gulfcaptain

I just want to know what kind of guide doesn't take payment before the trip starts? All that should have been worked out before leaving the ramp. If you don't want him fishing then express that before you get on the water. If he doesn't fish and you can't catch them.....don't blame the man either because you told him not to fish....YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. Then bad mouth him because you couldn't catch anything. I would have gratefully returned to the ramp as requested, dropped him off, put my boat on the trailer, wished him a safe drive home, but sorry, if there had been a contract and you are going to be bitter like that, you're not getting anything back because you are bitter and just wasted a day of my time. I want the guide to fish, I want to see what he is doing on his waters, he is out there everyday making a living, who better to see what's working then the guy that "fishes" for a living. I fished, but then I also handed most of my fish off to customers once they were hooked if conditions were tough, or just to prove a point if they weren't listening to my professional advice on how to get bit...can't catch them unless you get a bite....so to blow up right off the bat like your friend did, honestly I would have taken him back myself and given him his money before hand and since I was already there......gone fishing.

Actually you pay before you fish. So you would be footing the bill before that and if you cancel your trip after the stated amount of time you will probably loose half of your payment as well. And if you only base the quality of your trip on what you catch and not the service that was rendered, then honestly from a prosfesional point, I wouldn't want a return trip from you anyways. I have had customers that have had tough trips (mind you I ran both 6pack and charter boats on the west coast), did everything in my power to make it the best experience I could, caught fish although not the targeted fish fish we were after, If I had done everything in my power to show you great service, worked hard, fished hard, stayed out longer then planned to try and it just didn't work and the fish didn't want to bite.....then you want a discount on top of that as well as I'm sure you would probably not be very gratious... WHY WOULD I WANT A RETURN TRIP FROM THIS KIND OF CUSTOMER?.....had one customer that was ticked at my bosss who then took it out on myself and my crew, which I wouldn't have taken him fishing again if he paid me too nor would any of the other charter captains I new as they don't want a customer like that either as it wastes their time as well as costing them money to operate. Just remember it is a two way street, a guide will always do their best to make sure you have the best experience you can, if they don't they won't stay in business very long. Great guides have full calenders because they know how to treat their customers and fill their dates with repeat customers who expect the great service and profesionalism their guides provide(weather or not they are catching fish).....it becomes a more personal arrangement where you feel you are taking an old friend out to fish. And if the guide is catching fish and you're not because you refuse or just can't catch them how is that his fault that now you should get a comp'd trip. Sorry, a contract is a contract. Funny thing is not one person will put it out if they would ask for a comp but won't answer if they would tip the guide. If I'm going to pay someone to take me fishing, I expect great costomer service and a safe operation, fishing comes second and it's a bonus if we experience great fishing. I only hold the guide accountable for what he can control. Just like that old saying, you can lead a horse to water you can't make him drink.....you can go fishing and park on them, but you can't make them bite. Sorry guys, stop being cheap and pay the man for his services. If he was a crappy guide, non professional, and didn't treat you well, still pay the man, just don't fish with him again. I personally wouldn't hire a guide again even if I had a great fishing trip but he was an A$$H@LE and had crappy customer service skills, and was unprofessional. I'd pay him, tip him....a far amount mind you maybe not as much had he not been ^^^ and look aroud for someone in the area if I wanted to fish that area again to hire instead.

Looks like I'm going to be doing some looking around for them.....have any good ideas where to start?

Not wrong, it's just increasing your odds on the body or bodies of water you fish. Weather it be the larger fish in a northern lake or one stocked and managed that's privately owned. I fish Northern OC so don't really fish much of South OC, but the bodies of water I do fish I concentrate my efforts on the bigger 4+ lb fish in the systems instead of hoping to catch a 12" fish amid the 8" fish. Welcome to the forums and discussion.

Or here is a suggestion, keep all your old baits, buy some Mend-It and repair the ones that can be and use the others that are missing pieces to repair others. The cost of the Mend-It is a lot cheaper then the cost of a couple bags of plastics.

Matt never started this post as a TROPHY FISHING ONLY post. It was about targeting the larger population. MV has trout, Lake Forest bluegill. If you threw a bluegill sized bait....jig, swimbait, wakebait in the larger size you would be targeting the 4+lb fish in that body of water which would be the larger models if 8lb is big. I think most consider fish over 4lbs to be above average fish. At that point they have made it to the upper food chain and can pretty much forage on what they want without really having to worry about being eaten by another bass in the system.....Tom mainly fishes jigs and has stated that, Matt is a swimbait guy, both use larger baits targeting larger avg fish. Weather it be northerns or florida's when you fish bigger baits you will on avg catch the larger fish in that population.

Democrats do it all the time...^^^^^

Just remember these are ponds so the fish you catch on a certain bait or cover type you can exhaust quickly. I have had great bites fishing heavy grass beds on ponds around my house but after a few consistant days they shut off. You can blow through your fish quickly so you have to try and find multiple ways of catching them.

Hopefully he isn't using a boat, I highly doubt he's licensed and insured. Sounds pretty shady to me. No thanks, in his case you may have to pay him just to get you back home instead of taking you fishing. He should try that business model....take you fishing for $200, but if you want to come back its gonna cost you another $200 as well.

