Fishing Guide

Davis Jones

22, February 2018

English III

Mr. Alburger
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Davis Jones

29, January 2018

English III

Mr. Alburger

Fishing Guide

How to become a fishing guide. A fishing guide has to know how to do a lot more than

just fish. A fishing guide also needs to know how to talk to people and has to know how to get

new clients, and needs to always have a positive attitude. “To become a fishing guide you need

to know the body of water that you plan to fish and what types of fish are caught and the best

way to catch the fish”(Bob Curan). A fishing guide needs to have a good amount of practice

teaching people how to fish because not everyone that a guide takes out knows how to fish. “​You

need to have lots of patience as many of the people you will take out fishing have either never

fished before or are true novices. With this in mind you need to know that casting lures is not a

safe nor good option for many trips. You don't want people casting crankbaits and jerkbaits with

two/three treble hooks on your boat when they don't know what they are doing as someone is

going to get hurt. For this reason I use mostly live bait (Bob Curan).” A fishing guide also needs

to know that if he gets in a argument with a customer, the customer is always right. A fishing

guide also needs to know how to always keep everyone safe, that's why Bob Curran uses live

bait mostly. The most important thing a fishing guide needs to know isn’t fishing, it’s safety,​ for

a person passionate about fishing and helping others fish, working as a fishing guide gives the

best option.
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Freshwater and saltwater fishing are two different types of fishing. Saltwater fishing

involves fishing in the ocean either on the beach, a pier, or a boat. When saltwater fishing

heavier rods, a stronger reel stronger line, stronger hooks, and weights are needed. Using

freshwater fishing gear when saltwater fishing risks ruining gear because the saltwater will

corrode the gear a lot faster than freshwater. That’s why having certain types of rod and reels that

are made for saltwater fishing. Even though using certain types of rod and reels that are made for

saltwater, they should get washed off after each use or they will still corrode, it will not rust up

as fast as freshwater rods and reels.

There are several different ways to catch different types of saltwater fish like red drum,

black drum, flounder, bluefish, blacktip shark, and more. Do research on the type of fish you

want to catch to see what they eat. After figuring out what they eat try to match it or throw it. For

a example to catch a predator fish that feeds on other types of fish like a bluefish, throwing a

swimbait to represent the fish that the bluefish eat. There are several different types of rigs a few

of the best rigs to use are free lining and bottom rigs are two good rigs to catch fish that feed on

shrimp, crabs, barnacles and other crustaceans.

A saltwater fishing guide also needs to know the difference in tides and what type of tides

happen each day, the tides can vary based on the moon, like a full moon means higher tides than

normal. A fishing guide needs to know several different spots to fish and when to fish them, not

all spots are always going to produce fish every time. A fishing guide should use his sonar to

mark fish, if no fish are marking on the sonar the guide should not spend more than 10 minutes

fishing at the spot. If the sonar is marking fish the guide should spent 15-25 mins fishing there

and if no fish bite then move to the next spot. Otherwise the customer will get bored and now
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want to come back. Not only do fishing guides have to pay attention to the tides, the weather

conditions and the current of the water can affect the fishing conditions.

Fishing guides should not charge the full amount if they have to come in early, like if a

thunderstorm comes out of know where or if “​a guy got a hook stuck in his finger and a kid cut

his hand on a fish dorsal fin so we came in early (Bob Curan).”

The other type of fishing is freshwater fishing. Lake, ponds, and rivers, with all places for

freshwater fishing. When freshwater fishing, generally lighter rods, and reels are used because

freshwater fish do not get as big as a lot of saltwater fish. When freshwater fishing lighter line is

used. A freshwater fishing guide has to sometimes work harder to find the fish in lakes and rivers

because the fish are usually more spread out and move more unlike saltwater fish usually when

some fish move out other fish move in, so a freshwater fishing guide has to know a lot of fishing

spot.

There are not as many different types of fish in freshwater, the few fish that are caught in

most bodies of waters are the largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bullgill, bullhead catfish,

channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish. People use several different ways to catch

different type of fish, like the largemouth bass, someone trying to catch a largemouth bass would

not throw a small piece of worm on a small hook like how they would to catch bluegill, they

would throw a bigger bait.

