Guides

[Tight Line]

Has anyone else noticed how many fisheren have turned into guides now a days. How does a person know who to choose anymore? I thin there should be some kind of license procedure. Maybe set the cost of the license high enough that only serious "GUIDES" will pay the fee.

Any other ideas on how to weed out the waanabees?

[GullGuide]

Wannabees weed themselves out. Sooner or later no other guides want to work with them and clients stop comming back.
By making a licensing procedure and or fees expensive, a lot of really good guides would have to hang it up.
Being booked all the time, having a 30K rig and "looking" like a guide does not necessarily mean that they are a good guide.
A lot of wannabees are those who can afford to "look like" a guide, even though they are not.
Some of the best guides I know run their service out of very basic, affordable rigs. Huge fees would drive a lot of these legitamate, hard working guides out of work and make room for more wannabees.
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[WAeyes]

"Word of mouth" will direct you to a legitimate fishing guide and also weed out the wannabees. Why would anyone recommend a crappy guide who can't put you on fish? I would rather fish out of a canoe with someone who knows what they are doing then to go out with some guy who has $40,000 invested in gear but doesn't have a clue.

[Terry/JNR]

Another thing to look at is whether your guide is carrying liability insurance to cover any possible accident that might happen. Most that I know of carry at least $250,000 worth of insurance. It's as much protection for the client as it is for himself. You wouldn't hire a contractor unknown to you to work on your house unless he was insured would you? The same should apply for guides. Also, any guide on Coast Gaurd regulated water has to carry a Coast Gaurd captains license to be leagal. Some states require a license, some don't. Find out what the requirements are for the state and body of water you are planning to hire a guide to take you out on and check his/her licenses and insurance.
When I started guiding, I bought a new boat and used all my best equipment, but the condition of the boat or the "look" of the guy waiting for you at the landing realy isn't anything to go buy. Some of the better guides are neat in appearence and have newer equipment, some of the best guides will initially make you wonder when you first meet them. Every guide I know has quality rods and reels, though. If he has old junk rods and reels, you have cause to wonder.
The best thing is to get several opinions from local baitshops and be sure the guide has the proper licensing for his area.
Give your guide the benifit of dout even if you didn't catch the fish you expected to. The fish have their own ideas of the perfect day. Did the guide do everything he could to put you on fish? Try different spots, lures, presentaions? Do you think the guide worked for you? Just a couple things to consider before judging your guide on the fish you caught or didn't. You should at least feel that he tried to put you on fish.
A good guide puts in more work in a day than the average job. Guiding sounds like an easy, glamorous job. Just fish all day. It's a lot more work and sometimes frustration than most people think.