Yeah nothing like paying a Fork guide to front end you all day, paid him lots a money to watch him fish, and then tell us how great he was.........NO THANKS.

I wouldn't mind a guide fishing some if we were trying to locate some fish, but don't go overboard....saw this on a guide's website:

"We did however land a 8 pounder 3 seven pounders and a 6 pounder for our best five. I did not take any pictures because unfortuantely I caught them all."


what the heck is that all about? And to post it on your website?

Call John Tanner, Me and my brother went out with him last year. We pulled up to his first stop along a shoreline, he caught a 2 pounder on his first cast, and a dink on his second casts.
He threw his rod down and said alright, they are here, throw here here and here and work it this way and we started catching fish. He didnt fish for another 2 hours until we moved out of that area, and did the same thing at the next one.
Class act guy, and he truly makes it feel as if he is there for you to catch fish and have fun. Hes not out trying to catch the next fork SAL or boat a hundred fish on his own.
If he catches 2-3 fish in one spot he knows they are there and he stops fishing and focus on you and what you are doing, or could be doing to boat more fish.

+1,had that very thing happen to me once.Only once.That's why I will never hire another guide on Fork,you never know how big of an ego you'll get.I finally got tired of him running his mouth about how good he was.So I ask him if we could go to some of my favorite hole on fork.That kinda shut him up a little.

I had one bad experience with one guide one time on Fork, many years ago. The whole ego thing.

But I do not know of ANY guides on Fork that, if asked, would have a problem not fishing. The John Tanner story highlights why most of them fish. That and they enjoy it just like you do. But I'd just about guarantee you that any guide you asked up front would have no problem not fishing.

I can second that...Even though I feel he disrepected me and my buddy for the most part of the day (as soon as he pulled up to a spot, he'd run up and have the trolling motor on, throwin his tube bait and catch a fish before me and my buddy ever made a cast...), I will show the respect to not call him by name... He's name has been brought up alot on the TFF too.. His famous phrase was "hey, your getting a bite ain't ya" and then he'd set the hook and bring one in with this big $hit eatin grin on his face... Never again!

You sure it wasn't "it'll happen".

A gudie with an ego?!?!? Say it ain't so!

I think most Freshwater Guides need to fish--some--just to verify the fish are there. I've seen paying customers in Guide boats that couldn't catch a fish on artificial baits if you set the hook for them.. Pitiful. Yet they expect miracles for the guide fee.

It's hard for the Guide in those situations, I'm sure it's uncomfortable.

Ask the question before you EVER book a trip if that's a concern.
I prolly wouldn't do well fishing with a Show Boat guide either.

I've taken way more Saltwater guide trips than fresh water,
80% of those trips the guide never fished.. LOL.. He was to busy netting fish.

There have been 100's of threads about how to hire a guide.

How come everyone always fails to read rule #1.

Comminuicate what you want from your guide before you hire them. Your the paying customer.

There are times of the year, the pattern is a no brainer and pulling out top water early in the morning isn't normally one where the guide needs to see what they want.


There are times in the year, that red flake, or candy, or other baits work better. And just like fishing team tournaments, it never hurts to have a few different baits in the water trying to find the magic color or the magic spot.

LOL, there are some bad guides on Fork, so do your home work, sound like someone hasn't in the past.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Stan Fadrowski? I saw where he offers half-price for active duty military, which I appreciate in and of itself. You can PM me if you don't feel comfortable posting so everyone can see. Thanks.

I leave it up to the clients. Most want the guide to fish. Very few don't.

I have had trips where the clients wanted to be the only ones fishing and they just couldn't catch em or were unable to detect bites, etc. Would have been good to be able to fish to at least show the clients they are there.

On a personal note it is tough to love fishing as much as I do and sit and watch everyone else fish all day. It is part of learning The guide business and the patience to be a guide.

This and others state it pretty well. Just talk to the guide before the trip. Every trip I ever guided, I talked to the person when they booked the trip to make sure they knew exactly what service they were purchasing and the type of things to expect that day. I instructed the person to call me the day before to discuss specifics about how we would be fishing, the type of results we should have, etc.

One of the things I would talk about is whether they wanted me to fish or not. Honestly, I would rather see the customers catch fish than even make a cast myself. Usually if I was fishing it was for a few reasons.

-To find out how and what the fish were going to bite on.
-Some people are just out there to have fun and see fish.
-To try different techniques while they fished what we thought would work best. For example, I would chunk something into deeper water while they fished a line of trees. If I happend to run across anything different, they had that option too. Or maybe I had someone fishing a jig (because thats what the fish had been hitting) and I would throw a spinnerbait to see if the bite was changing or any better.

If anyone ever even hinted that they didnt want me fishing I would stop. If I ever felt like we were doing the right thing and I might get one of their fish, I would stop on my own. Sometimes on a worm or jig bite I would even shake fish off and try to get someone to cast back into that spot.

Most guides are out to give you the best day possible. The better you communicate your expectations and listen to what they have to say, the better off your day will go.

Years ago my brother and I went fall jig fishing with Lake Fork guide Ronnie Byrd. He fronted us in every creek channel and caught 75% of the fish. His big motor broke down first thing in the morning and we were limited to a small area of the lake he could use his trolling motor. He never offerred a discount on the trip or a rescheduled trip. I'm sorry I bought his lunch and paid for a full trip.

Jason Hoffman is the best guide I have ever been with. Can really put you on them and likes to have a good time. Even thought he is an Oklahoma boy he knows his fishing and I can promise he will put you on some fish!