Despite all the content put out over the years, and all the communications between fly anglers on this topic, there still seems to be quite a bit of mystery still out there when it comes to tipping fly fishing guides.
I get many clients that tip above and beyond what’s expected of them. Other times, I’m literally crawling back to my truck with every ounce of energy zapped from instructing and putting my clients on fish, and at the end of the day I’m blessed with a cold empty handshake. Sometimes, there seems to be no reasoning at all with gratuity, most clients seem to get it, but no matter what, there’s always going to be those few that feel gratuity isn’t necessary or are uneducated that it’s customary. All I truly care about is that gratuity is determined and provided to the guide based on customer service and professionalism, and that with any service-oriented job, regardless of the industry, gratuity should be on the radar.
A few weeks ago, one of our loyal Gink & Gasoline followers sent us an email that voiced a few concerns about a fly fishing guide they hired on a recent float trip. Apparently, at the end of the day the follower and his partner were in disagreement about the amount of guide gratuity they should leave. Below is the email and question that was sent to us:
“I would like to get your thoughts on tipping guides. I just came back from a trip to Montana and mentioning no names, I spent a week with a very well-known guide. The trip went well and we caught a lot of fish but his equipment sucked. His Driftboat was a small skiff that he did not want you standing up in to cast, and his Skadden style raft frames front seat came off three times, almost pitching my buddy into the river. Any thoughts on amounts or percentages for tipping would be greatly appreciated.”
My Reply:
Here’s my opinion on what you told me, but keep in mind I was not there and did not see the water conditions or his boat equipment.
I’d say your guide passed with flying colors on putting you on fish and that should be a big positive. Depending on your skill level your guide probably had to work extra hard to keep you consistently hooked up with fish. On the other hand, it does sound like he failed by showing up with one of his boat seats unsafe and not in proper working condition. That being said, if the equipment failure had just happened, there’s a good chance he might not have had ample time to run into town to get the parts to fix it before your trip. Guiding over the years, I’ve had my fair share of equipment break downs on the road to meet my clients. It actually happens quite often if you drive bumpy gravel roads like I do. Furthermore, many of those Montana guides literally book 30 days or more in a row, which leaves them in situations where their gear may not be at 100%. If it was an old break down and he had time to fix it, it is completely his fault and unacceptable. If it just happened sometimes you have to cut guides some slack, especially if they’re putting you on fish and working hard. If your buddy had added difficulty fishing during the day because of the seat, and the guide didn’t apologize and dictate why it was unfixed, I feel like you have authority to subtract a portion of his gratuity.
A few months ago, one of my tail-light poles on my boat trailer busted a weld on the way into town, and I was about to lose it completely. When my clients showed up, they saw me duck taping everything together so I could make it through the day. They later admitted to me, it had thrown up a red flag to them on my professionalism. Apparently, they found it really hard to believe that the equipment break down had just happened. The point of me telling you my story is that situations like this do happen. It’s important for everyone to understand, S*it almost always shows up at the worst time. We shouldn’t write someone’s professionalism off completely because of a minor set back. If you show up late to meet your guide because you hit the snooze button, does that give your guide the right to perform below his/her ability. Professionalism goes both ways. But the fact that you booked this guy for an entire week, it does look really bad that he didn’t find time to find some sort of a solution to fix the failing boat seat.
As for the guide wanting you to stay seated while fishing, this could have been for multiple reasons. I personally tell my clients to sit down when I’m guiding for several reasons, and as the Captain of the boat, I feel like I have the authority to do so. Below are some possible reasons why your guide may have been asking you to stay seated.
The first reason I tell my clients to sit down is when I’m coming up on rowing a difficult or challenging section of water. By my clients sitting, I have them safe and secure, and it also provides me a clear view downstream, for spotting obstacles. The second reason, is if we are fishing to extremely spooky fish. It’s very popular for western guides to request there clients to sit while fishing. This way they can keep a low profile and be more stealthy when approaching holes, so fish are less likely to be alerted. In some instances, this can really increase your number of takes, and it also helps to increase success for the guy in the back of the boat as well. That being said, if you saw lots of other anglers in other boats standing and catching fish, I would have to say that you’re guide may have been asking you to do something that wasn’t necessary. If I would have been there I could tell you for sure if he was out of line or not. If your buddies safety was at risk from the seat, he was totally in the wrong, because with a faulty seat, it would only make sense that it would be safer to stand and fish.
