To The Guides

High Life · 04-12-2005, 11:37 PM

this is a question for all of the guides on ifish.i am still in high school,but always had a dream of growing up and having my own fishing/hunting guide service.the problem is i dont know how to go about making my dream a reality.what classes would benefit me in college?is there anything special i should do?i love taking people out and putting them into fish,or getting them into birds.it is almost better then getting them myself,and i dont know what better way to make a living then doing what i love to do.also can you get an internship or somethin to that degree with a guide or some other sort of help?it seems that a guide wouldnt want to have another person to fill up the boat especially if he wasnt paying.basically i want to do this,but have no clue where to start,and any help with this would be greatly appreciated.pm's are welcomed

Seefood Man · 04-13-2005, 03:07 AM

I think what might lead you down the right path would be to talk to your school counselor. Things have changes allot since I've been in school, but I think that a four year degree in business, marketing, hotel and lodging might be in line. At least when you get your lodge built and docks in you can hire old guys like to to do the hard work for you.

Keep after it skeeterboy, you are going about it the right way

Lund · 04-13-2005, 07:14 AM

It's going to be a tough road to travel. I do it part time when the fishing gets good so my wife will understand. It's a whole lot nicer to throw a $100 to your wife at the end of a guided trip than to tell her you're going fishing with your buddies again today.
She asks when I'm going again, I think she likes me going fishing now.

Whatever you do, make it your passion. Be the best you can be.
good luck

Kevin Lund

illbfish · 04-13-2005, 07:25 AM

Call the state marine board. They can direct you correctly.
You will need a Coast Guard class, First Aid & Insurance.

Bill
Jacks or Better

Salmon Stryker · 04-13-2005, 07:59 AM

Several lodges in Canada and Alaska hire guides and deckhands to work the summers. That would be a good start and sort of like an internship. For that matter you might be able to land a deckhand job locally.

Good Luck.

Straydog · 04-14-2005, 06:51 AM

Concentrate on business and marketing in school. Too many people get into the industry, whether it be guiding, opening a retail store or working retail/wholesale/factory for others, because they "love to fish and hunt" and lose sight of the fact that it is a business, even if it is "funner" than any other business!!

Combine a sound education in business with your passion and you will be ahead of the game compared to many others.

Amerman · 04-14-2005, 08:53 AM

I would agree with what Straydog said. Education: get as much of it as you can. It is a business. Having a good education helps a lot. I went to college and got a business and economics degree, and I use much of that stuff everyday. Not just in running my businesses but in talking to clients throughout the day. Being a fishing guide you meet some very successful and intellegent people every day that can teach you a lot too.

The problem I see with guiding is there is no mentoring programs like you would get with many jobs. Someone there to talk to everyday that will teach you how to do the job sucessfully. As many others here have done, the state will tell you what you legally need to have to be a guide, but will tell or teach you little else.

Being great at fishing/hunting and having it be your passion is such a little part of guiding. The hardest thing you will have to do is try to find the people that want to pay you to take them. Getting and maintaining a successful clientel group will be the hardest thing you will ever do. Once you get clients, you have to have the patience to deal with them and have fun even during trying times, and you need to provide such a great experience that they will want to come back.

I know so many guides that are probably the fishiest guides out there that just don't have clients, the marketing and that kind of thing to really make it. And I know some guides that are some of the biggest names in guiding that aren't that fishy, don't catch many fish ect. but man they are business people. They know how to get and maintain clients, how to market themselves and how to entertain out in the boat.

There is just so much more to guiding than fishing/hunting. There's the long hours, prep time no one else sees, marketing and bookings, balancing a home life while being crazy busy, and just so much more than I could not put into a post.

If you are serious about this, you can email or PM me, and I will talk to you more about it, answer your questions, and help point you in the right direction.

Simon Peter · 04-14-2005, 09:36 AM

Take the accounting courses! The best "business people" - no entrepeneurs, but actual people who do business normally have a good solid background in accounting and finance. These are the two basics of business.

