Running a pontoon 100+ days each summer is a bit different. We always have jigs on board but rarely use em. When the normal load is 4-6 clients I've found minnows produce better. Until '04, I ran exclusively on the bass boat and never used anything but jigs. With 2 clients it was OK to use jigs as I had them both on the front deck and could do more instruction. On the pontoon I usually spend more time holding over the brush while my deckhand sets depths, fixes hang-ups and generally does hands on instruction. My instruction is more on reading graph, likely structure and location for piles, and seasonal changes in depth, etc.

We strictly tight line, no casting. Casting = hung up in brush. Depth is set by "Pulls". Touch your weight to the water, and let go as you pull the rod up. Right now the crappie are holding at about 15 feet which equals 1.5 pulls. I use 6' Falcon Originals and Bucoos with either Falcon or Okuma Ultralight reels and Sunline. When you hang up and break off, my deckhand, Ronnie, will hand you another just like it. Same reel, rod, line, hook, etc. We have 2 Rapala 6 footers for folks that seem determined to break the Falcons. We've caught bass up to 12.87 on the Falcons, but if you grab one behind the 2nd eye and jerk to get unhung, they WILL break.

This system works for us. I relate my method to an interview I saw with Ray Croc, owner of McDonalds. When asked how he made 5 billion perfect burgers, he said he didn't. He made 1 perfect burger and repeated the process 5 billion times.

The expectations above are about right for 2 anglers. We ran 101 trips last summer and boxed over 6700 crappie. The only reason we hit those numbers is due to the number of folks we had on the boat. But you are dead on in the breakdown. Ronnie and I usually are responsible for at least 1/3 of the fish that go in the cooler.

Very nice Ernest !

Good info there Folks, Earnest knows what he is talking about. He was taught by one the best.

Maybe I am out of line here....but, if I am paying someone to take me fishing, they better get their butt in the back seat and let me have the front!

And, you won't have to worry about me sitting in front with you, my fishing partner and I could and would squeeze in the front of a canoe, if the crappie were there!

you will probably have to run the trolling motor then...

Listen to the "Old Proffesor" Ernest. He and Guy Skinner taught me a lot and I can't thank them enough. I feel very confident when I go fishing now.
Thanks guys

You mean the guide doesn't have Ipilot???

You know...
It's been quite a few years since I gave my dad a guide trip with Ernest for a retirement gift, but I can still remember everything Ernest taught us. I remember my dad and I driving home and replaying every little detail he tried to show us. My dad was even taking notes. lol!
It was a relatively slow fishing day on CC that day, and storms eventually ran us off the lake. But...we still came home with 15-20 big slabs (mostly black crappie and most a pound or so). We were proud and content with that stringer, but we knew that the information we had just gained would be worth many, MANY more limits during the rest of our fishing lives.
I have been a diehard jig fisherman ever since, and now I'm totally confident when I go out crappie fishing. Which, by the way, is about the only fishing I do any more.

man, don't understand why hire guides if they have no interest listening to them... Every word of their wisdom ==== Fish... i get skunked many times, so if they give a tip or two, i repect that like a drop of water in the middle of a desert.

You forgot to add cold drinks and a snack.

Coors Light and Peanuts? Maybe drum up a little more business!

How about an air conditioned boat, that would definately gets some business!