I always like the guide to fish. My thinking is we both like to fish so let’s enjoy life. You get to see what they are doing to catch them . How they work the bait etc. The good ones usually move to something they figure is less productive but they want to try. My favorite saltwater guide can put you on the juice and still out fish you. He is a fish magnet. Never had anything but a good time fishing with him. I have learned quite a bit from that which is going to be useful when fishing without him. Little things that come from him spending so much more time on the water than I ever could while hold down a job.

I have always preferred a guide to fish and have had many different experiences with this over the years. Had many great experiences with guides finding the pattern and helping me learn. I have also had many that just wanted to catch fish and prove the could without helping us customers on what the fish were doing. I fished with a guide in Northern Michigan ( bucket list trip) with my Dad. We caught about 60 smallies between us, 50 by the guide. I really wanted to learn, but had no experience with super light line and spinning equipment. I had enough and began to badger him about helping us. He confided to me he only got to a couple months a year due to weather and just loved to fish. Great guy, good fisherman, but horrible guide. To be a good guide one has to be selfless and accommodating to the clients expectations. As a client you have to have realistic about your expectations as to fishing. There are so many variables to catching and staying on top of fishing, now throw a broad range of customer expectations and personalities. Good guides are not always great fisherman and great fisherman are not always good guides.

I prefer that the guide I hire for the day go ahead and fish also, but not front end me. Some of the ones I have used in the past did not fish even though I told him I don't mind at all if he did. He put us on several good ones that day.

It all depends on the personality and character of the guide you hire for the day. I don't think that most of them are intent in out fishing their clients, but you will always find one or two in the bunch that are like that.

When I was a Full Time Professional License Guide in Texas I always discussed this with the clients before we started the trip.

I’ve never hired a guide since I prefer to find things out on my own. If that means I go fishelss a few trips, that’s ok. I’m learning every minute I’m on the water and can experiment to discover things others might now know. It’s fun. Reading through this thread, it seems some people hire guides but seem to think they either know more, or should dictate how the guide does things. Isn’t that the opposite of why you hire a guide in the first place? Why would you pay a guy to go out with you and then expect him to do what you suggest like using lures you want to ormfishing places you want to? Couldn’t you have done that on your own? He’s the guide after all and should be suggesting things to you. As for fishing, I wouldn’t expect a guy I’m paying to fish. His job is to put me on fish, not catch them himself. Then again, these are all reasons I don’t hire guides.

ive been on 100 plus guided trips and guided just as many. its a way to forecast how a pattern within a pattern is working. color, speed, depth, etc. so many variables that can change in seconds. now, if they are front ending you then you need to start a new thread. hope that makes sense.

Another primary reason I book them is traveling around the country and just want to fish different areas.

Great thread--thanks for starting it. I've recently booked a Lake Travis guide for end of December. The responses to this thread gave me a lot of good ideas.

I like the guide fishing because it ups my confidence level and also sets an example. 2 of my favorites usually let me take over sometime during the trip. I have been front ended by a guide before though, they are minus one client.

A guide usually fishes to determine what his clients should throw. The ones I use only fish for that purpose. Im totally fine with it. Only once did we have a guide, on Falcon, that really front ended us!

I remember that year Jack!

I would fish until one of us caught a fish then set my rod down and help my clients land fish, re-rig their setup, pick backlashes for them, etc. After they caught several fish I would try a different bait to see if something else would work. They might be catching them on a big crank bait. I would throw a big jig around the edges of the sweet spot.

I would rarely ever throw the same bait my clients were catching fish on on any given spot. I was always looking for something within the pattern that would work.

Also if I pulled up on a spot that I knew had a high probability for a big fish I would always instruct my client to throw in there several times before me. That’s my opinion of what a good guide does. That is why most days one of my clients had the biggest fish of the day.

Another point I would like to make. Lake Fork was the greatest lake in the country for probably two decades. It used to be easy to put your clients on a deep water school of 3-5# Bass where you could catch 10-30 fish off one spot. It hasn’t been easy for several years at Fork. The guides have to work harder now than ever to locate catchable fish.

All the way into the mid 2000’s I knew I could take two guys out on Fork and we would catch a minimum of 20 bass with 5 over 5 pounds on an average trip. It hasn’t been like that for me since the LMB virus hit the lake. I’ve had to greatly lower my expectations of what a typical day on Fork looks like. Just being honest.

Sounds reasonable. A guide will also pick up a rod when the clients seems less involved/encouraged with the area being fished. A good guide will sense when to pick up a rod and risk sticking a fish.1

Too bad there's not a consequence free way for guides to post about nightmare clients...

One thing that comes up consistently in this thread is COMMUNICATION. Both from the guide and the client asking questions of each other and in so doing, establishing a good rapport both before and during the trip. IME, when I'm talking with a guide that I haven't used before and he's asking good questions and is genuinely interested in what I am asking, then chances are pretty good that it will be a worthwhile trip. IME, if you call them and all you get is how hot the lake is, or what we've been slaying them on, or emphasizing the fun we're gonna have, or he/she says something about, :"Well, in my tournament a few weeks ago, I......... and then I........". then. at least in my experience, there is a better than even chance they are a dud. Again, not meant to say this applies to all guides, just what I have found over the decades.

Since we have some guides replying to this thread, let's hear it from y'alls side. What makes for a nightmare CLIENT? Pet peeves. etc?