How do the guides on this forum feel about people following them around a lake when they're working? Does it happen often? Does it piss you off? Does it impact your ability to catch fish?

Considering that many guides charge a fee for chase boats, I would expect it to be a bit irksome. Also, consider this, if you were a guide and new of some pretty secret spots (hump/brushpile in the middle of nowhere, etc.) that you could pretty consistently pull fish off of and depended on when the fishing gets really tough to put fish in the boat, would you want to just let everybody follow you and then know where those spots were to keep them occupied when you need them?

It probably makes them upset. But don't know if there is much they can do about it. Probably doesn't happen much. Just go out to the lake and learn it yourself. Or hire the guide.

You opened the flood gates on this one

For the most part it does not bother me, but sometimes it does get a little annoying. I usually give the info on the bite at the marina for anyone who wants it. I have actually called people over closer to be on the fish, as long as they are respective its cool. There have been a few occasions of what i call "shadowing" In those cases, i have been known to run the lake several different ways and fish where i know there isnt gonna be a thing. As far as impacting the ability to catch fish, there is alot more to catching fish than just finding them. Last but not least, It does not piss me off, life is to short to be mad over someone trying to find fish and have not a clue to where to start.

Not a guide and I wouldn't follow one either. I'm just glad DTA hasn't found the GPS tracker I put on his boat.

guides look for other boats too especially on tough days or when looking for new honey holes or when on new areas i've had guides run up on me before and i've never followed one. even had one troll behind me one time and cut a line in prop.
sorry but i'm not a big fan of 90% of the guides out there anyway

if you have people doing it day in and day out i bet it would really p!ss some guys off, but you probably won't hear too many of them showing up here to vent

I think it's pretty sorry for someone to follow a guide, or anyone else for that matter, without permission. I certainly couldn't do it without feeling guilty.

The water is a free place to enjoy by all and I do not know anyone that fishes on a regular basis that would not observe what is going on around them on the water and use that to help them catch fish. respect the people that earn a living on the water and the guides should respect that they are making a living on a public resource and expect that not all the people on the lake will know that the boat is a guide. if the lake is older than a few years everyone is fishing someones honey hole!!!

I was accused of following a guide once and let it get to me a little bit. When I�m fishing I like to fish early. I think the biggest problem was the guides were not used to recreational anglers being up and fishing before the guides normally got on the water. That day, I got on the road at 4 am, drove two hours in the dark, and was the only boat at the ramp. Fired up ran about 300 yds, dropped the trolling motor, and instantly had a fish. I had been to this lake once before and honestly didn�t know where to go, but this spot looked right. At the same time, I hear a boat hammer it at the ramp which is just out of eyesight. Less then a minute later, a guide and clients drop off plane less than 15 yards from me. The guide was instantly on his cell phone, �They are following me. They were here waiting on me . I can�t�..with people following me around like this��.�. The fellows start fishing right on top of me. The guide is still on the phone but they drifted out of ear shot. I�m catching fish pretty good, but I really want to move around and work the area. I wasn�t going to be forced out of a spot that I felt was rightfully mine, though. After 10 minutes the guide fires up and leaves. Then, the another guide who I assume may have been on the other end of the phone drops of plane next to me and calls over making a comment about me following the first guide then fires up and leaves. Then, third guide dropped by and did the same thing, except this fellow didn�t get close enough that I could actually hear him. He mainly just did weird hand gestures. They weren�t even vulgar, just odd. Still, it really made me angry. Luckily there was no fourth guy cause he would caught trouble. Now, I didn�t know any of these guys were guides that day. I suspected they were and after I got back home I used the wondrous internet to match up boats and faces.

So, Guides don't like people following them. IMO, they also don't like people getting up early and beating them to there spots even if it is by pure blind luck.

I'm not into following a guide, but then again I won't be pushed off an area I'm fishing by one either...

I am not crazy about being followed, especially if I am crappie fishing. I know its a public lake but following someone around with out there permission just doesnt seem right to me.

I've used guides in the past and will in the future. I like them and think they really earn their money. However, some of them do get to feeling like it's THEIR lake and that they are more privileged than others because they're looked up to as experts. I was in the boat with a guide one time when he nudged a guy off a brushpile he claimed was, "his." He didn't say it was his pile to the other boat, he just kept pushing and ushing until they fired up and left. He told me it was his pile. I don't think that was right and I told him so. If I had seen the other people back at the ramp I would have apologized.

Bottom Line: No matter how flat you mash a pancake, there's still two sides to it!

The lakes are open to the public and everyone has equal access rights. However, self respect comes into play here. Any fisherman with normal mental capacity should be able to read a lake map and find his own fish.

White bass and striper fishing is just a little different, though. I will join a boat show if it looks like fish are in the area.

I go out on Lake Lewisville on the weekend mornings for sandies, if you to the main body of the lake their may be fifty boats out there and almost everyone is chasing the schools. i try to stay away from the big groups but if you find the fish everyone will find you. I dont mind when people fish near us but it drives me insane when you are on a school and some speeds by you drives right over the school and pushes the fish back down. I would love for everyone on the lake to catch fish but it is not good for any of us when someone drives right on the middle of the school. A little common courtesy goes a long way. If I am wrong please let me know