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Posts: 35
| I am going on a trip this year with a guide and was wondering what is customary for tipping your guide?
D |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I usually do 10%, more if I feel the guide went above and beyond his duties or if we had an amazing day on the water. |
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Posts: 2024
| I agree with Brian. Try running a search on here about this topic. I know there was discussion about this in the past. |
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Posts: 281
Location: ROckford IL | I feel that if you catch fish you should tip em good, no fish no tip |
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Posts: 82
| Last year, my buddies and I went walleye fishing on Lake Erie. We brought home about 30# of walleye. We tipped $3 each, so about a $30 tip. |
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Posts: 1287
Location: WI | Bigman - 5/18/2008 2:53 PM
I feel that if you catch fish you should tip em good, no fish no tip
I'm not getting a guide to catch fish, I'm getting one to speed up my learning curve on the water I'm fishing. |
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Posts: 619
Location: Verona, WI | I always tell the guide my goal in that day's fishing (a shot at a fish, a shot at a good fish, learn a lake, etc) and then I tip him based on that goal. I generally tip 15% and if I achieve my goal he gets 15% if I don't he gets less but if he overachieves he gets more. I given tips as high as $100 on a great day and given nothing on others.
Shane |
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Posts: 547
Location: Oshkosh | I agree with Shane. 15% is a good tip and if the guide does a great job he gets more, but if not he gets less. I dont go into a trip with a set amount that the guide will get. I decide at the end of the day.
Peter |
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Posts: 72
| I agree with Shane 15% is a good starting point. For a guided fishing trip per day fee of $300.00 when we've caught no fish I've tipped $50.00 Once many years ago I spend the day fishing for Tarpon and I tipped $100.00 for that trip. Most of all I always make the following comment to the guide when the day is over. I thank them for showing me there world. |
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Posts: 1270
| Generally in the service industry you tip the employees of the business and you do not tip the owners of the business. Who own's these guide businesses?
The owner of a business is the one who set's the rates and if they want more money then they can charge more. |
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| so if the owner of a bar, is the bartender as well, you don't tip? |
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| Reelman, you are not very appreciative of what a person can/would do for you are you? You tip the people that do the work for you.
You tip the waitress/waiter, not the cook, bus boy or owner.
You tip the the person pumping the gas if you go to a full service station, not the in-side cashier or owner.
You tip the parking attendant at a full service lot, not the owner of the owner unless they are the ones parking the cars.
You tip the bell boy for taking your bags, not the desk clerk.
You tip the taxi driver, not the owner of the company, unless they are the ones driving.
You tip a guide, because they do the work for you whether they own the business or not.
You tip a captain and mate as they both are working for you, but you may tip one more than another; even if the captain owns the business.
It is common courtesy to show your appreciation for the work that people have done for you. If they did nothing, then pay them nothing extra other than what the normal rate is for what ever you are doing.
As far as how much to tip a guide, 10% on the low end to 25% or more on the high end.
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| If you do not think that they deserve a tip, it is more of a slap in the face to tip a guide $1 or $5 than to not tip at all. You have at least let them know that you acknowledged them and remembered the tip, but that they were not worth much at all.
Tip a bad waitress a quarter ($.25) and see what they say. |
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Posts: 82
| I'm sorry, but I think it is just plain rude not to tip. I have had words with my friends if we go out to eat and they don't tip, or just leave change. A waitress has to be terrible for me not to leave a tip. I have left a very small tip if the waitress is real bad just to let her know her service was bad. |
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| If you don't tip, I would advise not eating in that restaurant or ones in that area. The industry is close knit and they do exchange information. Leaving a super small tip is pretty much just classless. If you have a bad experience speak to the manager or the server themselves. See what the deal is and it will usually workout great for everyone. However you really don't want to be labeled as the guy or family that does not tip. Every place will know it, nobody will want to serve you, and you will forever receive bad service. Who wants to be known in a town as the cheap ".....". I think the musky industry is small as well. Also with the internet, you might end up with guides not wanting to book you or only giving 100% instead of going above and beyond...Your reputation should mean something to you...tipping is a good way to keep it....Ben |
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Posts: 1270
| BenR, So you are saying that a guide might not give his all because of reading something on the internet? If that's the case then they aren't much of a guide.
My point is that the guide is the one that set the price of there trip. If they feel that they are worth $500 per day then they should charge $500 and not charge $450 and hope for a $50 tip. A waitress gets paid very little with the assumption that they will make it up in tips.
I think I tip very well at restaraunts and VERY, VERY good on my guided hunting and fishing trips but think that the whole tipping a guide thing is rediculous. |
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| Not reading it on the internet. They speak to each other and we make ourselves more well known because of the internet. So if one guide lets another one know of the experience they had with a person....I am just saying it is a small community, and the internet makes it much smaller...Ben |
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Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois | Leaving a small tip or no tip at all is a poor means to communicate that service was bad. If the service was poor to the point you felt no tip is warented, you are better served to comment to the server or management. At least you have offered feedback so that improvements can be made. Poor service can be the result of many things: poor training, poor or under staffing, someone working multip shifts, etc... How is a server to know that a small tip (or no tip) implies poor service. It may be that the partron was cheap, or maybe they were short on cash and could not afford a tip. I lew of not tipping, I have left a note for the server or the establishment letting them know if I was disastisfied and provided a # where they could contact me. This was done when I could not get the attention or time of the staff. |
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Posts: 299
Location: Ontario, California | My thoughts on this is when you go out the "standard" tip for a waitress is 15%. She takes your order, brings your food, and fills your Ice Tea. It probably equates out to about 5 - 10 minutes of work total.