Was it the crankbait line? I know those run a bit less then the *** Graphites do.

I'm going to have to disagree. My PB this summer is just at 9lb, fished that body of water the day before and fished it as I normally would. Out of frustration decided to throw a 6" swimbait. First cast had a 6+ lb fish chase the bait right to the bank (follow) which showed me that I could get their attention. If I had another 15ft I probably could have gotten her to bite as she came in aggressively. Just ran out of real estate. Next day came back with the swimbait gear...about 10am first fish I happened to see sitting off the bank was that 9lb fish. One cast past her and she inhaled the bait. Another area happened to have another 6-10fish in the 4-8lb range follow, nip and show interest in the bigger baits where there was none before. Big baits draw bigger fish out of cover when they are looking for the biggest meal with the least amount of effort. I've had 12" bass chase a 8" swimbait.....small baits will catch bigger fish, but day in and day out, larger offerings will produce a consistantly larger catches. And in the middle of July there aren't any trout in the ponds I fish, but the fish will still not pass up that chance to take a larger meal when it presents itself. I just need Matt to make a baby duck swimbait now for those fish in the late spring and summer that target those yellow balls of goodness.

So just wondering for all those that think you shouldn't pay if you don't catch a fish.......Do you tip the guide or do you stiff him because of the tough fishing conditions?

those two lines are quite a bit difference in price.....Black $99-129, *** $239-259. More like a $100+ difference.

See you worked hard at trying to get them the fish. That's the service you pay for is a chance to catch them. Being a guide can be a great job, but there are days it sucks. Best thing though, every day is a new day. Only thing I can say if you pay someone to take you fishing, weather you caught fish or not and had a good time, the guide tried hard, but it just wasn't the day.......ALWAYS tip to show your gratitude for their hard work and efforts.

I wouldn't expect to be comp'd if I traveled to Baccarac or El Salto and the lake/s had an off day where the fish didn't bite. That's just fishing. If they gave me great customer service and tried hard, fished hard....even stayed out a little longer to try they would have my repeat business weather I caught fish or not. And I'd still tip the guide for doing his best.

Fishing is a game of chances. Some days you get them, some days you don't. If he provided excellent service and tried his best to put you on the fish, that's his job. Professional Guides/Captains aren't in the buisiness to comp trips when fishing is tough. Weather or boat isses, yes you comp them and reschedule. Hard day of fishing, sorry no bueno. But I bet the guide would have done anything to put their angler/s on fish. Half off, if the weather ran you off the lake or had a boat/equipment failure causing you to come in earlier then expected and not being able to fish the full time paid for in your charter agreement. I had an agreement listing all the terms covering the cost of the charter and what it covered. But some days it doesn't matter how hard you try, you just can't get the fish to cooperate .

Have a Green and Black ***, think I'm going to have to splurge around Thanksgiving and pick up an ***. So far everything I've gotten from *** has been nice quality.

Would love to fish the bigger bodies around where I live for sure. Work schedule and parenting responsibilities keep me closer to home and thus smaller local city park ponds which have tons of pressure on them. Good point, once I do purchase a boat with all the toys, the skills I have from fishing the smaller bodies of water as well as experiences will benefit my quest for the larger fish in the populations. Post was started as catching the larger fish in the populations which Matt addressed as well as Tom, Catt, and Raul. All are great anglers with different approaches but all share one thing. The pursuit of the larger fish in their given bodies of water they fish. You can have all the toys, the rods, the lures. But without the experience and technique as well as understanding the fish and reading the conditions that are put in front of you each day you fish then you will only give you half of the puzzle. It doesn't matter the size of the water you're fishing, bigger fish in a system will be harder to catch for the everyday angler or "Barney" as they were labeled in this post until they have all the pieces and learn to put them together in order to produce larger fish from the population from any body of water on a consistant basis.

I find it much more rewarding to pull bigger fish out of the public ponds I fish that people don't tap into. They fish for the 12" fish and once in a while catch a 2-3lb fish, where I target the fish that normally run 3+ . May not catch as many but would rather catch 2 4lb fish then 5 12" fish.

Wasn't what this post started out as.....catching the larger fish from the populations we all fish?

Cats make great subjects to fish for while practicing (without a hook of course) Have to do something when we can't go fishing.

The rod you are looking at will work for shallow cranks as well. Just give you a bit more distance on the casts with the 7'6". You will find the action on this rod fishes really well for what you are looking for.

And give them time my friend, they will push the no fishing thing until they get their way. Grew up fishing a local pond that was a "fishing" pond. The home owners across the street got it banned to protect the ducks. Now you get a ticket for fishing where it's posted "NO FISHING" but yet it's also posted NO FEEDING THE DUCKS".....where's the tickets for those people? They are working on trying to ban fishing in a few other city park ponds as well because we interfere with the ducks that they are trying to feed.

yes, but the weak seem to find Strong Lawyers that defend their "weak minded" people that hurt themselves that end up with big settlements and then reproduce to have more.

looks like you got that first fish you were asking about with the slammer......maybe not as big as you would have liked....but that's an agressive little sucker there.