Driftb

P-Line is decent. If you are fishing spinning, you'll feel more hits with 8 or 10 Fireline. If you are casting, just go with 30 or 40 Power pro. Both are stronger and more sensitive.

On an slow to average day with spinning gear I like to see my clients catch twenty to thirty bass each at a minimum. On a good day they will catch upwards of forty legal smallmouth each. I have a few hundred fish days per year, and the highest number was two hundred smallmouth in a day for two anglers. They also caught trout, walleyes and panfish that day. All were caught and released on artificials. Fly fishing is a different matter entirely. A few fish per day is average. On a great day, fly fishing I have had up to twenty five fish per man. The high numbers for both fly and spinning are very unusual and I don't usually come close to either. Numbers are not the priority for most anglers that I take fishing. They are out to unwind, take in the scenery, maybe see a bald eagle or two, get away from the roads, motors, telephones, and work. Catching fish is a bonus.

I have three Veritas rods I have been fishing since they came out. I like them all. I did break a Loomis IMX a few weeks back though. Replacement on that is going to run $100 through the warranty program. At the $100 price point, you could be buying a Fenwick HMG that comes with a lifetime warranty. In my experience you can spend more, but I doubt you will do any better than with Fenwick. I did break a Fenwick once and I had a new rod free of any charge in my hand withing two weeks.

Fishing in the Delaware river, the smallies really go on the feed in fall. I'll agree that numbers may go down somewhat, but average size increases, and we do catch many of the biggest bass of the year in the fall. The best walleye fishing will also get into gear, and there are lots of times you can catch a walleye one cast, the a bass the next. We are usually into good numbers of smallies until water temps are in the low forties, and sometimes we get on blitzes right on the edge of new forming ice. Early Fall the fish should be shallow, but look for the best bite in the warmest parts of the day. You may need to slow down your presentation too. The biggest issue I see with people not catching fish is they fish too fast and don't move enough. In the fall, keep moving until you find fish, the soak the area. My #1 fav way to catch fish once the water gets cold is with a suspendnig jerkbait. As a matter of fact, last week bass turned off the soft plastic somewhat and I puilled out a #10 x-rap. The fishing had been very slow until I tried the x-rap, but the rap got a bite almost every cast.

You didn't mention where you were fishing. The Delaware river has American shad and gizzard shad as well as hickory shad. They are all important forage species. Some of the lakes in the NJ/Pa area contain gizzard shad and alewifes, which are a herring. (AKA sawbellies). There are shops that sell sawbellies for bait in NY and Pa, but I bet the one you saw was from the lake. You cannot legally sell herring for bait in NJ, but in some lakes you can net your own and you have to release the unused sawbellies at the end of the day.

I'd love to hear the measured length on all of these jumbo fish, along with weight. Weights will vary depending on conditions, but an individual fish's length won't. A female fish is going to lose somewhat between 10 and 15% of her body weight during the spawn and post-spawn period, but her length doesn't change. Tackle box scales are also notoriously inaccurate, and it's easy to cheat on weight. A fish on a ruler is harder to fake.

I believe that you owe it to your own conscience to offer a safety tip occasionally. Sometimes it will be welcome, other times you'll be told in no uncertain terms where to go. At least you can feel like you did the right thing. Unfortunately you cannot predict every bad situation. I see unprepared, drunk, non-swimmers overcrowded into in canoes and rubber rafts, not wearing PFD's every weekend. It isn't my job to be the safety police, and I would wear my voice out if I were to warn every one of them. Even so, I do choose to open my mouth with a friendly piece of advice, occasionally. I decided to do that after the second time I saw an unsafe situation that later turned out to end in a drowning that could easily have been avoided.

Me too. And I have caught trout with a gill raker hanging out but healed. I think it will be iffy for that fish whether or not he survives, but some of them do.

I haven't missed a day due to being sick. I don't get sick often, but I always show up. Funny thing is I would have to call off a fishing trip if I called in!

As soon as one of my clients takes a cast, as a guide I am fishing, even if I never pick up a rod. I'll watch him fish and if he starts catching fish, it'll be a while before I take a cast. If he doesn't get bit, I'll watch him and give him some coaching. Some guys don't want to hear it though. If not, I may try the same lure to see if it's my client's technique or the lure that's lacking. If I don't get bit in five or so minutes, I try another lure until I find something that works. If my guest catches fish right away, I'll let him fish that lure. I may pick up a lure I think will appeal to bigger fish in a while, though. If that gets attention, I'll offer it to the client.

