We do a lot of guided tarpon fishing trips out of key west. Trips are usually 600 for 6hr and I always give him $100-120 because he works his butt off for us.

I�ve paid 300 tip for a 150 trip 3x. The guide was that good. I had To repair his boat motor 2 of those times. He was way under charging. We caught walleye cat small mouth and pike. He called his shots. If we didn�t have a fish in 3-4 minutes we left the spot. He clearly did his homework. The only spots we left were for larger catfish. This was in South Dakota.

I�ve been with one bass guide and I tipped Him 200 for a 500 day. He makes weekly videos and I had Already learned enough from him prior to the trip. I only Scheduled the trip u repay him for such good video information and told him so. He basically pre fished for his and my upcoming tourney with me so we moved a lot and fished a little. This was on table rock.


If I didnt Tip so well I would hire a guide more often. Hmmmmm

What does your gut tell you? If you feel he did more than you expected , tip him , if not dont. Pretty simple

Same as a waitress: what ever I want or fell good with. Not really interested in what others think I should tip.

If a guide is trowing cigarette butts in the lake I'm not sure I would last the trip. Just can't stand it.

There you go ,,,,

it is one thing to pay a guides RATE for the day ,,,,, be it $350, be it $500. THEY set their rate based on what they think their time and ability is worth. Their FEE is not like a waitress' hourly pay or a cabbie's fare from the meter, those are determined by OTHERS. A guide's daily rate is set by him. TIPS are/should be based on service, performance & results (IMHO) give em' what they earn or base it on your feel good rate after the trip.

I bet Eric really likes you!

15 to 20% if the effort is solid.

Not to be a contrary, but when you are fishing out of someone else's boat on their spots, it's really mostly them when a fish is caught.

JP ,,, not to be contrary,,,, BUT ,,,, you didn't read the post very well. He stated "ALL COMMUNITY HOLES" ,,,, that really doesn't qualify as someone else's spots.

I'll stand by my statement. If I'm fishing out of someone else's boat, at their spots, I figure I am catching their fish (unless we are both deciding where to fish). Even on community holes, approach angles can sometimes make or break the bite.

I have to fish by myself so a guide fee for a day is all i can afford. I always hope a guide will realize a client not splitting the trip is already in pretty deep. Wouldn't he rather you come fishing than just feel priced out by addition of a tip?

Oklahoma has the worst tippers and want to keep every fish caught!

I tip about 10%. If I ever caught a 10 pounder, I would probably give $100.

Smurfs....