One thing to add...you need to be a people person. Sourpusses don't last long in this business. Just as in life, you're going to meet all kinds and all attitudes. From the inexperienced to the know it all, and everything in between...you have to satisfy and keep a smile on your face, as well as there's.



Gman

I guided part time for abt a year. I would not try to do it full time, un less I had NO bills to pay. I think if you could build up a base of repeat customers who book you regularly it would be awesome.
Most of the people I took out were one and done. They had thier own boats, and just wanted to learn how to catch crappie and where.
I had one guy call and say, that he wants to fish ALOT of spots.
I told him if we go to a spot, and theyre biting we will stay there until I decide to leave. All he wanted was spots. I didnt guide him.
I had another guy, he couldnt seem to stay off of his phone long enough to land a fish. We were getting plenty bites, and if he would have put his phone in his pocket for a while it would have been easy limit. At the end of the trip, he looks at me and says.. Well the quality is nice , but the numbers could have been better.. I think we had 13 nice ones if I recall.
I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying " oh really, if you had landed 1/10 of the fish you missed because you couldnt put your phone down, we would have limited and culled all day".
I have never been very good at taking BS and if I dont like someone, I cant fake it long.
As was already mentioned, alot of things have to go right, for a safe, successful trip. Boats are usually trying to give some kind of trouble, you have to educate customers on the fine nuances of crappie fishing without insulting them. " Sir thats a really nice rod you have but I dont think you need a heavy bass rod with 30 lb spiderwire" .. And he brings it and fishes with it anyway.
I think that crappie guides in particular, put too much pressure on themselves to produce messes of fish for customers. I think that if a guide provides the customer a very good chance to catch some fish, and works very hard to do so, and MOST important the customer had fun, and learned some things, then the trip was a success. IT IS A FISHING TRIP. NOT A IRON CLAD CATCHING TRIP. Sometimes they just wont bite, no matter what you do.
The best guide I know, doesnt guide in winter, because they just arent patternable on his lake in winter.
Something else that I never could see doing, is cleaning fish in the parking lot on a 100 degree day, with no running water, no shade, ect. I told the customers to bring a cooler to take home thier catch if we did well. Many times they didnt, So I would bring a medium styrofoam one, and give it to them with ice .
So in closing what I what say for what its worth, if you decide to guide, dont be status quo. DO IT YOUR WAY. Just because Joe Blow gaurentees fish doesnt mean you have to. If you have a bad trip, which you will, you can offer a tag along trip. Tell them next time you have a open seat, you will call them and they can come, and fish.
NEVER EVER EVER make excuses for not catching fish. remain confident and do your best. Dont spend half the trip explaining why you arent catching fish, trying to convince them you are the greatest guide ever and nobody is catching. You may roll up to the dock and someone tells you they got thier limit , then you will really look like an arse. Just remain silent , and grin and bear it.

It's what I would do, if I won the lottery, and I probably wouldn't charge! But for now, I got mouths to feed, and bills to pay, and I make too much at my day job...I would love to get paid to fish, but that will have to wait until I retire or win the lottery....which neither will probably happen for 30 yrs.....That reminds me, my multi draw ticket for mega millions is out, need to get one tomorrow...

Hey SlabHappy,how about we split a ticket or 2,lol!

I ran a crappie guide service for several years, and I can tell you that Lane told you right....except that he forgot one key thing. All too often the guide trip became an adult form of baby sitting. On average, about 10% of the people really knew what they were doing, but 90% wanted to "take home a limit". Good luck cause you'll need it.

Couple of more thoughts for your consideration are:

*Would recommend that you plan on about a 3 year startup period to start and grow your business. Based on doing it myself and working with lots of other Full Time Guides who made it happen, this is about average. Need to figure out how to pay the bills during this timeframe.

*Be versatile and offer Trips for as many species as possible as this allows you to find and catch fish year around.

*Be in an area where you have a Lake(s)that is good to fish but is also near enough to a Customer Base to grow the business.

*We offer trips on just one lake to avoid the expense, time and hassle of fishing multiple lakes. This has worked for us for over 15 years. Fishing multiple lakes does have some advantages though.

*Need to know how to Market yourself and business. This is the key to startup, survival, growth and sustaining the business. (75% of your business will eventually come from Word of Mouth and the Internet.)

*Try and develop a niche to go along with the versatility, ie; Trophy Fishing, Big Blues, Largemouth, Crappie, Corporate Groups, etc. (Ours happens to be Family/Kids Fishing mainly for White Bass) Try and avoid offering only Discount Trips as you'll attract only those folks looking for a deal and never make enough $'s to show a profit. (Discounts are applicable sometimes in the start up period, deep Winter time, etc. )

The info already provided by others is right on target in the arenas of quality equipment, liability insurance, customer service, etc. Take it to heart!

I worked in the Corporate World for almost 30 years before I was able to take the plunge and start my own Business. Been Guiding now since 2000 and honestly haven't worked a day in the past 15 years! As mentioned, if you can conduct around 200 trips a year, you can make a few dollars after expenses.

Good Luck and hope it works for you!