Fishing gives me an opportunity to interact with nature in a very basic primal way. It feels right for me. Coincidentally, some of the best fishing happens in the most unspoiled places. So when I am fishing, I am in a beautiful place on this earth, experiencing the flow of nature. What could be better?

To people who say they would never hire a guide- I don't blame you. There are some guides out there that are in it for the wrong reasons. Getting into a new type of business transaction can be stressful and if you are worried about getting ripped off, you should probably be more careful how you spend your money. The way I look at it is, If I had the money to fish with a guide, I would do it. It's a matter of convenience. Say I want to try fishing lake Ontario. I can drive there in a little over three hours.Although I am totally at home on my river, and have guided there 16 years without an accident or mishap, Should I take my own 16' drift boat? or my 16' fishing machine with a 50 horse motor? I don't know that water well, it's a little bit out of my range, and to be honest, it's big water and out of my comfort zone in my small boats. Or should I just drive out there with a buddy and split a trip? That would be $200/day each, and I wouldn't have to worry about towing my boat, finding a launch, finding the fish, etc. I would also , hopefully, learn techniques that catch fish in the lake and I might find spots that I could return to. I might also have a great time, and want to do it again. Most of my clients seem to find $ 150-200/day each for two guys is a pretty reasonable cost for an enjoyable day on a boat. Renting just a boat runs about $150 /day. But I handle everything. I have a lot of clients that return year after year and some of them will fish a few times or more a year. Although it is definitely a business arrangement and I do all of the work, I enjoy that work and I am grateful to have been able to share my experience of fishing the wild and beautiful Upper Delaware river with some exceptional people that have treated me like a family friend over the years. I know that they feel the same way about me.

I guide Fly trips and spin trips on the Upper Delaware river for trout and smallmouth bass. I work out of a 16' Clackacraft drift boat. It has pedestal seats and leaning braces for two anglers. On a fly fishing trip I rarely fish, unless my guest(s) ask me to. I am usually way to busy rowing, tying on new rigs, instructing, netting fish, and keeping a lookout for rising fish, structure, etc. Occasionally a client will want me to pick up a rod and show them how it's done. Sometimes they dare me to prove that the fish will actually eat the fly I have them using. I kind of hate to do that because I have confidence in my flies and occasionally I cant get the fish to eat it right away and it becomes a time waster. But usually they hand me their rod and the fish eats that fly on the first cast I make, even if they have been trying to feed it to him for an hour. These guys don't pay me to humiliate them, so even though I get the satisfaction of being right, it isn't really what I want to be doing. Smallie fishing is much the same, but the technique is much easier and less intense, so it is much more common for a client to ask me to fish. But when we pull up on a piece of big fish structure, or a pod of busting fish, I always point it out to a client and give them first crack at it. I also let them have second, third, fourth and fifth crack at it. Usually I don't have to pick up a rod to establish a pattern. I have a good idea what will work and I spend the early part of the day rigging rods, and handing them to clients to see what is going to work for them. As long as they are catching fish, I may not pick up a rod all day. Occasionally, though, If the fish are refusing topwater, I will pick up a topwater and see if I can get bit. The clients don't usually want to spend the time with the topwater until they see it is producing well. Like yesterday, there were fish on top all day, but they would only take a topwater every once in a while. then topwater wouldn't catch another fish for way too long. I tried different baits until afternoon when I threw a sammie and it got bit three casts in a row. My guest put down his jig in favor of topwater. The rest of the day they threw topwater and had a blast.

Very simple- cut your line and you lose that line! You are not only littering, but you have just cut off however many feet of line you have out. Do it a couple times and you won't be casting as far. If you just pull, 99 times out of 100, if the lure doesn't pull off the snag, the line will break at the knot. You recover the line and you can keep on fishing. If the fish moves off the cover when you snap off your lure, wait a few minutes. A big fish will usually come right back to the same piece of cover. Big bass cant resist watching a dumb @$$ lose two lures on the same snag in two minutes!

