I am thinking bout starting a muskie guide service in the spring. If myself or my guides don't boat a muskie the c customer will get their money back. I wonder how a guide service would perform there.
Not me, I fish for fun and have no desire to turn it into work. If I was wanting to guide I'd do it for myself.. I have taken people out that asked me to and they offered to pay me and I declined.
What is your charge if a customer catches a fish?Also,do you have a Guide License?Are you Bonded?And insured?Sounds like you wanna make some $$$.
Roscoe
Per my original post I am thinking bout starting a guide service next spring. It would be silly to have a guide license, bonded, and insured when I am not even in business yet.
FYI for inland lakes no guide license needed but youll certainly want to be insured/bonded and make sure you have taken several of the different First aid certifications like CPR, Water Rescue and Basic First Aid are 3 that come to mind. Guidwes typically do well on a lake where "Numbers" are part of the game, a guy will go broke in a heart beat at CC. The No Fish no money idea will get you a huge turnout but if you go three trips without a fish, youll soon see that the cost of providing lures which customers snag and loose, rods that get stepped on and tips broke off and whole outfits dropped into the brink will soon add up along with your time ( since you wont be fishing) and gas and additional wear and tear on your boat. Dont forget the cost of a website as well
Good luck, I think your gonna need a solid business plan and just remember, there on only a handful of guys willing to pay big money for a tour of CC lake. Once you weed through those guys, Im sure business would drop off pretty quick.
Wow! You'd go broke! I know of many people who fished with the last cc guide who (I heard he put on a nice seminar while out) didn't get fish with him. He's a good fisherman too! You should to join soma and fish our outings! You'd clean up! But then again, we're not professional fisherman (guides).
There is a lot more to being a guide then just going fishing LK. Think about the money you would put out for gas to make a trip to Caesar, Truck and boat gas. Everything adds up. Being a guide might put you on the water, but it takes the fishing pole out of your hand. And sorry to say with your business plan (no fish no pay) would soon have you broke or at least badly bent. Some of the best fishermen only catch fish around 60% of the time. Take a look at some of the PMTT results, 150 guys fish for two days (around 2400 man hours) and catch 15 fish or 5 fish or no fish. at 15 fish that's like 160 man hours per fish or twenty 8 hr fishing trips for one guy.
Thanks for the overwhelming support guys. Thanks mark for your points they are well taken. I had planned on fishing with my clients. All the guides I have seen at cave run fishes with their clients. I have a business plan but I don't want to share online.
Thanks for the overwhelming support guys. Thanks mark for your points they are well taken. I had planned on fishing with my clients. All the guides I have seen at cave run fishes with their clients. I have a business plan but I don't want to share online.
Overwhelming support? From what I just read you would have a difficult time doing this. I wish you the best in your venture, but boating 2 fish in three outings does not make you qualified to be a fishing guide on a particular lake. The "No fish no pay" is a great idea, but a bad week of fishing could put you in the red.
I guided waterfowl hunters for several years in Ohio. I had a great time with my customers and generally enjoyed guiding. I did resent the folks that comlained if we did not kill a limit or thought that our prices were too high for two birds(geese).
The value for going on a guided hunt or fishing trip is not the number of animals harvested but what the guide does to get you there. In my case there numerous hours scouting to find birds, gaining permission and keeping permission, training my dogs, calling practice, trailers, decoys, insurance, gas......etc.
You have a boat, time on the water, your own expertise, lures, rods, line, gas, etc...... All of which have real value and significant cost to you.
I would suggest offering another day on the water or some other incentive rather than giving your money back. One other thing you need to keep in mind is the risk you are exposing your family to everytime you take a customer out on the water. My risk was low in a corn field, your risk in a boat on a lake like Casesars would be much higher. That risk alone would warrant you keeping guide fees whether you caught a fish or not.
I would look into getting an LLC, a tax ID, and a busines license.
If these people that use guide services could do what you do they would. Most don't have a boat, rods, lures, knowledge, ane time to pre-fish/scout. I made sure that my customers knew that this was a fiar chase hunt and that there are no gaurantees that we would kill out or even see birds. I did promise to put them in the best possible position to kill birds through scouting and rested fields.
If it were me I would charge enough to cover my operating expences per trip which would be minimal and then a trophy fee for fish caught.
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Fishing only because it's not duck season........
Last edited by Matt Hougan; 11-16-2012 at 10:23 AM.
Thanks for the overwhelming support guys. Thanks mark for your points they are well taken. I had planned on fishing with my clients. All the guides I have seen at cave run fishes with their clients. I have a business plan but I don't want to share online.
Being a guide isn't all that its cracked up to be... my company guides for steelhead. Been steelheading/trout fishing for over 33 years and guiding for about 7. Its ruff and stressful. For one, really don't know what is needed for inland lakes, but on th streams/rivers of lake erie, we have to carry a 1.5 million small claims/death insurance, all my guides have to be cpr/first aid cert and I have to pull permits from the parks if I'm in there waters. And I seen that u said why have insurance and be bonded b 4 ur buis is running,,,,,, it takes one lawsuit and you could lose everything!! It would be your luck that the first person u take out falls over, hits his head and drowns! And then there's the gas, we go from any were to 1/2 drive all the way to new york, so think about the fuel cost for pulling your rig and marine fuel,,,, then you have to consider the ggear lost and that cost, and I know muskie lures arnt cheap just as steelhead gear, then you have to pay out for gear you'll need, rods, reels, line ect ect and gear that gets broke, then luches, most guides offer lunch. Then there's the countless hours of planning and getting reports of where the fish is and planning your day, then there's the agravation if the fish arnt biting or their not there, you have to pull out all your strings and phone calls to yur buddies where the fish are at so your cliants have a great time.then u get a greenhorn or sumone with exp, but if there green, u have to have the patience to teach them every thing u know in 8 hours. Then u go home , eat dinner go to bed, wake up at for an hit the repeat button and hoping that the guys you took out the day b 4 had a great time and learned a lot bcus all it takes, is one person to get on the internet, or ogf, and ruin your name that you have built up for yourself over th years, and your buis. I don't know of your lake or anything of muskie guiding,,,,,, but will tell u this, the money is okay, but you need ins, cpr b 4 u even start, all it takes is a rusty hook in the hand, I know, I went to court over a rusty hook in the finger. Oh, and watching everyone catch fish while ur teaching them isn't fun, sorry, but if ur a guide, you shouldnt fish along with your guys, all it takes is u outfish the people who hire you....So double check with yourself everything involved to guiding. Hope some of this helps.
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Ohio's Steelhead Alley Guide Service. Spin, Fly & Centerpin. 1-3 man Guides. For info, check out our website below. www.robsguideservice.blogspot.com
Last edited by steelheadBob; 11-16-2012 at 10:26 AM.
I would prorate the guide service.Free if you see no fish.$200 if you have a chance to catch a fish.$300 if you catch a fish smaller than a 42".$400 if you catch a fish at least 42".And $1000 if you catch a 50" or better.
does CC need a guide service company?
does CC need a guide service company?
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