The market dictates what a professional fishing guide will be paid. If you are a proficient captain, entertaining, and can produce some fish, you will get repeat business. Every year there are plenty of young men and women that get their captains license with aspirations of becoming a charter guide and working on the water full time. It’s amazing how many bow out after only a couple of months when they see just how difficult the job is. I tip my hat to the guides who have succeeded. Do I think $400 is too much for a half day trip? Hell no! You get what you pay for. I believe it’s more about the experience and time on the water. What do people pay a doctor for a few sessions of “therapy”? It seems everybody seems to think it’s all unicorns and rainbows as well… I assure you it is not. You have to deal with drunks, seasickness, kids, plenty of rude people, and days of no fish. From the outside it all looks like fun and easy way to make a living, as it must to anyone watching wicked tuna or big fish Texas think that commercial fishing is easy. I assure you it is not.
So to the guys like Fritz, Ben, Robert, Jon and the other 25 or so guides that I know well, congratulations on a job well done And I will see you on the water. And to the people complaining that guides make too much money… Try it for one summer.
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PROUD YANKEE
Oyster Baron
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
My only issue with guides is that I’m going to keep meat fish. Make sure you ask him/her about this before you ride.
This happened to me Sunday evening and I put it on my fb. The reaction and responce was pretty solid.
"Just had a guy cancel a charter trip because I told him my personal boat limit was 1 redfish per person (limit is 3 per person) and 5 speckled trout total (limit is 10 per person). I wouldn’t bend. His Dad thought it should be like a fill the cooler walleye / perch trip. I suggested Mt Pleasant Seafood…
“These rules of engagement exist for your safety and for that of your team. They’re not flexible, nor am I”
This conversation kind of reminds me of one my Dad had with a woman one time. He was an attorney and a woman called one day wanting to know how to do a will. He told her he could not do such a thing over the phone but would be glad to schedule an appointment to draw up a will. She asked what that would cost and when he told her around $150, she said, “Just for telling me how to do a will”? She thought his fee was ridiculous and said all he was doing was “telling her something”. Well, as an attorney, his knowledge and advice are what you paid for. Same thing with a guide, you aren’t just paying for fuel, bait, etc,.you are paying for knowledge and skills. If you don’t think it is worth it, don’t pay for it.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”, but really, who cares?
quote:when he told her around $150, she said, "Just for telling me how to do a will"
My wife and I had our wills and POAs and such updated a couple of weeks ago. After spending the last 6 months dealing with settling my mother’s estate I realized how important this is to the one’s left behind who have to clean up the mess
Anyway, we spent exactly 40 minutes in our lawyer’s office and the bill was $600. I consider it money well spent:smiley:
$400 is what you will pay if you hire a Guide.If you do not like that fish off the bank or keep your ass home.Being a Guide is a &@&$ty job.I respect those guys that bust ass every day to keep Clients happy.
$400 for a half day of fishing? Local knowledge of when, where and how to fish is worth that alone. Then add in all the other hard costs… $400 is well worth it. If i were a guide, i would charge more than that.
lol, if you guys spent more time on the water and less time on this forum you may be able to get 500 for a half day. I will start a youtube channel on how to rig rods and carry them to the boat in less than four hours and save you guys the a whole lot of time. I will also show you an excellent way to get to Castle Pickney and the grillage without burning a full tank of fuel. Your clients will be stoked to catch a redfish and a whiting at these excellent locations. Perhaps I will also demonstrate techniques to get anchored at the jetties so you can slam a few BSB’s and push your clients mediocre afternoon into the trip of a lifetime. Maybe I will get generous and if you can’t catch fish I will show you where the dolphin strand feed so you can babble about how its the only place on earth to see this activity if the whole trip of a lifetime isn’t working with those stingrays you’ve been catching all day. Good luck. P.S. If you carry one rod in each hand and cram two straight up your ass, you will load your boat in half the time… Your welcome.
lol, if you guys spent more time on the water and less time on this forum you may be able to get 500 for a half day. I will start a youtube channel on how to rig rods and carry them to the boat in less than four hours and save you guys the a whole lot of time. I will also show you an excellent way to get to Castle Pickney and the grillage without burning a full tank of fuel. Your clients will be stoked to catch a redfish and a whiting at these excellent locations. Perhaps I will also demonstrate techniques to get anchored at the jetties so you can slam a few BSB’s and push your clients mediocre afternoon into the trip of a lifetime. Maybe I will get generous and if you can’t catch fish I will show you where the dolphin strand feed so you can babble about how its the only place on earth to see this activity if the whole trip of a lifetime isn’t working with those stingrays you’ve been catching all day. Good luck. P.S. If you carry one rod in each hand and cram two straight up your ass, you will load your boat in half the time… Your welcome.
No salt, no fun.
Kinda sounds like reinventing the wheel- we already have that, it’s called CharlestonFishing.com, it’s free and even guides post information there. You should look it up, I’m sure your expertise could come in handy… PS, bottlenose dolphins strand feed in Australia too
Not sure what to do with that level of knowledge on here Maybe he should start a guide business too. It’s easy money, nothing to it.
quote:lol, if you guys spent more time on the water and less time on this forum you may be able to get 500 for a half day. I will start a youtube channel on how to rig rods and carry them to the boat in less than four hours and save you guys the a whole lot of time. I will also show you an excellent way to get to Castle Pickney and the grillage without burning a full tank of fuel. Your clients will be stoked to catch a redfish and a whiting at these excellent locations. Perhaps I will also demonstrate techniques to get anchored at the jetties so you can slam a few BSB's and push your clients mediocre afternoon into the trip of a lifetime. Maybe I will get generous and if you can't catch fish I will show you where the dolphin strand feed so you can babble about how its the only place on earth to see this activity if the whole trip of a lifetime isn't working with those stingrays you've been catching all day. Good luck. P.S. If you carry one rod in each hand and cram two straight up your ass, you will load your boat in half the time... Your welcome.
self-employment tax!!! If you have never been a self employed person you have no idea what this is!! You pay 15% regardless of level of income. A guide makin $50k per year (net profit) is paying 8-10k in taxes while a person who is employed at a company with that pay grade is usually getting money back from the government. Employers pay half your Medicare, social security, etc for you while a self employed person is paying double because he has no employer to make up the other half. I run a landscape company and some days we cut 20 yards at $50 a pop and do them in under 20 min. Make a $1000 a day and only have 3 employees but after it is all said and done with licenses, repairs. Advertising, gas, etc I barely pull $55k per year. Same goes for the guides e
If I run one 4 hour trip in a day, I get to the boat 2 hours before to get ready, catch bait, rig rods, fix stuff, etc and stay about 1 1/2 -2 hours after I get back to clean, rerig, get stuff ready for the next morning, etc. More often than not, I run two trips a day making for a 14 hour day. I left the house at 5 AM this morning and didn’t get home until 8PM. I’ll be doing the same thing for the next 4 days.
We charge $600 for a half day (inshore or offshore) in the USVI.
You are a neurosurgeon and are complaining about the price of an inshore charter? What a freakin joke. This thread can now be deleted. Oh and by the way, as a neurosurgeon you have an entire hospital administrative staff, a team of nurses, anesteiologist, etc. that all play a role in making a successful surgery so sure it does not take two hours to prep. But if you were the one who ran your own hospital and performed the surgery and handled the medical billing and everything else that goes into making a successful surgery, you probably would be prepping an entire day. What a joke. Your rate would be astronomical, as I am sure it already is
Maybe he should start a guide business too. It’s easy money, nothing to it.