The Upper Delaware river that I fish will have clear water with 20' visibility in the summer and low water conditions. The big fish are much harder to come by in those conditions. It's pretty common to have 3 or 4 big smallies chase a bait to the boat, only to turn back when they are eye to eye with anglers in the boat. They usually won't come back either. At that point, a smaller bass typically darts out and grabs the lure away from the big ones. In high stained water, those bets are off. No more sight fishing, you cast to the bank, and the guys who can cast accurately and respond to reaction strike are going to catch bigger fish than they have ever seen in the river. Forget the little finesse baits and light line. 1/2 oz spinnerbaits, #10 x-rap, pointer minnow, anything noisy. I can row from spot to spot and if a guy can cast accurately, point exactly where he should cast. Half of the hits are reaction strikes as soon as the lure hits the water. Make sure that if you are right handed, you are using a left hand retrieve, or you will miss a lot of strikes while you are switching hands! Of course there will be other fish in less predictable spots, but if you can read the current, it can become a lot easier to find big fish in stained water. I would o as far as to say that most of my biggest fish have come out of stained water. That being said, this summer in some of our local lakes I saw the water get too stained with mud and then suspended algae and the fishing really suffered. Visibility in these lakes is down to 2' or less. The weed growth was stunted and the water still hasn't cleared up like it usually does. Hopefully it'll turn over soon and change that.

Just because I can teach a skill, it doesn't mean someone becomes proficient at it without practice. Can a coach make a guy into a good football player in a day? What gives you that idea? There are plenty of great fishermen that don't want to bother to have a boat anymore. Three quarters of my business is taking moderately well to do, smart experienced anglers fishing. They know that they can spend their valuable, limited time fishing instead of washing, maintaining, repairing, getting in trouble, and dealing with towing, launching, registering, insuring and storing boats. They don't need a tow vehicle, They show up and fish. Everything is ready for them, including rods, the right flies and lures, and lunch. They can just get in the boat, and they know that I will put them on fish. If they want to fish somewhere else, Like Russia, Mexico, Montana, which a lot of these guys do, they do that too, and usually with a guide. Unless they don't need a boat to fish where they are going. I have seen quite a few guys buy a boat, only to sell it a year or two later and go back to fishing with a guide. So a guy who has the bucks can fish a dozen times a year with no hassle and no overhead. Most of them split the trip with a friend, so the cost is probably cheaper than owning a boat anyway.

I live in a small subdivision and our lake is owned by the homeowners association. There is a way to sneak a boat in without technically trespassing, but we own the lake and lake bottom so it is tresspassing. We don't have a way to enforce this, though, since the police don't want to deal with it . I just don't worry about it, but I was headed to the lake and I saw a vehicle parked in the spot I mentioned. I had been fishing a little while and a guy standing up in a canoe, no shirt on, with two women in the seats, passes me, smoking a cigarette and casting away. I didn't recognize him, but I said hi anyway. He didn't say a word, kept on fishing. On my way back through the same area, I found an empty cigarette pack, a few beer cans floating, a worm container and some other garbage, right where that guy had been in the canoe. First time I have ever seen garbage in our lake. Next time I see that vehicle, he may have to find a way to get air in his tires before he can drive out.

A moderate stain brings out the big girls. I like when the fish don't have much time to get a real good look at a lure. The fish typically will be more aggressive with a stain too. Nothing personal, but the gin clear water appeals more to the non angler than the fisherman.

You didn't say anything about the water you fish. There are a lot of waters that contain stunted fish and all you will catch in them is small bass. Finding bigger bass may take some doing. With the small baits you are using, you might have to wade through hundreds of fish to get one big fish. To most people that isn't a bad problem to have, as long as they are catching fish. If there are big fish in your water, might try and find out what successful fishermen in your area are using. If you go to a local bait shop, ask what's been popular for bass. It's usually a good sign when a particular color of a lure is constantly sold out. It's also a big help to use an appropriate hook size and jig weight for the bait you are using. If I was going to suggest a lure, I would also say a four or five inch red shad or green pumpkin Yamamoto senko worm hooked through the middle on a 1/0 circle hook. I like to use an o-ring. Don't use any weight at all. Cast it out, pick up your slack and let it sink to the bottom. Lift your rod tip slowly and reel it slow for a few feet. Let it sink again, then reel slowly again. If a fish bites, drop your rod tip, let him swim with the worm to the count of three, then gently lift the rod and start reeling. You will catch fish. BTW- Most people want big fish too, but are usually very happy with a 1 1/2 lb bass. That's a nice fish and about all I caught as a kid, aside for a few big ones. Keep at it and you will get there. It doesn't happen overnight.

!00% true! A good pair of glasses is one of the most important tools of the trade. Not only to see into the water but for protection from flying lures and UV light. For UV light protection you need good wrap-around lenses that don't let in side light. They are not all that easy to come by these days. Cocoons are very good in that regard.