As for the tip, it sounded like he did good at some aspects of guiding and bad at others. Doesn’t sound like he deserves a top of the line tip but at the same time he shouldn’t be stiffed. $50-$100 tip for a full day with two people is the norm. If the guide did everything right and worked hard, and also tried his best to improve your skills, this is what I expect from my clients. If the guide fell below this in customer service, then I would tip below $50. If he was a complete tard and unprofessional, don’t tip him, but respectfully take the time to tell him why. I know you said you’re guide was well known and he shouldn’t need any explanation, but there are a lot of rookie guides out there that would benefit from client critiquing at the end of trips. Particular in cases that are similar to what you have just brought up.
By all means a client has the right to tip however they feel comfortable. And they should feel no remorse with deducting gratuity for a guide that doesn’t present themselves professionally in every aspect of the job. On the contrary, gratuity should be fair, and provided accordingly to a guide that meets all expectations. If you’re unsure of what gratuity to leave, take the time to ask a couple friends that have been on guide trips. It’s standard to leave 20-30% gratuity for a guide that did a great job.
Keep it Reel,
Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
This was a very helpful post. I was on a float a few weeks ago where the guide got into some fish but had some flaws. Me and my boat mate deliberated quite awhile about a tip. This post would have really helped. How big of a deal is it if he bonked this big fish of the day off the line and lost it?
Brian,
Glad the post was helpful. It was recommended by one of our G&G followers. When you say your guide bonked a big fish on the head during the trip, I’m assuming that he was trying to net the big fish, missed and knocked the fish off. That sucks man, I’ve been in that situation before. I’ve lost my fair share of clients fish that way, it doesn’t happen very often but once in a blue moon. If the guide was genuinely apologetic I would cut him some slack.
As I stated in the original post, it always goes both ways. For instance, many more big fish have been lost on my guide trips from my clients making mistakes than on my end. I look at the guide and client/clients as one functioning team working together, and no one in the team is perfect, I don’t care who you are. Losing big fish is part of fishing. Lastly, you also need to ask the question, did your guide have any hand in getting you hooked up with that big fish? Chances are yes, and you may not have got hooked up with the beast in the first place without your guide being there.
I’m doing my best to not be biased and be truthful answering your questions :), I think the most important thing for clients judging their guides is to Keep it Reel, and ask the question was my guide prepared, professional and did he work hard for me? If the answer is yes to all three of those questions, you picked a winner.
Kent
“I would cut him some slack.”
That’s pretty much what I did. Some of my group thought it was a big deal. I generally look at the “chances” I had. As long as I am getting chances to catch fish I am pretty happy with my day.
Brian,
You sound like a stand up dude. I’m sure your fish karma will even things out in the end for you.
Kent
I had a guide “lose” the biggest brown of my life back in Feb. He was devasted. I was stoked to have had the shot. It was in a spot that he pointed out and he did so early enough that both of us on the boat would have opportunity to cast to it. He did net the fish but one of the two hooks on the fly got hooked on the net. The fish shook its head and straightened the other hook and said SEE YA as she flipped us the bird. My buddy got it on video so I do have record of the whole event. It happens from time to time and when it does, get over it. Netting a big fish isn’t all that easy unless you have played the thing to death.
I firmly believe that paying someone to take you fishing doesn’t garantee you anything more than a boat ride where someone is going to work hard to give you every shot you deserve at a good fish or many fish. Of course they should act like a professional. That’s should go without saying. Guides aren’t magicians.
Greg,
That’s the absolute worst having to deal with losing the biggest fish of your career. I feel your pain man. Browns seem to hurt the worst. This past year guiding, I had a client finally hook a behemoth brown trout on our last attempt after sight-fishing to it with everything in the box. I’m confident it would have taped over 26″, and catching a wild brown of that magnitude in North Georgia is like winning the lottery. The fish outsmarted us by doubling back in a split second and made a blistering run downstream. We were too slow to keep up and it inevitably broke us off. I haven’t seen the beast since. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about fighting big fish over the years, it’s you have to remain two steps ahead of them during the fight. Kinda like chess, because if you aren’t, I guarantee they will be.
Thanks for the comment on the blog post and supporting Gink & Gasoline.
Kent
Great post Kent. This is always a tough subject to work in with clients that may not know what the standard tip for a day of guided fishing is. I’ve always figured that 20% is the standard. Of course we get incredible tips from time to time and there are bad ones to balance it out, but I figure that I do around 20% on average.
Andrew,
Thanks for chiming in. It’s great to hear from another guide on this subject. Been riding any waves 😉 great to hear from you.
Kent
Just curious… tipping for lots of services generally run from 15-20%… restaurants, hair cuts, cabs, etc… 15 being the average and 20% for good service… recognizing that at a 5star the 20% is probably correct. Why would fishing guides be expecting 20-30%?
