Over a 25 year period have hired guides 5 times and went with friends on guided trips several times. All on Fork and have not had one bad trip. Let the guide know what you are looking for out of the trip, numbers, size, etc. Ask questions, they don't mind answering and you can learn a lot to use on any lake.

After much study I decided I needed some bass from the Oklawaha River in Florida for my bass breeding project on my 30 acre fish hatchery. The bass from that area (aka "Rodman Reservoir") are well known not only for overall weight, but for long bodies, up to 32 inches in length.

So, I asked some buds in Florida that were in the fish biz (tropicals) if they knew anybody. Same name came up a few times. J. Nelson (Sahib) Hulvey. I called and made arrangements for a collecting trip. This included a place to store the bass, alive until I was ready to ship them home by air cargo. I checked with the state of Florida, unlike Texas, there were no restrictions in taking my fish home alive, as long as I had a valid license and not over my limit/creel limit. So I booked this guy.

Me and two buddies, one my helper, the other a friend in the lake management biz, flew to Orlando, rented a van and drove to Silver Springs with my boxes, bags and other live fish shipping gear. We stayed one hotel away from the wrong one, crack deals, fistfights and police busts all night long. One buddy asked how I found the place and why we had to stay there....cheapest spot I could find on the net, this was a working trip, not a vacation.

7 am next morning we met Mr. Hulvey, 76 year old fishing guide. He had bought us ten dozen wild shiners at a cost of $35/dozen and arranged for a bottle of oxygen and a regulator to pack our fish when we were ready to leave. Some of those wild shiners weighed over a pound! Two day trip. 21 foot Carolina skiff, and never got the 88 hp Johnson past half throttle. Used Garcia 5500's and ugly sticks with 30 pound mono.

We fished 16 hours the first day, until all the baits were used up. We learned an entirely new way to bass fish I'd never seen before. We caught 21 bass up to 9 1/2 pounds (hadda throw back the biggest, too big to fit in the boxes). We also caught two "mudfish" (bowfin) per bass, which the guide dispatched with a small bat. I actually saved two of them to sell to a collector in Houston as well as a huge chain pickeral. About five hours into the second it came a front and blew us off the lake.

Anyhow, we had the fishing trip of a lifetime, learned a new way to fish, accomplished my goal of getting the bass genetics I wanted to improve my strain, heard some great war stories, drank the best moonshine I ever had, and pretty much got ten times our money's worth.

I've also had bad guides, as well as very good ones on other trips for other species. Overall I'd say 2 to 1 good to bad. More likely than not, money well spent.

Sometimes I work as a guide, have for more than 30 years. Each time I hire one, I learn something new I can use.

I've hired four guides.

1. Hired a guide on Fork. Similar to what someone else mentioned he wanted to "fork" me off to another "guide", I wouldn't do it. Caught a few fish, but did get front ended by the guide. Won't mention his name, but he's still there.

2. Hired a guide over the internet in Florida near Disneyworld at Lake Okeechobee. He didn't even bother to call me the evening before to tell me where to meet him as he indicated he would. Meet him the next morning, go on a very lousy trip no fish, no information.

3. Hired a guide on Lake Minnatonka. He was professional, but only a few fish.

4. Hired a guide on Lake Falcon. He put us on the fish, stayed until we were ready to leave that day. Nice trip.

I'd do it again. Be very particular about the guide!!!

Years ago my wife told me to book a guide trip for the both of us on Ray Roberts as a fathers day present. When we went to meet the guide at the bait shop he wasn't there; we had to wake him up with a phone call. At the time I was wanting to learn to fish a c-rig; he had us throwing spinnerbaits in tree tops (90+, middle of the day, late June). I finally hooked a bass, a bigger one followed it in he saw my wife was hung up and said "since your snagged I'll throw at this one" he hooked it, landed it and had us take a picture of him with the bass for his brochure. Then trolling motor broke so we returned to the ramp. He charged us full price.
Fortunately he is no longer guiding on the lake.

Hired Jason Hoffman last year on Fork, well worth the money. Had a great time and he worked very hard, would reccomend him to anyone.
Hired the same saltwater guide I think 8 times he is awesome at catching fish also. Capt. Charlie Hardison in Port Fourchon, LA.
Hired a saltwater guide out of Galveston well he is a deadbeat, not worth the dirt it would take to cover him.

I hired a guide last year for this same reason and it really helped. Just make sure you talk to the guide and tell him what you want to learn before you book the trip. Also try to find some info on the guide here.

I went with Dannie Golden (Get-Bit), and he taught me alot.
I would highly recommend him and will probably book another trip with him myself this year.