How should this be handled?
You have a friend that is a guide, you have used his services for about 6 years twice a year for corporate outings (Friday, Saturday and 1/2 on Sunday) You have have him book two other guides for the corporate outing also.

You own a boat also, you let him know any time he does not have a booking, he is welcome to go out with you. Well one day he calls, had a trip cancelled, so you deside to go out on that day. He meets you at the dock, you go out in your boat and fish your spots which produce, have a good day.

Get back to the dock, load up, get ready to depart and he puts out his hand a says "that will be $250.00".

Sounds like he aint to good a friend. Was a fee agreed upon before going out?

Well money should have been discussed but, It should have never been an issue if you guys were friends and going in YOUR BOAT!!! I have guys that I do that with and I never charge them Sometimes when we go in my boat, as friends, they do pick up lunch and the gas.This is if I ask them to come fish for fun. With the trips that you give the guide, I would think the guide would appreciate the bussiness more than to charge you in your boat.May just have needed the money and thought it would be alright to charge you. I am on the outside looking in. Hope this helped you.

sounds like a misunderstanding to me. Probably should have discussed it while planning the trip. Sorry to hear about that. Good luck.

Hope you didn't pay him. Sounds like you are in need of a new guide.

From the story posted, I think I agree with all the other posters. On the surface, it doesn't sound at all right.

Unfortunately your "friendship" will never be the same. Too bad.

He was kidding you. Had to be. If not, he has issues.

I would have said, no YOU dont owe ME a thing,I was happy to do it

Time for a new guide.

I've taken friends with me before who are guides and I don't think they would have even considered taking any money for it. In fact it would probably hurt their feelings if it were even offered.

That ain't right !

Your answer should have been "I can't take $250 from you but if you want to put a few gallons of gas in my boat, that'd be ok."

I know a few of the professional guides at Lewisville and can't imagine them doing the same in similar circumstances.

Need a new friend and a new guide...if he asked for money and was serious, there is no friendly explanation. You boat especially. do not call him anymore, do not pay him, just find other guides for your corporate outing. You will not respect him like you once did and as friends should, so get over the friendship thing and move on, go fishing and have fun.

i think you use the term "friend" too loosely. It might just be a rare case of being "friends" cause you are a paying customer. Money makes people act wacko sometimes. Im sure most guides out there have lots of friends they do that with, and the thought of asking for money would never cross their mind. Hopefully it was just a misunderstanding. If not he is a pretty shady guy.

If the guy was serious...1st off he aint no friend, 2nd reply to him quite bluntly that he owes you $300 for the guided trip you provided to him.

Your boat, your gas, your fishing spots means you were the guide. I am going to go out on a limb and say that all guides have there own fishing buddies and when they go out they don't start passing out invoices.

Sorry to hear about this...sounds like you may have lost someone you considered a friend

did I mention I do corporate trips too.

Times are hard, families need to be fed, notes need to be paid, etc., etc.

Not at a friends expense they don't.

"...I'll not abide rude behavior...", Woodrow McCall

Did he run the boat or trolling motor? Weird....

Can we go fishing in your boat? I will supply all the rods, and tackle?.... If I take a guide in my boat, we fish my spots, and he wants money from me, he better know how to swim real good.

Hey Syd,

I forgot to give you the address to send the check for that trip out on Lake Athens that day.

But since it was a tournament, I will need the full day fee, not that half day fee.

Sorry to hear about what happened. Give me a call, and I will at least buy you lunch and give you gas money.

chris you paid for my hamburger, remember, and I invited you so no charges. if you do not let me win at tawokoni I might change my mind.

Ok, luckily this did not happen to me it happened to the owner of our company, I was an observer and co-fisherman. It also occurred at the coast.

but the guide basically had a day off, showed up empty handed, used my bosses equipment, bait, and ate the sandwiches we made. we never discussed any details of fishing, except he asked why I only throw artificial baits. (he hates that when I am in his boat during our corporate outings.)

I think the main item that could have caused the request was that we tip him almost as much as his fee, and my boss and he won a bayfishing tourney last summer and he received most of the winnings. he needs the income more than my boss.

they discussed the issue the following morning. when we headed out the next morning the guide was at his dock, looking pretty bad, apologizing and wanting to give back the money. my boss refused to take back the money and they agreed to keep their relationship totally on a professional level from now on.

Your boss is a gentleman and has class. And I hope the guide realizes that the money he received that day was the most expensive $250 he ever got, because if it was me as the "client-friend," our relationship from that point on would be "cool but cordial" on a personal level, and "non-existent" on a professional level.