I don't think a guided trip is much more of an expense than owning your own boat and paying for everything etc...Fuel cost has really driven the cost of fishing in general up...However, If you are used to hitting a few spots in a kayak, surf fishing, or bank fishing, It is definitiely a much larger financial burden to bear to hire a guide for a day on the water.

Yes, guide trips seem very expensive. I know the overhead eats into your profits and the hard work and long hours have got to be killer on those stretches when your booked for days in a row. I would think maintaining equipment would get to be a pain in the a$$ after fishing all day.

I guess I'm caught in the middle. I own a boat and run it as often as possible. I can't seem to afford to take a guided trip I would like to take and run my own boat also.

I've wondered if guides ever need to scout for fish and need anybody to come along and pay expenses?????

I have several buddies that are guides. Some inshore and some offshore. One of the offshore guides is retired and only does it on a part time basis because he loves it. He doesn't make any money. He can, however, write off expenses to do what he loves. The other offshore guide hired on a privately owned boat and is the personal capt. for that boat and it's owner. He makes a decent living since he's paid a salary. The rest of the offshore guys are just getting by and covering expenses for the most part. None are getting rich.

Of the inshore guides that I know, the biggest money makers are the guys guiding kayak trips. They've got the least overhead of the bunch.

Personally, I've owned inshore and offshore boats and I can assure you that hiring a guide is cheaper than running your own boat. If you split the trip with 3 others, then it's way cheaper.

If you want the biggest bang for the buck learn to fish the surf. Then you don't need a boat and you'll almost always catch fish.

As a guy who is tryng to book his first guided catfishing trip this thread is very helpful in understanding what all a guide has to deal with. I'm one of those common ordinary people who love to fish and can't afford high end costs, but for once I have decided to give a quality service a shot. It's not cheap at about $40 to $50.00 an hour. However when you consider everything is provided for you except a lunch bag it's worth it. I live in Florida and will be fishing unfamiliar waters in Texas. The guide I have selected is a teacher and educator for the day, and I'm going to get my money's worth. I just hope he is available the day I have open.

Just some of the expenses to consider:

Saltwater guides have to have a CG License (6 pack). This means they carry commercial insurance on their boat. Offshore guides have to obtain expensive Reef Fish permits from the Feds. Problem is the Feds put a moratorium on those permits. So the only way to obtain one is to buy from someone who currently holds it. Going price right now is $5000 to $10,000.

-Registration on the boat and trailer
-Maint on boat, motor, trailer and tackle
-Purchasing of boat, motor, trailer and tackle (for offshore you can figure close to $500+ per rod/reel, usually more like $1000)
-Storage for boat, motor, trailer, tackle and gear. Or Marina Fees.
-Bait ($50-$100/day)
-Ice (for offshore figure on 200lbs/day)
-Fuel (for offshore figure 100 gallons/day)
-Food/Drinks
-Trolling lures (some cost in excess of $100 each)
-Paying a deckhand or two

Then after your trip is done, your fish are cleaned and your home enjoying a cool one the Capt. is busy cleaning his boat and gear and readying it for the next trip. This normally takes a couple hours per day.

These numbers aren't trumped up or inflated. You should be able to easily see how $400-1/2 day doesn't go very far or offer much profit to the Capt.

Personally, I don't see how the offshore charters that charge $1500/day are making any money.