To many fishermen, the ultimate occupation would be a fishing guide. Not only do you get to fish all day, but you even get paid to do it. If it was only that easy.
Being a fishing guide is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. For starters, you”re at the mercy of the weather, you have to put up with grumpy clients, there is no job security, no health plan, no overtime pay, and the salary is nothing to brag about. If that”s not enough, even a good guide rarely has time to fish.
Yet most of the guides wouldn”t trade their job for the world.
Presently there are approximately five full-time guides operating on Clear Lake and there are several more part-timers. A fishing guide must be licensed by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). He also must be bonded although he isn”t required to carry liability insurance.
Actually, the DFG really doesn”t require a person to have any experience to become a guide. I know of one person who filled out the application for a guide”s license and in the section where it asked for experience, he wrote “none.” He still received his license.
Once a person receives his/her guide license, that individual can guide both fishermen and hunters. In other words, in the DFG”s eyes, a guide is a guide.
Clear Lake fishing guides typically charge approximately $40 per hour to guide two people. Most of the local guides will book either half- or full-day trips. A half-day trip is approximately four or five hours and a full day will run about eight hours.
The guide furnishes the boat, all the fishing equipment and the expertise. Whereas $40 per hour may sound like a lot of money, it”s nothing compared to getting your car or you air conditioner fixed, which can run you up to $100 per hour. There is also the cost to maintain the boat and fishing equipment. Liability insurance also is very expensive.
Most of the guides earn less than $35,000 per year.
Just about all the local guides drive modern bass boats that go as fast as 70 mph and feature large casting decks.
Since a guide spends most of his day on the water, he usually knows where the fish are biting and what is the best lure. In other words, all the client has to do is cast and retrieve.
A successful guide has to like people. In addition to being a fishing and hunting guide myself in the past, I also have been on dozens of guided trips, which varied greatly. Some of the guides were incompetent, grumpy and used lousy equipment. On the other hand, most of the guides were friendly and helpful. A guide gets most of his business from repeat customers, who often tell their friends about the guide. A guide with a bad reputation doesn”t stay in business long.
The question most people ask is how do they go about finding a good guide? The best answer is to ask around at the local tackle shops. Once you have contacted a guide, be sure to ask what he charges, if he”s licensed, what equipment he furnishes and how long you will be fishing?
Many guides require the client to pay for any live bait. Also ask what items you should bring. Most of the guides furnish drinks but not lunches. If you plan on taking a child, inform the guide so he can accommodate the youngster. Most guides also require that the client make a deposit, the reason being that a guide reserves that particular day for the client and if the client fails to show, the guide has wasted a day.
A good guide will rarely fish because he is too busy taking care of his clients. If your guide spends most of the day fishing and not attending to business, tell him. Remember you”re the one that”s paying him.
At the end of the day — and if the guide has been cheerful and helpful — you should tip him. Typically for a full-day guided trip, a minimum $50 tip is appropriate.