You hire a guide... he takes you out and teaches you new things (if you are paying attention). Hopefully he entertains you, puts you in an "opportunity" to catch an elusive fish and works for YOU for about 10 hours. If you don't think that equates out to a 15% tip you should rethink what you are doing. To base it on whether you catch fish or not... you are going about it the wrong way. He has no control over the weather or for that matter the feeding habits and attitude of the fish that day.
I ran a charter boat for a number of years. If I was asked what a standard tip was I would simply ask what they tip a waitress (most would say 15%). I gave them the the same example I gave above and told them it was up to them. If they felt they didn't get the service... don't feel obligated to tip. |
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Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois | I have only hired a guide twice, both times were when I was just getting into muskie fishing. At that time, I did not understand or know that tipping a guide was expected or warrented. Had I known, I probably would not have tipped these guides because the services provided barely lived up to the promises made by the guide. I paid the as-advertised price.
I had not been exposed to the idea of tipping a guide until I had read this and other related forums. Guides set their own asking price based on their skill, costs and what the market will bare. They are not working for sub-minimum wages and they are not working within an industry where income is largely generated through tips (such as waiters, bell-hops, ect.). As a result of this thread, if I ever hire a guide again, I will be more open to tipping but I would expect the services provided to go above or beyond what is advertised.
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I'm sorry, but I feel comparing tipping with guides and waiters/waitresses is pointless. As pointed out above, most guides are running their own show, the 300+$ or whatever they get per trip is going into their pocket, not their bosses. A waiter makes nothing on hourly salary, his income is your tip, that's it.
Some of the rationale used here isn't reflecting the above logic. |
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I was a bartended for 6 years part-time.
The purpose of a tip is to reward good and or prompt service.
Believe me, anyone who is going to make it in the service industry will learn real fast how to earn tips, and not to just expect them.
Don't be afraid to leave a small tip to show you were not impresssed with the service.
I never feel obligated to tip, but tip very well when it is deserved.
JS |
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Posts: 8781
| Muskie fishing is a very small world. Before you neglect to tip your guide, take a moment to think about how far that tip (or lack of) just might go.
There have been times when I didn't tip. Once I just plain forgot (duh) and a few times I was just plain broke and didn't have the money (duh again)... It's worth repeating: Muskie fishing is a very small world. |
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| Never hired a guide and most likely never will. But if I did, he/she would definatley get a tip. |
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Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois | Addict, what point are you trying to make? You state muskie fishing is a small world and that you have forgotten to tip in the past. Stopping to think how far that tip would go: from my wallet to the guides... thats about it.... |
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Posts: 457
| Musky Brian - 5/19/2008 12:03 PM
I'm sorry, but I feel comparing tipping with guides and waiters/waitresses is pointless. As pointed out above, most guides are running their own show, the 300+$ or whatever they get per trip is going into their pocket, not their bosses. A waiter makes nothing on hourly salary, his income is your tip, that's it.
Some of the rationale used here isn't reflecting the above logic.
That $300 from a guides fee is his gas, insurance, licensing, boat payment... It doesn't go in his "pocket" in 99% of the cases. |
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Posts: 1270
| Waiters are taxed on the "expected tips". Do guides report there tips to the IRS on there taxes?
Like I said before I think I tip waiters pretty good but there was one time when I took about 12 guys out to dinner on a business dinner. The waiter not only gave the worst service I have ever had but he was also rude and arrogant. I'm not just talking a little - this guy was BAD! He would not get us drinks because he was there to take our dinner order, not order drinks at that time, he said he would come back for a drink order later which he never did. We had to go to the bar 3 times during the meal to order drinks. Then he had the gall to right his suggestion for his tip on the bill which amounted to about 40%! The bill came to over $600 and I tipped him $.25, I think he got the point. I also spoke to his manager about it. |
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Posts: 8781
| AF Chief, the point I am trying to make is simple:
Muskie fishing is a very small world.
If you're going to hire one guide one time in your life, than I guess it doesn't matter if you tip them or not. But if you neglect to tip a guide, don't you think that other guides just might hear about that? And don't you think that if you hire that guide again, or someone that he knows personally (think small world again) that they might just figure you're not going to tip, and give you a little less bang for your buck?
Do you think that guide is going to make any extra effort, burn any extra gas, spend any extra time with you? Maybe take you to one of his better spots, or even lake that might not get fished all that much?
Maybe when you call next time, that guide (or one of his friends) might just say "you know what, I'm booked that day, sorry..."
The ony reason not to tip is if the service really sucked and the guy was a jerk. That's the message you're sending if you don't leave one. If the guide knows better, and really went out of his way for you that day, and you don't tip? Well that sends the message that you're either cheap, ignorant, you don't know any better, or you're a jerk. Like I said -- muskie fishing is a small world. Is that the message you really want to be sending? |
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Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois | I see your point and I didn't mean to be objectionable. I just don't think that the community is that small where word of mouth will travel as suggested. Now if a guide has a repeat client who has a history of not tiping, that same guide could choose not to book that client. I don't think guides have the time or resources to track one patron for not tipping to the point that they would notify other guides. If so, I think the instances would be rare and would probably be based on some other aspect - such as being a poor client. Now I do think word of mouth will take care of the people who are jerks and treat their guides poorly. A person falling into this category would have to hire a heck of a lot of guides before the community was aware of the problem. There is such as a thing as a bad customer. And I do not believe in the old saying that "the customer is always right..." Are there any guides out there who would intentionally not accept a client who failed to tip in the past?
Edited by AFChief 5/19/2008 3:15 PM
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Posts: 1270
| addict, You are right that musky fishing is a small community and word gets around fast. But it gets around even faster when a guide "holds out" on a client and doesn't put all his effort into providing a good day. A guide should give 100% regardless of what the tip will be at the end of the day. Anything else would be very unprofessional of him. |
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