Need Advise

[Allday]

I have a fishing trip planed with a guide on Wiess and have a question as to how much to tip. If any of yall have been on guided trips and can give me some info I would appreciate it a lot.

[deathb4disco]

I tip 15-20%. If I think the guide was especially good, I bump it up a little.

[skeetbum]

what dbd said works for me.

[pop]

I have gone with guides and usually just give my buddy whatever money he asks for to pay the guide. I assume he is giving him a tip. But I often wonder why as we are paying the guide the requested fee. Now I understand if the guide works for a guide service and is being paid by the guide service, to me that is different. But if you are paying a guy direct for his services, the amount requested and he isn't turning any of the money over to anyone else, why do you tip. Pop

[stinkies daddy]

i guide on Beaver Lake in NW Arkansas, and believe me that there is a lot more to it then just going fishing! if i'm to meet my customers at 6a im up at 3a, preping the boat, hooking up and making sure each rod is perfect. then it's off to get fuel from there it's off to the bait shop, and check the boat over again. When i get to the lake, usually bout 45 mins before the customer, launch the boat and take it in a short run to make sure its mechanacally sound! back to the dock and go over the boat 1 more time just to make sure. Board the clients and off we go! 75% of the time i dont fish, insted i tend to their every need baiting and unhooking fish untangling lines and retying hooks and rigs. If they are a novice i give a quick class. If the fish are not responcive i run to the next spot and so on and so on!

here are some more things to consider! I charge 200.00 for 4 hours but right off the top 25% (50 bucks) goes to the service i work for, then u have oil and fuel, a min of 25.00 then bait, min of 10.00 and equipment like rods and reels and line biut a 75.00 dollar combo and if 1 gets broken im out atleast 45.00

so 200-50-25-10 leaves me with a grand total of 115.00 for atleast 6 hours of work, if you wanna call it that, lol

so a tip is greatly appricated, but you have to concider, is the boat clean and free of problems, is he knowledgable, and do you feel like he worked hard for you? if all these thing are in order then i would say 20 to 25% is in order, if those thing are in disarray then deduct accordingly

[deathb4disco]

do you feel like he worked hard for you?

This is what I look at more than anything.

[DRPEPPER]

What Stinky's Daddy sez....

I am not a guide. But, I go through a lot of the same routine just to make sure who ever is with me has a good time. So, I can only imagine what it is like when I hope to do it everyday. Also think about when guides are most busy; on the weekends when everyone else is spending time with family.
I didn't know what all went into it until I met Jerry Blake and Darryl Morris. They are working even when they don't have clients.

If your guide works hard trying to show you a good time tip him until you don't feel guilty about it.
DP

[Crappiecrazy fireman]

300.00 dollars for 8 hours of fishing seems like a pretty good tip for me!! I always pay the guide directly, but i've never had a guide that works for a company. I realize you may have to get up early to get things ready but cmon if this guy works 5 days a week he's bringing home 1500 dollars a week to FISH!!! Therefore I just pay my fee and don't leave a tip

[skeetbum]

Regardless of his income the question is did the man do his job and make it a trip to remember. The way I was raised it was customary to take care of those that took care of you, whether it's the guy servicing the heater at the house, the mechanic fixing the car, or the waitress at the restaraunt. I have been with a guide that didn't earn his fee, much less a tip, and with another that I felt guilty not having enough to tip due to a tight budget. He went out of his way to do us right. I don't hire a guide every year so when I do it's a special day for my guest and I. The memories I have of these days are priceless to me, with people that mean the world to me, and I refuse to put a dollar figure on this. The guide may make $1500 this week and only have one client next week. Then the boat breaks, and maybe he's only a seasonal guide. That's part of working for yourself in a customer service industry. Different strokes for different folks. I like to see a smile on someones face as I walk away that's as big as mine.

[CrappieKillerJigs]

i guide on Beaver Lake in NW Arkansas, and believe me that there is a lot more to it then just going fishing! if i'm to meet my customers at 6a im up at 3a, preping the boat, hooking up and making sure each rod is perfect. then it's off to get fuel from there it's off to the bait shop, and check the boat over again. When i get to the lake, usually bout 45 mins before the customer, launch the boat and take it in a short run to make sure its mechanacally sound! back to the dock and go over the boat 1 more time just to make sure. Board the clients and off we go! 75% of the time i dont fish, insted i tend to their every need baiting and unhooking fish untangling lines and retying hooks and rigs. If they are a novice i give a quick class. If the fish are not responcive i run to the next spot and so on and so on!

here are some more things to consider! I charge 200.00 for 4 hours but right off the top 25% (50 bucks) goes to the service i work for, then u have oil and fuel, a min of 25.00 then bait, min of 10.00 and equipment like rods and reels and line biut a 75.00 dollar combo and if 1 gets broken im out atleast 45.00

so 200-50-25-10 leaves me with a grand total of 115.00 for atleast 6 hours of work, if you wanna call it that, lol

so a tip is greatly appricated, but you have to concider, is the boat clean and free of problems, is he knowledgable, and do you feel like he worked hard for you? if all these thing are in order then i would say 20 to 25% is in order, if those thing are in disarray then deduct accordingly

whenever i use i guide i always bring atleast $100 more then what the guide fee is...i dont let them bait my hook or nothing like that but if we are chasing the fish and he is working hard to keep us on the fish i have no prob. giving him a $100-200 tip....you have to remember this is how this guy pays his bills and he done a darn good job...i will be going fishing with a Guide here in a week and he is a sponsor of mine so he is taking me out for free but you can bet i will be giving him a $150 + tip...like my daddy always told me growing up " Treat other like you want to be treated"