Disney world does exactly that. Pay more and jump the lines. I am not Disneyworld though. Matter of fact, I have a trip booked for Monday with a couple of regulars. The trip has been on my calender for a year. I have had several inquiries for the day from other parties, but I won't try to move the other guys. They want that day and I won't monkey with it. The guys who come in on short notice will have to find other days. Am I supposed to ask two company CEO's that treat me like a friend, are as good as their word, and always tip 30% to change their schedules so that I can take a stranger fishing? Not likely. Conversly, though, if I book someone, I will never bump him, unless he doesn't send a deposit. I treat every one the same, newbie or regular client, once they send me a deposit. I might call and ask a client if he would mind fishing on an alternate date though. Occasionally that works out well for everyone.

I'll try a bowstring pop or two, moving to the other side if the cover if possible, then I try the hound dawg. its a weight that will slid down the line and hammer out the lure (usually). If none of that works, I back the boat off the snag, point the rod at the snag, and hold the spool. Either the lure pops free or the line breaks. Sometimes the snag comes in with the lure. I never, ever cut the line! Cutting the line is a totally F#*# up thing to do on too many levels. I curse the inconsiderate @$$#*!!$ who do that and leave their line in the water to kill wildlife, snag other lines, get caught in props, etc. I just spent $300 to reapir a trolling motor that was damaged by cut line. People who leave line in the water give fishermen a bad name among non anglers and property owners too. Not to mention, if you cut your line every time you get snagged, how long will it be until you have to respool with $20 worth of braid? Do whatever you have to do to recover your lure and line. If you cant catch a fish there after that, move on! There are going to be more fish on more spots. If you cant afford to lose that lure, you cant afford to use it!

About half of my trips are flyfiishing on the Upper Delaware river for trout. These are wild trout, not easy fish to catch and there is so much a guide can do for a client. Every one needs to bring their "A" game. It's not a beginners river and if you can't cast, you won't catch fish. I can teach someone to cast, and sometimes they will catchfish the first day out, but you reallly need practice to be able to do what it takes to catch fish on a big river. It is one of the most heavily pressured streams in the country. Even the experienced guys have some tough days, but I can usually get them some fish on even a tough day. Expecting a comp day fly fishing is unrealistic, and I don't think that any guide around here will comp trips. The other half of my guiding is spin fishing for smallies and walleye. I would be hard pressed to want to offer someone a comp if they couldn't catch at least one fish in this river. In the past 16 years, I have offered a few half day comp trips after a tough day or two, none the less. I have never had a client take me up on one though. They have always insisted on a full day and paying full price.

IMHO- Choosing a guide has nothing to do with price. Yeah the busier guides will boost their prices, but there is a lot more to it than that. Assuming most of the guides know where to find the fish. Some of those "big name guides" guides don't seem to take an individual new client as seriously as the lower profile guys. As long as they get one picture for the website, they know they'll be home for the 6 o'clock news. Are they going to go the extra mile to make sure that your day on the river is a special one for you? You want someone who is dependable and hard working, first and foremost. Then it's personality. Is the guide someone you could see spending a day with on a boat? What are the guide's hours? Do you want to fish with a nine to fiver? Or would you rather fish with someone who will tell you when the fishing is going to be best, and maybe stay late if need be, or even if you just feel like it? I sometimes see guides who are great at marketing working more than guides who are spending all their energy on the river. Some guides see fishing as just a job, and other guides fish on their days off too. Who would you rather fish with?

I have heard people talk about no fish no pay, but I don't see it very often. Fishing is about skill and to a certain extent, luck. I try to cut down on all of the variables, but to be realistic, a guide wants to work and there are only so many days in a season. Take away days lost to variables like weather, high water, unfishable conditions, and you are asking a hard working man to give up a day's pay because you couldn't catch a fish. I take guys fishing that have all the answers. They show up with a twenty five year old rod that was sh@t when they found it in the garbage, then won't use my tackle, lures, or flies. They won't wear a brimmed hat and polarized glasses, and then they won't even cast to a fish even when I point it out to them. Sometimes I will take one cast and catch a fish, just to prove that I have them on fish. It happens more than you can imagine. They don't bring rain gear, and then don't want to fish in the rain. Should I give them a free day if they don't catch a fish? Maybe bass fishing in Florida where the guide casts the bait for the client and then sets the hook and hands the rod to the client to reel the fish in, or trolling where the guide sets up the rods and downriggers then sets the hook and hands the rod to the client to reel the fish in. I still don't know where the guide is supposed to get a free day from.