Ron,
That’s a legitimate question to ask. The percentages at the end of the post were meant to be used as a ball park figure/guideline for someone that was 100% satisfied with their guide trip and wanted to tip there guide well. 20-30% gratuity for my guided float trips comes out to $50-$75 total for two anglers. If I’m hiring a guide, that’s what I’m going to tip him for a full day if he did his job.
If the trip was off the charts in every aspect, I may even tip him $100. That’s just my opinion of course, I’m not demanding you to tip a certain way.
I also think you need to look at the expenses on the guide’s end and pay attention to what he’s charging you all together. I don’t charge my clients for flies lost 95% of the time. There’s days where they lose two dozen or more flies. I don’t charge for leaders even if I’m rigging up four rods for the day, and I don’t charge for using my equipment/waders/boots. I don’t even charge a client that breaks my rod to get it fixed, and that costs me over $50 before it’s all said and done. For guides, that run their business like that, I feel they deserve to get fair gratuity. After all, they’re doing their best to not nickel and dime you to death, and it adds up when you put it all together.
The first fly shop I guided for, had a policy in place that forced me to sell each of my clients select fly fishing gear before we got on the water. I’d pick out no less than a dozen flies, a two-pack leader, spool of tippet and a pack of strike indicators. That’s right I was forced to do that for each of my clients. Here’s the bad part about it, sometimes we only used a 25% of the gear they purchased.
Kent
Kent, this is always a difficult call for the client. I truly appreciate the services of a quality guide and have had great experiences with many. If I’m providing my own rods, waders, leaders, tippet, which maybe the majority don’t, should that be taken into account. As a rule, I purchase some flies that are recommended by the outfitter or the guide for that particular locale, and any other incidentals I may need from the local fly shop. But, where does the price for the trip come in and where does the tip for the guide begin. Of the total price charged for trip by the outfitter or fly shop, how much does the guide receive?
I don’t disagree that a tip should reflect the effort, extra time, or extra services provided by an individual guide. I have no problem with a big tip for a guide giving me extra casting help, or giving me some extra time on the water is chances at fish have been few,etc. but, to add 20% to a $500 trip seems a bit much, unless I have a misconception about how much the guide earns compared to the outfitter.
Ronr,
Trout Guides that work for fly shops or through private landowners often make a lot less than you think.
For instance, back when I worked for fly shops,for a $375 float trip through the shop I would walk away with $225 and I was using my own boat.
I’ve got a piece of private water I guide on that charges $520 for two people for a full day. I end up with $220 after I pay the landowner. Subtract 3% more if they pay with a credit card.
So let’s take the average of the two types of trips. That ends up being $222.50. The average guy I run into that’s a full time guide (non-saltwater guide) books between 125-175 trips a year. Sometimes more, but you have to be in a prime location and you also have to get lucky with weather. That leaves the average trout guide pulling between $27,812.50 – $38,937.50 a year before taxes. Hence, client gratuity really helps guides make ends meet and are greatly appreciated.
Kent
Ron,
As a professional outfitter and guide of many years, I can tell you that you’re not alone. Many clients ask what the typical or standard tip is for a full or half day on the water. I advise them that everyone tips differently. I do, however, give them some ballpark numbers to go by. It helps give them a better idea of what the norms are. I’m always sure to tell them that tips are also not required, but greatly appreciated by all guides.
I do agree that it can be confusing for a client. Especially when you have one, like yourself, that brings their own gear and happily purchases anything else that he feels he may need from the fly shop.
As far as how much of the trip fee the guide gets as opposed to the outfitter, every operation is different. There are way too many factors to even attempt to explain here including permit water or not, experience level of the guide, equipment supplied by the outfitter versus supplied by the guide, insurance costs, etc., etc.. Each operation is different. Keep in mind that the guide knows how much he is being paid by the outfitter for the trip. As such, he has agreed to work for that amount. I say this because it should have no bearing on how much anyone should tip. The guide will get the amount expected for his work and anything extra from the client cannot be relied upon for income. That’s just the nature of the business…and believe me, your guide knows it all too well.
Like Kent said, feel free to discuss the tip amount with your guide at the end of the day. There are many factors involved with that decision on the client’s end. I think both parties could learn from the critique about the day on the water.
I hope this helps in some small way. Sorry I couldn’t give definite answers, but like I said, every operation is different. The tips are great and are very much appreciated, but all your guide really wants is for you to have a great day on the water with him. If you do, refer others to him. That’s the best tip that you can give to a guide. It helps him build his business and it doesn’t cost you a dime. Cheers!
