Guides fishing tournaments

I see post frequently of people complaining about guides being allowed to fish tournaments. Why are people so scared to fish against them when on average they do not do as good as the local tournament anglers? For example, look at Media Bass on Palestine today. There were 29 limits with 44 teams and a 29 lb stringer won. It took 16 to get a check. Fish obviously were biting. Three different guides fished the tournament. Two of the guide teams weighed nothing in and another had 2 small fish.

#guideslivesmatters

I find it hard to believe that on average they dont do well...
Not sure about Palestine, but the bass guides on Lewisville and Robert's are few. The guides I can think of will all put up good sacks in a local tournament. I personally enjoy fishing against talented fisherman.
That once in a lifetime fishing adventure happens at least once in everyone's life.

Because the average Joe that works during the week can't fish the lake everyday like a guide can. The information they get from the lake in a week most have to do in a day or two. Do they have an advantage, absolutely. Call it what you want but guides that fish tournaments they guide out of is BS in my opinion.

They rarely do good on Rayburn. I mean rarely and never win. There are 30-40 local teams that are on the water more than the guides. Just cause you are a "guide" doesn't mean you know how to pattern quality tournament fish. Getting a bunch of bites for clients is way different than producing good quality bites on a tournament day when the pressure shows up. I know Rayburn is much easier Monday through Thursday.

Jarrett = you are absolutely correct. People just don't get it. They cannot comprehend that what the guide is doing with customers rarely helps them in tournaments. The guide is spending his time on the water looking for bites for the customer and not finding tournament fish. Heck, most of the guides now days are spending the vast majority of their trips taking people crappie fishing and are not even bass fishing. On average, most guides that I know spend less time bass fishing during the week than the average local weekend tournament angler. I think a lot of it is people just looking for an excuse for not getting checks. Maybe they should try to get the people who are winning from being able to be on the lake 4 days a week before tournaments if they really want a better chance to get a check.


I went back and looked at the standings for that circuit and the highest placing guide in the standings is in 32nd place.

Guides for the most part are trying to put customers on as many bites as possible, which MOST of the time, are not going to be the quality of fish that will win a tournament. Furthermore if they do get on those type fish, and tell the customers, hey we have to leave these fish because I have a tournament next week. How long will he be a successful or sought after guide?? If you are actually worried about guides fishing, then maybe you shouldn't be fishing competitively. Personally if I'm competing, I want to be competing amongst the best, the lake has to offer. But we all have our opinions, BTW, I have been fishing and or following tournament results since 1976 and I can count the times that I've seen professional guides win on my fingers, and not count my thumbs.

If the tournament has a one week off limits than I’m fine with guides fishing, but if not then I don’t agree with them fishing. I work 5 days a week and can’t spend a lot of time on the water like the guides can fishing. The local guys are just as bad if not worse and Rayburn is the king of local sticks winning most of the tournaments.

I've never understood why someone would have a problem with who is in the tournament. I don't care if guides fish.

y'all are assuming the guide is guiding 7 days a week, I wonder what the real avg is for days booked and on the water for most guides.

A good one 5, rest less than that. Have to factor in winter months, days off, maintenance , weather when clients push, tournaments they fish. Also a guide has to take out rookies and find ways to put them on fish. That's not going to help them prepare for a tourney.

I'd be more worried about local hammers on lakes than Guides!

Guides are looking to keep customers happy so they've got to find numbers... Tournament fishermen are looking for the 5 big bites... Just a theory... Dan

Local hammers and their wives!! Just sayn

Guides have a tendancy to fish a spot out during the week if they have clients everyday. Then by tournament day they are having to go find new spots. Unless a guide takes the week off prior to the event and lets his holes rest he is in worse shape than the guy that fishes two or three days a week.
I don't mind guides fishing.

What a dislike are lack of rules in tournaments that keep a contestant from hiring a guide the day before the tournament to prefish with.
It is the easy way out.

The ONLY way to prevent having advantages or disadvantages with anyone guide or no guide is to have a circuit where ALL have prepaid and Tourney location is NOT shared until 4am the day of. Everyone gets the same text at the same time day of. All lakes will be centrally located to that region. This will eliminate ALL prefishing and All info sharing prior. Now you will have a let's see what ya got circuit.

So whats the difference between a guide fishing his local lake daily and someone whos retired fishing just as much?
If you're that butthurt about who enters a tournament then find a different hobby.

I would be in on this.