Recently I posted a topic “Do you use guide services?” 46 respondants with 1165 views. Of the 46, some did and some did not. Based on that “scientific” poling and some “deduction” , approximately 2% did. My curiosity is therefor sufficiently piqued to ask this additional question of the remaining 98%, Is it the: no need ( total disinterest in the concept), the cost, the ?tipping, pride or whatever? that causes them to not use these services.
Mark
PS: HONESTLY, answering my own question, it’s a bit of PRIDE ( and of course, the" concept" follows that)
It’s multi-fold. Firstly, I generally have little interest in fishing the kinds of waters that guides guide on. Secondly, I’m too cheap. Thirdly, I prefer the challenge of figuring things out on my own. Fourth, I believe guiding only helps to perpetuate the over-commercialization of our sport.
Can’t afford the gas to get to a river or stream that would warrant a guide. If I could scratch up the cash for the trip, I’m sure I couldn’t afford the guide service. If I could afford the guide service, I’m sure I couldn’t afford the tip. It’s all becoming way too expensive. So, I choose to fish small lakes around my home with my pontoon or jon boat. Local is Good. Plus, whatever you do spend stays in your neighborhood. JMHO.
To have another person tie a fly onto my set-up? To have a person tell me where, when to cast? To have a person tell me when to set the hook? To have another person, put their arm on my shoulder, while I am holding a fish, and only then can a picture be taken? The thrill of another person netting my fish? No thanks. This is just me, but I will never use a guide to fish.
$400 will pay for most of a 4- or 5-day trip to Montana for me, all expenses. Or I can give it to someone to row me down a river I could probably fish just as well from my own two feet. Not a tough decision. I don’t NEED a guide, so why waste money on one?
Wow! What you all just said!!! Those are all the reasons I would never hire a guide. I’d make friends with them and some local guides are friends, then we just simply go fishin. But the big one is the cost for a one day float I can make that kind of money last a whole lot longer and still catch fish on my own. Just heard a new one yesterday from a guide friend that took these jerkoffs out for the Salmon Flies on the Deschutes and there was some real D-bagery there. One of four was grabbing them off the bushes and sticking them with the hook and casting to start with, another guy cursing and yelling at other floaters and anglers the whole time. I’m surprised he didn’t just leave them somewhere along the river! Moral of the story, seems like only jerkoffs use guide services. (Sarcastic)
As a guide nothing annoys me more than a bunch of cheapskates that couldn’t fish their collective ways out of a soggy sandwich sack wanting me to wipe their noses, powder their butts, massage their egos, replace instantly all the flies they are decorating brush and trees with, while playing super-sycophant in hopes of doubling that $2.00 tip.
or not… It is extremely unlikely you can get where I go on your own. It is a lot more than a day’s fishing in the end and I do not do day trips anymore. I have been given many “staggering” tips over the years, often well in excess of the charter. Knowing what I am doing and what is going on around me is usually appreciated…
art
I don’t use a guide because, where I fish, I don’t need one. I primarily wade fish and prefer not to float during generation. I just don’t enjoy it as much, but many people hire guides for float or wade trips. I have been fishing this particular river for 8 years and I figure there are going to be some days when the bite is slower than others.
It’s not money or pride for me. Good guides are worth their money because they have to work for it. There’s good guides, and there’s some who should really be doing something else.
If I ever go to Alaska to fish I’d very much need a guide as I have no knowledge of where to fish, what to fish, etc., etc. I can’t think of a finer gentleman than Hap to call upon and acquire his guide services. It’s on my Bucket List (fishing Alaska) and i hope to meet Hap one day.
I’ve been out with a guide twice. First time was down at Harker’s Island, NC during the false albacore run; we’d never been there before and spent as much time talking and learning from our guide as we did fishing. Tides, structure, water temps, moon phases, baitfish concentrations - we got a crash course, false-albacore-fishing-by-firehose lesson that was definitely worth the cost, caught some fish, had a great time with a great guide, and were able to use what we learned when we took the DIY route afterwards; otherwise we probably would have hooked the odd fish here and there but would have spent more time taking boat rides than finding the fish. Other guided trip was a birthday present - ended up fishing a different part of Yellowstone than I ever had before, had a great day with a very knowledgeable, laid-back guide who showed me as much about the bird life (my second passion) as the fishing. Wouldn’t have traded that day for any other I’ve spent there.
Don’t know that I’ll use one again, because the cost is a bit dear to me, but the ones I’ve met do earn their keep and seem to really care about making the experience memorable for their clients.
