Is it easy being a guide? I get asked this a lot, here is my answer.

Well that's going to depend on who you ask and what lakes they guide on, full time or part time. The answer is yes it is hard for the most part, but can be a lot of fun. From an expense perspective it's really hard: You end up dropping $50K+ on a fully rigged bass boat that leaves you with a $500 boat note monthly. So from the start you gotta get two guide trips a month just to cover your boat note. Then you factor in tackle, gas, oil, launch fees, time, etc... Then take into account people don't like to take guide trips from Dec to Feb because it's cold and you've gotta make up those months by booking extra trips over the year to cover for winter expenses. Moral of this story is make sure you get a boat that you can cover the note without guiding or you're doomed from the start. From an Austin market perspective it's really hard: You'll need a website to generate you're own customers or you're stuck with scaps that Mike Hastings and Alan Christian throw your way from time to time when they get a corportate trip that requires a bunch of boats. Both take a service charge off the top of what the customer is paying for your boat as part of the trip so you won't make a whole lot form those trips. From a people perspective it's easy: If you like to teach people or like to talk about fishing then Guiding is easy. Teaching them new fishing styles, knots to tie, or lures to use is the fun part. Make sure they catch fish, even if it's just little ones and they'll go home happy because most understand you can't make the fish bite or that they lack the skill. Be on time and have a good attitude! Many guides get bashed on TFF for being late and having the wrong attitude. Don't expect tips: Some people don't know they should tip the guide or they don't believe in tipping their guide because they paid for the trip. For instance, I had a customer last season who caught the largest bass of his life 7+ , no tip and it wasn't a matter of money since the guy talked about his high paying oil industry job most of the morning. I don't think it even crossed his mind at the end of the day. It can be hard on your family: Time spent on the water fishing weekends is time away from your family. The more time away, the more stress or weaking of the relationship. You need to find the balance and everyone is different, but not immune. I've seen a lot of my friends end up single or get really close to being single as a result of fishing to much. Your wife isn't the only relationship that can suffer, relationships with kids or partents suffer as well since parties, school plays, sports etc.. are skipped for fishing. The money made for a guide trip or tournament will not justify the time away from family if you're guiding or fishing tournaments. This is especially true if you're doing it part time, because they won't view guideing as a job. They see it as fishing and having fun. You may get a free pass on one or two events but if you do it all the time over a year to two, you'll suddenly you'll see those relationships change for the worse. In short, if you can balance time away from family, manage the expenses, and put God first, it is a really fun side job to have. If you can't, it'll be a hard lesson learned one way or the other. Additional Research Look on www.texasfishingforums.com and search for topics on Good Guides, Bad Guides, Tipping Guides On the DOC channel - DVR "The Bass Man" and watch it multiple times. The second time you watch it, look at the personal sacrifices TOK makes to become a successful guide on Lake Fork and tournament angler. He had no family (no wife/ no girlfriend), few friends, did not know God, and isolated himself to only fishing.