If you can't read a Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet you are in trouble in the business world as this is the language we speak.

While many run excellent business without such an education, if you are in the preparing stage of life, I would recommend it highly. The world makes a whole lot more sense with it.

Oh, yes, take the Economics course also :grin:

Good luck! Give me a call when you get your boat ready

Ethical hunter · 04-14-2005, 09:44 AM

For years, my best buddy and I were inserperable when it came to duck hunting. He had a greater passion for the sport that I did. When we were not duck hunting we would be talking about it in some manner. We used to dream of having a good duck boat that we could anchor out with and be amoung all those birds we could see sitting on the big water while we were shore bound.

one day my buddy was able to afford a good duck boat and decided to become a duck hunting guide, to povide high quality boat hunts. He put his all into his new bussiness and was making his passion his occupation.

I helped him work through many of the gear and setup challenges for his first several season. His high quality hunts soon created a high end client list and he was booked every day throughout duck season. The thing that made his hunts so attractive was that only two clients were taken out per day. Each client had open safe shooting lanes. It was a blast hunting out of that boat.

He started making alot of money guiding and wanted to make more so, he added another seat for another shooter. We field tested this new setup with three shooters and it was obvious that three guns instead of two made for a lower quality hunt. But, that was not the main problem. There was a huge saftey issue with three shooters in such cramped quarters. I told my buddy that the third seat was a big mistake and he should return to the previous format. He didnt take kindly to my suggestion and went ahead with the three shooters in the boat for that season, he already had the boat sold out. His old devoted client base also saw the quality of the hunt go down and saftey issues increase. Most of his clients stopped using him after that season.

His insistance on making more money out of his passion ruined our lifelong friendship as well as his business. Be careful what you do with your passion.

HB

Phillip Smesrud · 04-14-2005, 01:10 PM

To guide on a powered boat you have to have a coast guard license. Go buy the orange book at a marine supply. It's a study book for passing the coast guard exam. Buy yourself a log book while you're there so you can document all the hours you spend on a boat because you have to have proof of so many hours on the water to be able to take the coast guard test. The orange book will tell you how to properly document your sea service. Know the rules of the road (everyone should) by heart. Practice everytime you are on the river identifying boats and tugs by their day signals and at night their lights. Join steelheaders in your area as they do all kinds of organized activities where you can get a seat on one of the members boats. Save your money and pay to go out with the great guides. Keep a log of when you catch fish and what you used and all the tips people share with you. Get a degree to be a fish biologist and do your intership on the river you want to fish. Or better yet, get a great job paying a ton of money, don't waste your money a guides license, boats and tackle and instead pay the premier guides to get you into fish. I figure with my $400/month boat payment and the $1000 a year insurance + $1000s spent in gear and repairs that I could instead pay for a guided seat 52 weeks out the year and I wouldn't have to do any of the work and I would get to catch the fish. :smile:

Lucky one · 04-14-2005, 03:49 PM

I've deckhanded and skippered on charter boats for the last seven years. Go out and find a boat to work on as a deckhand during the summers, this way you get lots of boat time that counts toward your license and you get lots of experience dealing with diverse clientel. Trust me, loving fishing and loving to take strangers fishing are two different things.

Sagebrush Fisherman · 04-14-2005, 04:17 PM

Education is as important as experience and the passion for the out-of-doors. You might want to check out this site to get a taste for the trade. Then, to to college and try to spend your summers guiding for a lodge in Alaska. If you still have the passion after four or five years...go for it!! Good Luck.

http://legendlodge.com/guideschool.html

timinthegorge · 04-14-2005, 04:20 PM

Just one point for you consideration.

If there's no other career, or desire, or thing you want to do with your life..... If this is It, GO FOR IT!

If you have any other interests..... find another way to keep fishin', and still make a living for you and your family by doing something lucrative.....

JMHO.... Best of luck.