If you can afford one at that price good for you,, but if you pay this full amount of money $63,000 = (140 guide trips)

Plus counting 15 years of -insurance, gas ,oil, maintenance ,= another $41,850+ - = (93- $450 guide trips) I know owning your own boat is fun, but guide trips to me would be so much more enjoyable..

$63,000 for boat + or- $42,000 for expenses = $105,000 or once a month guide trip for 15 years. (233 guide trips.)

i would take the guide trips, but saying that I do not know of any guide trips in texas for 350.00

I've done both. Sold boats, took lots of guide trips. Bought boats, still took lots of guide trips. If you can only afford one or the other, I'd go with guide trips assuming you don't need a boat for tournaments.

I enjoy being on the water anytime I want way too much to not own a boat.

But I've never taken a guide trip either(bass fishing, I've charter offshore fished a few times ).

It might be the way to go for some , but not me

That's assuming no interest my friend, lol. 15 years ='s a lot of interest. Most people end up paying more for a boat than a house.

I always tell people if they can't be on the water an average of at least 2 weekends a month, that it is cheaper and less headaches to hire a guide. JMO. I own a boat and enjoy it even when not on the water. I fish in the shop sometimes.

I chose to have a rich girlfriend so I could have both. New boat & any guide trip I want to go on

Does she have a sister?

Both. And I'm not wealthy...a reliable boat doesn't have to cost $60K.

I enjoy fishing with guides and do so 3-4 times per year, but I want to apply what I've learned and fish alone. Somebody else telling me what kind of bait to throw and where to throw it is a great learning tool, but much less satisfying to me than catching it using my own limited wits....

My PB is 7lbs. Not a monster, but still a beautiful fish. My first 7lb was with a guide two years ago. I caught another 7lb fish this past July while fishing alone and found it much more satisfying..

I try to fish every weekend so the combination of guide trips and boat ownership works well for me.

+1......

I have a 97 Ranger Bass Boat that I bought and financed for 12 years - I did pay it off early, I have a 2002 - 22'-0" Nirto Bay Boat, a 14' john boat, a annual lease to a 80 acre private bass lake, and I split a lot with my dad on Lake Fork, and I have not spent $60,000, plus I have been on about 25 guided trips. Now if you take all of the gas, tackle, beer, and ice since 1985 that alone would easily add up to over $60k. I fish every every weekend, and take my vacations where I can fish, I've always owner a Mercury and a Motorguide and have had to put in very little money on maintenance. My biggest expense on a boat is trailer tires, trolling motor(mine wear out in 3 years) and trolling motor batteries.

I'd pick own my own boat. Mainly b/c I like to go fishing whenever I want.

I wondered about this several years back when I got into bass fishing. I decided it made MUCH more sense at the time to just do guided trips even thought I am blessed to be able to afford both had I chosen that route. It worked out perfect. I was taking somewhere around 10-12 guided trips a year. It just made sense because the only thing I had to worry about was if the guide I wanted to fish with had that date open. Then I bought a lake house and I realized I wanted to have a boat I could take out whenever I wanted and not be on anyone else's schedule so that's what I did. Granted that 1st boat was a used X18 Xpress which was very affordable (under $10K), but it was perfect until I decided to buy a big boy boat, but even then I didn't spend anything close to $60K and wouldn't ever do that regardless of my financial position. My 2012 Legend Alpha 199 will serve me just fine for years to come.

So I guess to sum it up, if you live close to a lake or in an area where you can get on the water 1-2 days a week, it's better to buy your own boat but it definitely doesn't need to be a $60K rig and if you aren't in an area like that then guided trips is what I would do. Even at $400 per trip you are talking less than $5K a year.

I believe Richie White's Lake Fork Guide Service still offers full-day trips at $350. I haven't been on one with him since this Spring though.

I think people fish for different reasons......I've always owned my boat outright ......I fish alone most of the time ....100+ days per year.... I would not go on more than a couple of guide trips per year if I could......


And I wouldn't buy a 60k bass boat if someone gave me the money!