:

More often than not, expectations will often be met at the same level of their communication

 

Communication is key!  Before you book a guide, make your desires and expectations clear.  Do not assume all guides are the same.  Boating as many fish as possible is a different goal than targeting large fish.  Live bait fishing is easier than bass fishing with artificial lures.  Some guides are entertainers, others are not.  Some guides are teachers, others are not. What is important is that you and your guide are on the same page.  Do your discovery before the boat leaves the dock. 

[Swamp Girl]

15 hours ago, king fisher said:

He would pitch his bait to targets, and quickly reel the line in before a bass could get to his lure, when he saw movement in the reeds. 

 

Now that's a guide!

 

15 hours ago, king fisher said:

I fished a few more times with this guide and always landed quality bass, greatly improved my fishing skill, and as a bonus he provided a nice lunch.  He was an excellent teacher without becoming overbearing, and was always trying to get me more and bigger bass. 

 

Yep, quite a guide.

 

16 hours ago, king fisher said:

He thanked me for fishing with him, and even told me of some great places to kayak fish for bass.

 

And a real mensch too.

 

14 hours ago, thediscochef said:

I've had guides that would fish to locate and see what's biting what, but when they get bit they shake the fish off and put the rod down.

 

Now that's not a guide for he didn't guide you to anything. 

 

Guides are more than I can afford, but for fishing articles, I was guided a few times. I'd rather fish by myself or with a friend. I enjoy deciding where to cast and the gratification of guessing well when a fish hits.

 

[Smirak]

About 2 yrs ago, my son and I went to Guntersville for a guided trip. I don’t consider myself an “experienced” angler, but I do ok. Guide was super nice, communicative, etc…ALL BEFORE WE LAUNCHED. Once we got to the first spot (and every subsequent spot) he put us on, my son and I threw rage bugs, weightless crawling the bottom. Meanwhile, the guide is on the casting deck by himself throwing a jackhammer using livescope. He caught about six at that spot. Meanwhile, my son and I are just slow rolling a rage bug on the bottom. For a half day trip, my son and I caught 2. The guide caught maybe a dozen or so. My son backlashed one of the reels pretty dang good, and the guide said “no problem. That’s just $75 worth of line.” Ok…whatever…anyway, long story coming to an end - the guide caught a really nice bass, maybe 4-5 lbs. He then asked my son to hold it up so he can take a picture for his website showing the clients what they can expect. What they can expect? You catching the fish and then trying to get your potential clients to think my son caught that on your guide?

 

All of that said, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but with a different guide. I’d imagine there are hundreds at Guntersville. 

[fishhugger]

16 minutes ago, Smirak said:

About 2 yrs ago, my son and I went to Guntersville for a guided trip. I don’t consider myself an “experienced” angler, but I do ok. Guide was super nice, communicative, etc…ALL BEFORE WE LAUNCHED. Once we got to the first spot (and every subsequent spot) he put us on, my son and I threw rage bugs, weightless crawling the bottom. Meanwhile, the guide is on the casting deck by himself throwing a jackhammer using livescope. He caught about six at that spot. Meanwhile, my son and I are just slow rolling a rage bug on the bottom. For a half day trip, my son and I caught 2. The guide caught maybe a dozen or so. My son backlashed one of the reels pretty dang good, and the guide said “no problem. That’s just $75 worth of line.” Ok…whatever…anyway, long story coming to an end - the guide caught a really nice bass, maybe 4-5 lbs. He then asked my son to hold it up so he can take a picture for his website showing the clients what they can expect. What they can expect? You catching the fish and then trying to get your potential clients to think my son caught that on your guide?

 

All of that said, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but with a different guide. I’d imagine there are hundreds at Guntersville. 

man........... your guide reeked, as you sadly discovered. hope your next experience is a lot better.  i mean, that guy was a class a jerk.

[ironbjorn]

I've never hired a guide and I know little about the etiquette and customs of the profession, but I wouldn't want my guide to fish. He should be putting me on fish, guiding me, helping me with rigs, and definitely NOT catching the fish that I'm paying him to put me on.

[F14A-B]

On 9/20/2024 at 7:42 AM, Captain Phil said:

 

Being a bass fishing guide is the worst way you can ever make a living. The hours are long and the pay is little.  Many people show up with no skill, no common sense and unrealistic expectations.  The only way to be successful is to hang live shiners on a hook and wait for a fish to appear, then hope the angler can hook and land a fish.  Truth be known, more money is made selling live bait to customers than fishing.  Bass fishing with artificial lures takes skill and experience.  Unless the fish are jumping in the boat (not often), it is rare to have a great day. 

 

My best customers were out of town tournament anglers who wanted to know how and where I fish.  They always wanted me to fish.  They were not looking for spots or advice, they wanted to see what I did and then make their own decisions.  I met some great people this way, some of them you would know.  

 

My second best customers were avid weekend anglers with skill and experience.  It was always a pleasure when they booked me and I enjoyed them all. Again, they wanted me to fish.  This man came to me from Minnesota in the dead of winter.  He told me in Minnesota bass are considered rough fish and trout are the sport fish. I found this odd.   He wanted to catch a big Florida bass, so I gave him my favorite Rattle Trap. This was the result. 

 

I’ve caught many in Florida on a Rattletrap, particularly the St. John’s river. Chrome/ Blue back. More than a few in the 4 to 6 pound range but all the big girls always came Flippin hydrilla on take your pick lakes lol 

 

On 9/20/2024 at 8:11 AM, Goby said:

I am not sure I would want to be a guide in 2024, the businesses I own now expose me to enough humans and most of them are not pleasant these days... Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy, but people just seem to suck a lot more than they used to. It genuinely seems like the people you bend over backwards for the most are the most unappreciative too... 

 

The absolute only way to guide is 100% independent, do your own thing, your own way and market yourself to the kind of clients you want. It may take you a while to build a clientele, but it's 100% worth the effort.

 

I am actually impressed a guy can get 500 a day for walk in Bass trips, most rivers you can walk in and fish Bass, you are not catching giants. I wonder how much repeat business he gets though...

 

Tennessee does have some gorgeous rivers though, their game wardens utilize jet drive boats I designed, spent a bunch of time down there running rivers in jet sleds, many years ago. 

No it’s not you.. something has happened in society.. that kind of behavior is everywhere now and it’s on a daily.