what makes a great guide??
 

for anyone who has been on a guided fishin trip, what makes a great guide.
or from the guides what do yall do to make urself differnt or stand out from the others??

Been on both sides of the fence.

I believe, and tried hard to practice when I was guiding, was a good guide makes the trip about the customer, whatever that takes. I used to get *****ed at for coming in late alot, but I wanted to make sure they had a good trip.

It is about helping them catch fish, trying to teach them something about fishing if I can.

thats important to me!!

Spell correctly? :rasberry:


Seriously, I have been on several guided off shore trips and we all know that can be great or not so good. I would say that the captain must be willing to teach if you are not familiar with the particular type of fishing you will be doing. There is a very big difference between trolling, fishing chunks and bottom fishing. I would also expect the captain to make moves as necessary if the fish aren't there or not biting. I don't have to catch fish to have a good trip. I just want to know that he gave it his best shot.

sorry paul.... do i get an infraction........:(

Want one???

You didn't let me finish! :redface:

LOL

Sound like my wife now.

Y'all teaming up..... Not fair!!
Haha

a good guide is one who fishes just enough to make sure the fish are there and then spends his time helping the client catch them. NOT one who fishes all day on the front end of the boat and says watch what i do while he catches fish towards the boat limit.

Catch fish, and have cold beer waiting...and don't beg for a tip some people actually like to clean their fish...

Sooooo; not like dumass.... Capt front of the boat!!

Ur right, if a guide fishes it's kool...... But he better b guiding more then fishing!!

Bad part is most customers could care less about learning anything, they just wanta get back with a limit before the rest of their buddies in the other boats. That's why alot of guides just go for the easy limit possible. Its kinda rare nowadays to get people that actually want to fish and learn.

True; I would figure a guide would ask and find out what the clients want to gain or learn from the trip.
Everyone has a diff objective

I think a good guide is someone who not only puts you on fish, but can share some knowledge about the species you are targeting, and the area you are fishing. I love to catch fish, but gaining more knowledge about the species and area are also just as important to me. If there are cool things to see in an area, I wanna see em. I think being out on the lake and having a good time are the most important parts of fishing, and for me, that's not based on whether I limit out or not.

Bn able to adapt and accommodate every clients needs r different. All different skill levels and styles some prefer to lay back and soak bait some won't artificial only. Best thing is do what they want and try ur best and stay late if u have to whatever it takes.

When we fished lake okeechobee in the winter our guide was awesome!!! He took us to see some kool stuff and we caught a ton of fish!! Me and wife both landed personal best!
He explained the history of the lake and the key points of the lake.
When we go back; well b with him again!

Truth is its starts with the customer, when customers show up most always say "so we gonna get a limit by 800" that's the worst thing to say cause no guide wants to hear that.
Best thing a customer can do is get in the boat and say hey just do ur thing guide and let's have some fun today if we get them good if not we tried. That usally turns out to be the best trips

Totally agree!!!

Agree 100%.

I always asked my customers while we were at the dock what they had in mind for the day.

Some wanted to chase big fish with artificials, some wanted reds, some wanted limits, most didn't.

Made some good friends with some of my customers.

Read an artical years back that was written by guides. It was what a client needed to ask a guide before fishing w/ him. and then it went on to say to the clients ,Don't exagerate your fishing skill or knowledge. let the guide know if you want to fish w/ live bait ,let him know if you would rather catch a big fish or two instead of being back at the dock by 9 am w/ a limit of dinks. the guide can't read your mind just like you cant read his.
If you don't get w/ him about what you expect before the trip ,you can't really gripe if he doesn't fulfill your expectations.

Dats it rite there

when you get back the guide doesn't say " after I go to town get something to eat I'll "help" you and your family clean your fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..... by the time he got back me and 2 girls 9 & 12 cleaned all 57 and cleaned his f$#^in boat and had gave him a pretty nice tip on the way in...... guess my 500 + tip for 3 hrs of fishin wasn't good enough for that greeeeeeeeeedy mo fo..... and thats what a guide aint posed to do

One that u can hook in the head and go to cast and snap a rod on back of his head all in the same day and he doesn't complain! Lol fished all day w a superspook in my head till I saw capt B and got him on my boat to get it out

How's that for some body jewelry!!

Most of the guides i know on the east side have a standing NO topwater rule unless they know you and know that you can fish w/o hooking the guide in the head?

Only guided trip I've been on that we paid for was lake texoma for stripers. Guide didn't fish, catered our needs, etc. Had a great bday. I think a good guide goes out of his way to please the customer. Explain why this bait, color, presentation, etc works and give them the best opportunity to enjoy their time...know several guides on here like that.

sammich

Just proves some of us have a harder head than others.




















BTW, I had a lucky 13 stuck in mine at Toledo eons ago. A razor and JD did wonders.

Lol guide biz is rough