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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | hello there i am wanting to become a licensed guide. my family run a campground here in indiana and we have people ask us all the time if we do it.. i am interested in becoming one moreso now than when i was younger and thinking about it. anyone with info please let me know where to start...thanx and remember HOOK EM HARD | |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Learn the water, and what it takes to put fish in the boat. The equipment you need is at least the basics, including a dependable rig, tackle, and terminal stuff. A good net, release tools, first aid kit, good insurance, patience and the willingness to work hard on the water in rain, wind, heat, and those not all that common perfect days, too. Learn how to interact, instruct, entertain, and be a comic for your clients. be prepared for tough days when the fish don't go, and for disappointed clients sometimes. Be an ambassador, promotional agent, writer, seminar speaker, traveling entertainer, and stage personality, and there might even be a career in it for you.
If this sounds complicated, it is. The job is very rewarding, but can be very tough, too. I went into 'the business' full time after a few years part time learning the ropes as a guide, tackle builder, and boat rep in 1979, and never looked back. | |
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Posts: 389
Location: Presque Isle Wisconsin | Mr. Worrall covered the topic very well and gave you some great advice.Guiding is a strange and often misunderstood business.Lots and lots of very good fishermen have tried it for a few years and moved on to other pursuits after being disallusioned.A good guide creates relationships with his clients and gradually builds a loyalty that will persevere through all kinds of great and sometimes less than successfull outings.Guys that make it over the long haul in this business will go out on their off time in adverse conditions because they know they can catch fish under ideal circumstances, but they are going to have to produce at any time of the day ,under terrible fishing conditions.Its hard to experiment or try different techniques when your being paid.You do those things on your own time,sometimes after a ten to twelve hour day of guiding.But it has to be done.A good guide should try to develop an individual or "signature" style or methodology that seperates and distinguishes him from what other guides do; otherwise your just a boat driver doing what any other guide does and most people can do for themselves.Knowing the waters that you cover in minute detail and recognizing even small weather or enviromental changes that can change the equation is abosolutely essential.Even after you do all the things Steve mentioned in His post you are going to fail your guests on occasion.This is one business where you better have a thick skin and a fire in your gut every day to succeed or your not going to like it much.Your clients are going to be constantly evaluating the knowledge and effort they see being put forth and they wont be back unless you see something they see and learn something they dont already know and dont have to pay for.Im sure others who guide or have hired guides could offer other considerations. | |
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Posts: 686
Location: Tomahawk, Wisconsin | Both of these exceptional gentlemen have covered the topic very well. In the state of Wisconsin a guide license was only 5 dollars and was raised to 40 dollars a few years ago, pretty minimal eh? I applied for my first guide license in 1986 as I worked in a small sporting goods store in Elcho Wisconsin, I was inundated by tourists inquiring on fishing the local waters and the where, when and how aspects. At the time I put my best foot forward and deceided to show these people personally what I had learned and to share the knowledge that I had aquired. That was almost 20 years ago now,and things have changed in some respects but not in others. The biggest investment aside from equiptment you will be making is in liability insurance to cover yourself from an accident, that my friend is imperative. Alot of guides nowadays use the power of the internet for self promotion a wise investment no doubt but there is still a fair amount of cost in business brochures, cards, and other self promotional materials such as ads in magazines. Now there are the many points made by Steve and Howie to consider, most of all you have to be a people person and be able to roll with what each client and day bring, good or bad. Anyone can take someone out fishing but the ability to educate and instill that knowledge in a client is what we are getting paid for, even if the client " just wants to catch a fish" or "learn a body of water". I guess my advice is to get in touch with your DNR, your insurance agent, your local bait shop, and spend LOTS of time on the water.
Dave J
Muskydr Guide Service
Tomahawk, Wisconsin
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how does someone become a guide