Maybe the guides that frequent this forum could start a thread titled "Why YOU NEED to hire a guide service. Or, “Why I hate wiping your nose and powdering your butt, but like your money.”
I hope my response is taken with tongue in cheek as that is how I intended it.
This thread has all the ingredients to become mean spirited, and thus being pulled and I hope it doesnt. I really would like to know the reasons why different people from different locations dont use guides.
First off, most guides I know of definitely earn every penny plus the tip that they get paid. That’s not a problem for me. It’s just that all the “figuring it out on your own” time that a guide saves you, well, that’s the fun part for me. It’s what brings me back to a place again and again until I get it figured out.
I prefer not to, but I have used them on occasion. The knowledge you gain from spending just a few hours with one is invaluable. The main reason I prefer not to, is that I like the challenge of a do-it-yourself trip. For me, it’s just part of the fun, trying to figure out the fishing. Sometimes I do well, sometimes I don’t, but that’s okay, because I don’t expect to do well every time I go out. It’s more about the entire experience than anything else.
Every guided experience I’ve had has been wonderful, so I have absolutely nothing against using a guide, in fact, I actually support the idea, especially if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip; pay the money and have that time of your life!
The guides I occasionally use give me their company, knowledge, and skill for ten to twelve hours, a comfortable boat which they can control much better than I, a nice streamside lunch, and a free casting and fishing lesson all for $30/hour or so. And no matter how good I have convinced myself, in my own mind, that I am, I will never be as good as someone who spends 200 days a year or more on the same general water. If you don’t think a guide is a bargin maybe you have the wrong guide. I used to have my own drift boat. I know what it takes to handle on for a full day of fishing. You won’t get much fishing done.
Or maybe you are just so good you couldn’t benefit from getting better. Whatever.
If I was going to Alaska to fish, I would either hunt up someone like Hap or fish stuff close in to where I am staying.
In Colorado or Wyoming, there is not chance at all that I would hire a guide. I know brookie streams in Wyoming that you would fall into walking across a meadow unless you knew they were there. I’m getting there down here in Colorado. There is simply too much good fishing to need a guide.
Please don’t misunderstand my previous post. I think using a guide is a viable option for many. It’s just that for me, the cost is outside of my budget.
A s a guide nothing annoys me more than a bunch of cheapskates that couldn’t fish their collective ways out of a soggy sandwich sack wanting me to wipe their noses, powder their butts, massage their egos, replace instantly all the flies they are decorating brush and trees with, while playing super-sycophant in hopes of doubling that $2.00 tip.
or not… It is extremely unlikely you can get where I go on your own. It is a lot more than a day’s fishing in the end and I do not do day trips anymore. I have been given many “staggering” tips over the years, often well in excess of the charter. Knowing what I am doing and what is going on around me is usually appreciated…
If I had ever even had the slightest inclination to hire a guide , this would be the No.1 reason why I would shy away from it ,
the chance I would be in the same boat as the big ego client
and get aguide with his better than all attitude each of them would ruin a quite day
for me on the water…
For the style of fishing I do 99% of the time, a guide would just be silly. I want a relaxing time, chasing bluegills…
However, I took a trip to the Beaver tailwaters in Arkansas this past fall. The first morning I was there, I fished alone… BEAUTIFUL morning, had a blast! Didn’t even get a nibble. A great guy off this forum gave me a shout and told me he needed to dust off the drift boat anyhow and polish up on his “guiding skills”. He and I fished the same spot the next morning and he showed me how to fish for these selective tailwater trout.
I call the guy a good friend now. We both had a blast getting out, relaxing, and catching a few fish. Without this guide, I wouldn’t have caught a thing and would have only learned that “man, that stuff is hard!”.
If I want to go experience a new style of fishing that I’m ignorant about, a day with a guide could be exactly what I need to have a fun educational day.
A s a guide nothing annoys me more than a bunch of cheapskates that couldn’t fish their collective ways out of a soggy sandwich sack wanting me to wipe their noses, powder their butts, massage their egos, replace instantly all the flies they are decorating brush and trees with, while playing super-sycophant in hopes of doubling that $2.00 tip.
or not… It is extremely unlikely you can get where I go on your own. It is a lot more than a day’s fishing in the end and I do not do day trips anymore. I have been given many “staggering” tips over the years, often well in excess of the charter. Knowing what I am doing and what is going on around me is usually appreciated…
If I had ever even had the slightest inclination to hire a guide , this would be the No.1 reason why I would shy away from it ,
the chance I would be in the same boat as the big ego client
and get a guide with a better than all attitude each would ruin a quite day
for me on the water…
