Capt. Mike Gerry explains what you should expect from your guide and what he should expect from you.

Nothing bothers me more than fishing with someone who doesn’t have reasonable expectations while on a fishing trip. When I get in the boat with a client the first thing I ask them is what are they trying to accomplish. I hear everything from catching fish, to learning the lake and more.

I try extremely hard to please each and every client; however I realize that I have not always met everyone’s expectations. Not that I haven’t always tried, but sometimes the person fishing doesn’t really tell me what they want to accomplish, and this is where the problem starts.

I think most clients realize that I can’t control the fish biting or not, and seem to be ok when those bad days occur, disappointed but ok. However, you as a client working with any fishing guide must set reasonable and achievable clear expectations. If there is a certain part of the lake you want to fish, if there is particular bait you want to use, or a certain type of fishing you want to do, please tell the guide. Regardless of what it is you must set the expectation so the guide can help you achieve it.

After you have set those expectations, there are in my mind certain things you, as the client must do to help. For example: let’s say your goal was only to catch fish, regardless of size, location, or what bait to use. Hey man, that’s great, a guide can take you out there and work hard to help you meet your goal, but let’s say you spend more than half the time on the water on your cell phone. Wow! Is that unfair to the guide who is trying to make sure you catch fish? It’s certainly unfair to you if the guide spent most of the day talking on his cell phone. I understand a phone call, but to spend hours on the phone to me is just demoralizing to any guide who is working hard to make sure you catch fish. The reason being let’s say you only had a bite or 2 out there on the water, guess what, when it’s time to go in you have a long and disappointing look on your face. The guide knows your upset, but what can he say. You’ve spent hours on the phone and then when you weren’t talking on the phone you weren’t paying attention to the fishing and it becomes an unpleasant day.

The next concern I have is; we as guides get hired many times just to get you started finding fish so you can spend the next few days in your own boat fishing. I think this is a super use of a guide, however when you go back to that spot the next day and your fishing and catching fish and you see the guide pull up with another client, I believe it’s time to help the guide. He was nice enough to help you get started for your vacation so etiquette says its time for you to understand the guides living is coming from those fish and you should move on in a reasonable amount of time so he can continue to try and please his next client. This has happened to me only one time, but I can tell you when the person doesn’t nicely move to another spot, as a guide you feel pretty bad. Most guides try to avoid this situation but sometimes it just happens.

Lastly, in my mind you should tip the guide if he has worked hard to accomplish what you have asked of him. It is a good way to show appreciation for a hard days work. If you think this industry pays guides a lot of money, believe me most couldn’t live on a fishing guides income.

Captain Mike Gerry
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
Web: www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
(256) 759-2270