A Fishing guide has to know a lot of rules and gets several different licenses before they

can even start taking people fishing. A fishing guide has to stay up to date since the rules change

all the time. A fishing guide has to have several different types of licenses. In Minnesota, a

fishing guide has to have a regular fishing license, boating licenses, and other special licenses
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like a six passenger licenses, this licenses used to not be enforced on most inland waters

considered federally navigable in Minnesota. Fishing guides and other guides that have more

than six passengers are required to have a six passenger licenses, to get this licenses a one week

classroom instruction course that costs around 1,200 dollars (Cook). Even though they just

started to enforce it, they might change back to how it was within the next few months so that

fishing guides and other guides like fishing guides do not have to have the six passenger licenses.

A fishing guide would either have to take the 1 week class and pay around 1,200 dollars or have

to take less than 6 people out on each trip which is not good because the more people that go out

the more money the fishing guide makes a trip. A fishing guide also needs to have a MMC

(Merchant Mariner Credential) US Coast Guard Captain's license so they are able to take people

out fishing.

A fishing guide needs to know how to teach other people how to fish. That means a

fishing guide might need patience and the ability to explain how to do something easier. A

fishing guide also needs to know all the rules on all the different types of fish they catch, like to

keep certain fish they have reached the minimum size limit and not go over the maximum size

limit, how many each person can keep, and that certain fish are they illegal to bring it on the boat

or even take out of the water like a goliath grouper. ​Being a fishing guide is not just taking

people out fishing for a day it's about trying to get them to love the sport of fishing and trying to

get them hooked on fishing.

A fishing guide has to know what baits to throw when and where. For example, throwing

a topwater popper in the early morning, late evening, and overcast. A fishing guide also has to let

the client throw what works and not whatever’s cheaper like if the largemouth bass are hitting a
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25 dollar swimbait the guide has to let the client use it and even if the client losses it the guide

should not charge the client for it (Cermele, Joe).

A fishing guide does not get rich from taking people fishing, however, a fishing guide

does make around 55,000 dollars a year (​Chron.com).​ A high demand fishing guide might make

around 85,000 dollars a year. Someone that has just started working as a fishing guide best way

to become a successful fishing guide, working for a fishing guide company would help someone

new so that they would not have to own their own boat and equipment (Jones). The company

would show them fishing stops and when to fish certain spots, someone who works for a

company might not make as much money as someone who would work for their self since the

company would most likely pay hourly because the company pays for the gas, equipment, boat,

and for the advertisement. Someone who works for a company would make around 75-150

dollars a day.

Someone who owns their own boat and works for their self would make more if they get

their fishing guide service populer, someone who works for their self would charge around 300

dollars for a 3 hour trip with 1-2 people, they would not make 300 dollars because they would

have to pay for the gas, pay off the boat, and pay for their equipment, they would probably make

around 100-200 dollars a trip, they can do several trips a day so they can make around 300-600

dollars a day only when they take out people on a trip, they also have to go on fishing trips

because they have to find spots and make sure their existing spots still have fish. Fishing guides

might also have days that does not have a trip booked, or bad weather or client might cancel a

trip. Each day they don't do a trip they don't make any money. It doesn't matter if you are the

best fishing guide in the world if you do not advertise yourself no one will know who you are.
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Becoming a fishing guide is not what most people think, its hard work and over 95

percent of the time while you are on a trip with a customer you are fishing you will not pick a

rod up. It is all about the customer and making sure they have a good time, and it’s not just about

catching fish it's about getting people excited to catch so that they will want to come back and

tell their friends.

Several jobs involve fishing: fishing guides, recreational fishing, and commercial fishing.

A commercial fisherman catches fish to sell for a profit. A commercial fisherman has to know

where the fish are at all times and know how to catch the fish or he will not make money. A

commercial fisherman must understand what fish sells for the most and what places pay the most

for each type of fish. A commercial fisherman has to get more license than a regular fisherman,

For example, in order to obtain a commercial for example, in order to obtain a commercial

fishing license they need to have a application with a valid fishing license, they also need a

commercial boat registration this makes it so a commercial fisherman can keep more fish then a

regular fisherman can on their boat . If a commercial fisherman had to keep that same amount of

fish as a regular fisherman they would not make much money at all and not as many people

would do it.

