Gear Beaver
how and what needed to start a guide service?
i have a 01 Ranger bass boat, LOTS of gear and lures, but need to know about insurance,advertising,etc. all fresh water-i live in the ozarks and regularly fish bullshoals,beaver,table rock,grand lake , ok. ,so on so on! any advice would be appreciated.
hey stop what exactly is ouapt or what ever u said?????? plus please give xtra info if you would PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanx guys but lookin for fresh water bass mainly!!!!
i have quite abit of time on my hands so this is for extra $$$$$$ and i know most of the tackle shop owners that woould be glad to help out! and don't need to prefish much since have fished all these lakes for the last 15 years have a great (milk run0 ON ALL THE LAKES not to boast but have not been skunked in ten years ------ knock on wood lol:)
Stop_making_cents pretty much already hit the nail on the head!
For sure, you will need the Captain's License. You can look up different schools for that online. You may find one locally you can attend or you can do it over the internet.
Also depending on what your states regulations are, you may have to have a guide license. Check with your state regulations for that.
Insurance is a must. If someone was to get hurt on your boat, You could be in deep trouble.
You may also have to get a T.W.I.C. card. Its something they are just now coming up with for anyone with a captain's license, that basically says your not a terrorist. You'll have to look that up through google for your area. I just came up with it a couple months ago and I just heard about it last week, so I don't have to much info on the TWIC card at the moment.
As for the fishing and getting clients, Definitly give out a few free trips. If there is a tourist information center, give some of the people that work there a free trip and leave you cards for them. It can make a difference if there are other guides in the area.
Also, I would suggest that when you start guiding to do it part time for the first few years. You may not have enough business coming in to live on for a while if you do nothing but guiding.
And from my personal experience, No matter how good a fishermen you are, doesn't mean you will be a great guide. You need alot of patience, and for lack of a better term "Idiot proof" your fishing techniques. Sometimes I'll get customers who don't know how to fish and I'll teach them how and show them a few things. 10 minutes later, they'll be doing it completly wrong, and occasionally you get those guys who think they know what their doing and won't listen to you, so sometimes its up to you to hook the fish and pass the rod off to the customers.
And to be completely honest, Im a younger guide and this was my first year guiding. The biggest thing that helped me get clients was to offer a No fish, No pay policy. If the customers don't come back with any fish, they get the trip free. And alot of guides in my area from what Ive been told from clients are complete jerks. When you get a trip, just go out there and have a good time. Ive had clients tell me they'd rather go fishing with guide who's nice and fun to be around, rather than a guide who's a complete jerk and catches a limit.
Another thing, Set up some sort of deposit for booking trips, otherwise you will be driven nuts. I don't know how many times Id have customers tell me they'd meet me at the boat dock in the morning, then they call me saying that they changed their mind after I unloaded the boat and bought live bait for 6 people!
Good luck and have fun with it. Its alot of work, but once you get things going, Its worth it.
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