I took a guided trip recently with a service. 5 people hoping to catch some fish and hopefully the fish of a lifetime. After working at it for 5 1/2 hours and only catching 8 fish, only 1 being the actual species we were there for, we called it a day under the impression we would be rescheduling(guides words). We get back. Call the guides boss and he says that some days are rough and I know it didn't work out but I wanna have u back at 100 dollars off the 650 dollar rate. I said, u want me to pay in full and the only thing you can offer me is 100 bucks off my next trip. Keep in mind the pain in the behind it is to get 5 guys available on the same day. He reaffirmed what he said and I literally was in shock. I told the guide what his boss said and he looked in shock. He called his boss back and his boss still told him there was nothing they could do. My brother then talked with the guides boss and asked for half off a rescheduled trip. The boss wouldn't budge. Then the guide offered to work the trip for free. The boss then accepted the deal. I respect the guides offer and willingness to try and make things right but that is not fair and I will not be following up on this offer. His boss shouldn't do that to him. What do you guys think?

If I pay a guide I usually expect to catch fish but, I fish enough to know that somedays that is not going to happen.
You should have asked those questions when booking the trip not after the fact. Sorry you had a slow trip.

Doing the right thing is always the best business strategy. Unhappy customers multiply based on others experience. The guide made the best offer he could and his boss should have made a an offer that helped the customers. The cost of a guide service is only part of the cost of a fishing trip for 5 people. If they are the kind of people that will pay $650 for a trip, then their friends are the kind of people that all guide services value the most. They could be potential repeat customers. I know that the next two months with the bait spawning and the fish returning from the the spawn, will be booked up for many trips. I feel it is very short sighted to ignore the potential fallout of a group of unhappy fishermen. Business is good now but the future depends on people coming back.

I had a guide that rescheduled my next trip for free since we didn't catch any fish. Greay service there and we didn't ask for it. Next trip we caught 1 sandie. Lol. The guide was driving and hunting to get us on fish. I saw the frustration on his face. After all day with no luck we called a day. We paid him anyway because he tried so hard. This was at Lake Tawakoni last summer. Fish on and be safe.

Poop

Its called' fishing 'not 'catching'. If the guide worked HARD to try to put you on fish thats about he can do or you can expect. Most will cut you a brake next time thats just good business. Or nock some of the trip you were on. Guides have expenses like boat payment,fuel, oil, etc..

Sorry about your bad trip!! Its happens sometimes.

I fish a lot so taking a guide trip is usually just for the friendship with my buddies and it doesn't hurt we like the guides a lot and we know the guides well. I had one trip on Texoma last year, through my brother's work, and we caught fish but not enough by the standards of the guide. This guide set up a "do-over" as soon as we came back to his slip. We did the do over and caught a bunch. We tipped him really well out of respect for taking us back out and being a hard working guide. So I think your experience is definitely not the norm. I'll tell you one guide to try. I promise you Matt will not disappoint. If you'd like some other guides names PM me.

http://www.tawakonifishingguide.com/MattCartwright/Welcome.html

Here's my recent post from our trip with Matt:

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt..._St#Post8849413

Good luck.

What type of trip were you on, trophy trip or meat trip?

Any trip you take when you are targeting trophies you must expect to come in with little to no fish. If you are on a meat trip then I would expect to catch at least a handful of fish.

I have been on both sides. I have been out with guides and caught very few fish and others where we have limited out and played catch and release. The trips that I have had with little to no fish were IMO just bad guides and I would not waste time or money to rebook a trip.

Did you guide try multiple spots and move around looking for active fish or did the guide call any other guides or friends on the lake in an effort to find the fish?

My opinion is a good guide will offer to reschedule the trip or discount the trip you just took. I have been out with J Varner for an hour and had him say guys the fishing conditions are just not good returned us to dock and did not charge us a penny. I have received a call from Royce at Gone Fish'n allowing us to cancel a trip knowing the fishing was less than stellar and Matt Cartwright also discounted a trip almost in half because of slow fishing. Chalk it down as a loss dont spend another penny with that outfitter and use the money and find a guide running a party boat special which would put you at about the same cost.

Best of luck and tight lines.

I spent $500 for a full day down in LA catching redfish left and right with my girlfriend. Our guide was running a $65k Hells Bay. If you're paying $650 for a hybrid trip and that guide isnt covering his expenses, that should be an indication that he's either boat poor, or is making up for a very small clientel list. Either way, its not your problem. Having expenses is part of running a business. If you got skunked, it should be refunded or rescheduled. If you caught fish, but not the quality you expected, thats fishing. Part of what you're paying for is the experience. Sounds like you had a guide that wanted to make things right with a boss that didnt give a hoot. In the future, ask this same question in advance, so you know what to expect. Sorry you had a bad trip, I'd go with whoever Frank endorses.

I have fished with several guides in my life, Toledo Bend, Ray Hubbard, Texoma, Tawakoni plus salt water. I had 1 less that stellar trip it was the guide not the fish, 2nd best trip I ever had as far as fish. I asked to stop for a few minutes and we just talked shook hands and were friends for many yrs afterwards. I have 3 guides that are very good personal friends and yes I have had bad trips with little or no fish. They made it right and then some. So sorry you had a bad trip, it happens.

Hey DubT, sorry u had a sucky trip. If you are looking for a quality trip for a little less than $650 give me a shout if like a shot at earning your respect and business. I know you won't be disappointed

I had a bad trip with a striper guide at Beaver Lake. Our guide showed up late cuz he was at the casino with his boss that night. Reaked of alcohol. Pulled up to his first spot and marked a couple of fish. The fish on his FF were streaking so I knew they were feeding. Guide was surprised I knew how to read a FF. We spent half a day with 0 bites. His boss called him to see how he was doing. He told him 0 fish and 0 bites. The boss said he was marking lots of fish but none would bite. I told the guide if we could move to where they were because we weren't marking any fish anymore. Ended up zeroing and the guide didn't offer to reschedule or reduce the price. Kinda sucked wasting all that money and driving all the way out there to catch nothing and be offered horrible service. Also, the day I booked the guide wanted my credit card info for down payment on the trip. I felt kinda effy and said I would mail him a check. He got mad cuz I didn't trust him with my CC info and said he was a reputable guide. Sure enough someone hacked my credit card and I had to cancel it. I will never use them again.

friendlyish service and FISH.
money back if theres no fish or only a couple.

I've always called them fish pimps.

Up here in the PNW if you schedule a salmon trip during most of the year chances are you won't catch a fish. If you schedule sturgeon you'll either catch shakers or oversized. Slot size fish can be tough to catch.

If you schedule a trip in the fall for salmon you stand a pretty decent chance.

All this is based on the Columbia river. Some of the coastal rivers are a better bet but the weather sucks.

I think calling them fish pimps is pretty harsh. The guides I know work very hard and try their best to put you on fish. Some days the fish are not hungry. The next day they will fill up the cooler. There are a lot of real good guides out there. Get references from people you see posting pictures on here all the time. We know a lot great guides and fish weekly.