A commercial fisherman salary varies depending on circumstances. salary varies

depending on circumstances. Unlike a fishing guide where people pay the guide to take them

fishing, a commercial fisherman has to go out and catch fish to make money. A commercial

fisherman makes around $29,280 a year (BLS). If someone wanted to become a commercial

fisherman they would not need to have a formal educational credential but instead deep
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knowledge and skill in fishing. They also need to know how to teach people how to fish and

need to have pachantes.

A fishing guide needs to know what type of rod, reel, line and lure to use where and

when. When the guide goes bass fishing and using a big swimbait like a 10 inch hunelstan

thought, he would use a heavy rod with good backbone and a light tip, he would use a baitcaster

reel that has a decent gear ratio and he would use 20-25 pound fluorocarbon or manow. If a

guide was fishing topwater like a topwater frog using a medium heavy rod with a light tip and a

baitcaster with a high gear ratio with 60-80 pound braid. These are very important things that a

fishing guides needs to know and it varies from each different type of fish that the customer

wants to try and catch.

A fishing guide should not use very expensive equipment so if the customer losses it or

damage it, the customer will not have to pay a lot to replace it. “(Bob) ​ I have customers sign a

waiver form. If they damage/lose a rod or some piece of equipment due to negligence then they

can pay me for it. We have lost a few rods and numerous lures which I consider just part of

fishing and cost of doing business and it really was not due to their negligence. I do not buy

expensive gear just for this reason. I buy decent stuff that is capable of catching any fish on the

lake and if it breaks or gets dropped in lake I don't get to worked up over it.” If a fishing guide

does not have a polacy like this they will loss a lot of money if a customer losses or damages a

rod or reel.

If someone that really wants to have a job that involves fishing and that does not want to

take people out fishing, working for a fish farm is a good option. There are several different

ways to farm fish, someone that wants to farm fish can’t just go put fish in a body of water and
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hope they grow. Different types of fish need different things for a example tuna, a tuna has to

have a certain type of enclosure so they can always swim and they eat a lot. Tuna also have to be

kept at a certain temperature and have to have a certain amount of sunlight and moon light for

them to reproduce. Another commonly farmed fish is catfish, if someone wanted to farm catfish

they could buy the catfish as babies and raise then in a pond can be the best way to start in the

fish farming industry.

A fishing guide will not be rich, they can make a decent amount of money, for someone

that is truly passionate about fish and helping other people fish it is not about the money. It’s

about sharing their passion with others. That's why ​for a person passionate about fishing and

helping others fish, working as a fishing guide gives the best option.
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Works Cited

Cermele, Joe. "The F&S Fishing Guide Survey." ​Field & Stream,​ no. 9, 2016, p. 86.
EBSCO​host,​ ​http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl
.443059758&site=eds-live&scope=site
Cook, Sam. "So You Want to Be a Fishing Guide? Three Guides Share some Tips." ​Duluth
News-Tribune (MN)​, 08 May 2016. EBSCO​host​,
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=2W63193438400&sit
e=eds-live&scope=site
Cook, Sam. "Fishing Guide Rules Get some Clarification." ​Duluth News-Tribune (MN)​, 27 Mar.
2010.
EBSCO​host,​ ​http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=2W6227
0171561&site=eds-live&scope=site
Chinnis, Rusty. "Gone Fishing." ​Sarasota Magazine,​ vol. 21, no. 2, Feb. 1999, p. 74.
EBSCO​host,​
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=1536635&site=eds-liv
e&scope=site
Jones, Alan. "Careers in Fishing." ​Boating World​, vol. 28, no. 2, Feb. 2007, p. 44. EBSCO​host​,
<​http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=23902125&site=eds-
live&scope=site​>
Seitz, Stephen. "Hooked on a Career." ​Vermont Magazine​, vol. 24, no. 4, Jul/Aug2012, p. 49.
EBSCO​host,​
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=77949946&site=eds-li
ve&scope=site

Works Cited n.d. EBSCO​host.​

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=27448223&site=eds-li
ve&scope=site
“The Average Salary of a Fishing Guide.” ​Chron.com,​

work.chron.com/average-salary-fishing-guide-1798.html.

Interview

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