Why should'nt he , you can always learn something new.

SMD described a perfect guide.....bravo to whoever that is....you should name them.....my personal experience is limited to Hollis Joiner .....he always fished....and I almost always caught more fish.....bet that wasn't an accident!

I wouldnt want to go with � guide that doesnt fish . How is h� supposed to know where to fish because � good guide doesnt have alot of free time to find the fish other than times with clients. Plus to me gettiing � guide has been more about learning than actually catching fish.

Absolutely!

john morris lake fork. he caught some good ones that afternoon and even though i wanted him to just fish and us have a good time together as by that time we had the pattern and technique dialed in good, somehow a few minutes after the arranged cutoff time after i had asked if he was ready to go and he declined we made our way by a spot that even a dummy like me knew had to be good. big laydown, grass and private boat ramp that was overgrown providing some hard bottom in the very back of a creek. he refused to throw at it and what do you know i set the hook on a drag screaming 8.9 lber, second biggest fish i've ever caught. thanks to john, never seen him on here but he does post frequent reports on lake fork marina website. only ran $350 a day back then too.

Yes!

I have taken 9 or 10 guide trips in the last three years all with the same guide. He has always fished with us, however he is usually throwing something different than we are just to see if they will bite on something else, if he catches a fish then after he got the fish in and off he would either hand the rod to one of us, or start to rig other rods with the same bait for us to use. If my daughter was in the boat he would hand the road to her and let her reel in the fish.

We are always the first ones to cast to the sweet spot, if we missed he would have us reel in and recast, then once everyone had Aline in the water he would pick up a rod and be casting to the other side of the boat or other areas to try and locate fish. You never had to worry about waiting for him, he was always working on rods, retying and getting gear set up for us!

I usually book 2 to 3 trips a year with him and don't plan to stop!

Yes! I fish with a guide alot and I love them to fish with me. I can learn from them, compete with them and I like to see them have a good time too. My guides put me on fish and I never feel like they are hitting the good spots first. I have been with guides that have caught big fish and I learned alot watching him get them in the boat. As a result, I recently landed my PB and was able to boat her without an issue because of what I have learned from my guide.

Yes. If you were a guide would you want to take people to your best spots and not show them how to catch the fish. If the bite is not what it should be would you not want to figure out why they are not biting the presentation they were yesterday?

I want the guide to fish most of the time. I don't wanna get back boated or anything, but I've learned something from every guide I've fished with. I've been unlucky in the fact that most of the guide trips I've ever taken we've always hit those days where they said man, we really caught them yesterday! That said, I always learn a new technique, or have them show me a way to improve a technique that I thought I knew. As a teenager I fished with Dennis States at Fork. We didn't catch a lot of fish, but he showed me a way of popping a jig or crankbait loose from a hang up that has saved me twice as much money as we spent on that trip. Plus I couldn't stand to have somebody in the boat watching me fish all day and not get a bait wet.

I think the guide should help by locating fish and finding a pattern. After fish are located, let the client have at them.
Me and a buddy hired a guide to take us bull red fishing a few years back. Guide found the fish, got our bait cut and said "have at em boys...I'm taking a nap." We tore up big reds for the next hour while he was passed out. One of the best guided trips I ever had.

I've only hired a guide one time. It was on a well known bass Lake here in Texas. REAL bad deal. It was my wife and I. He fished. And that was ok. But that's about it...... No joke, after I made mention of owning a boat, he shut down. Took us to these spots with NO structure, NO bass, and stayed there. Quit talking and all. Anyway, he boated 3 dinks and my wife and I? Blanked. Paid in full, tipped and left. Never again.

I would feel awkward if the guide wasnt fishing. I enjoy wagers and such. Like five dollar big fish....... ten dollar first fish. I'm down for the guide fishing.

P.S. *I really think he is out of business now but not sure. Dont let my bad trip keep you from hiring a guide. Most are really good and reliable, just not for me.

I could care less if the guide fishes, during a guide trip I expect the guide to describe the spots we fish, and how the relate to it.

I wonder how many guides would still guide if they couldnt fish while they guided?

This is not acceptable. My first thought is you should've done more homework before you hired him or her. There are only a couple on Fork that will do this to ya and they have a rep for doing it.

That being said, some days the fishing is just plain slow. The guide needs to fish those days to see what it takes to get bit. On the days when the fish are biting well most good guides will put their rod down after they locate the fish and just help their clients and give instruction.

ive been on probably around 100 guide trips and 99.9% of them were awesome. like Ken said, you need to communicate well with the guide to maximize your success...