Very good to know, especially if you like the guide and want to go out with them again.
U touched on expenses, but you didn’t mention fuel.Just because you are on a float trip doesn’t mean there aren’t fuel expenses.Hauling boats 150+ miles a day,R/T, isn’t cheap & then there are shuttle driver fees 2. I am almost always surprised (and impressed) when a guide warns me we have “some travelin’ to do”, because it means money off his (and occasionally her) bottom line, but that where we need to go to have the best fishing fishing. Up your tip to help cover the extra fuel.
and in saltwater, if the fish aren’t cooperating, your guide will burn more a lot more fuel to find fish. As long as you don’t have the sense the guide is killing time just motoring around, or running full out just for the joy of the noise (think Bahamas, and the fact that many guides there don’t own the boat, or pay for the fuel, if they work for a lodge…)
Onthefly,
Thanks for touching base on those areas that we failed to talk about.
Kent
I guess I’m a little old-school (and I am rather new to fly fishing) and need to just count on perhaps $75 in tip as an average when planning my trip, and if it sucks, less; if it’s great, more depending on circumstances.
In other areas of tipping, it used to be that you tipped employees, but not business owners. Owners set their prices, know their costs and reap the profits after all is said and done. Employees get a flat hourly rate, but those that do a good job of serving you promptly, courteously, professionally and so forth deserve a tip for their efforts.
Gas and mileage – IMHO, it’s just a cost of doing business. If it costs $25 or $50 extra to drive a great distance above the norm or usual – bill for it. “My daily rate for guiding is $xxx. That includes waterside lunch and a dozen specially selected flies. That rate is to fish the nearby Wet River or Fishy Lake. If you want to go to the Awesome River, two hours away, that ads $xxx to the fee. If you break one of my rods, you may be billed $50 for repair depending on the circumstances. A tip of x% is considered the norm,” etc. seems more professional. Or maybe like a lot of restaurants do, especially for larger parties – “minimum tip will be x-% but feel free to tip more.”
And I know from talking to a friend who guides, my thoughts are considered crazy from a guide’s point of view, if not downright blasphemous…and it’s also crazy to him to consider tipping housekeeping for lodging, meals anywhere other than a “fancy sitdown restaurant” and so forth.
How do CPAs get on the “here’s your bill, now toss in another 15% tip” gravy train?
Marco,
Thank you for writing such a thorough comment. This post and the feedback has got much more attention that I thought it was.
I have to say it is great that we all can give our opinions and everyone is respectful. That just goes to show how great of a community of followers G&G has and we thank you all.
Your points make perfect since and I agree completely. Hope you continue to follow the blog and chime in from time to time.
Kent
Kent,
I have enjoyed this post and the comments immensely. I am the “buddy” who almost fell out of the pontoon boat. The seat had come off several times before that day; in fact it flew off the boat on the highway going back to town and had to be replaced for the next day’s fishing. It was a a wild feeling going through bolder-strewn rapids and having that seat come off. The guide put us on fish, taught us a lot about flies and proper presentation, but definitely had a bit of an attitude-might have been in the saddle too many years. We reduced the tip to 15%.
Thanks Kent,
Kent
Kent,
Nice name, ha. Glad to hear from the other half. Damn, the seat flying off rolling down the highway paints a clear picture of what you were dealing with. Attitude issues is something that you see often with guides that are burned out and have been guiding way too long. I told myself when I started guiding, when my patience and attitude became an issue, I would hang it up or at least cut back on trips. Guiding takes toll on a person, and if you aren’t bringing it, you better be passing the trip onto someone that will. Hope your next guide trip goes smoothly and you don’t have any issues like this. Thanks for the post idea, it’s been a big hit.
Kent
I hear that some of the Montana guides go well over 100 days with only a couple off hear and there. I enjoy your stuff. Wish you were out west-so I could book you as a guide. Unfortunately, I live in the desert. Thanks.
Kent
Hi Kent!
All of the guides I know want nothing more than to provide their clients with a good experience. The “good experience” goes both ways. Guides also enjoy a good experience with their clients, as in…everybody likes to have fun. Difficult clients (I hate the word “sport”), are just that…difficult. It’s all about having fun on the river. It’s a challenge, and the primary goal for a guide, is that he provide a “good experience” to a client that has limited skills, and unfamiliar with the water. But hey! Having said that, most clients expect results for their money. That sometimes makes for a tough day on stream. Most guides earn every penny they deserve for putting up with some of the jokers they have to spend the day with…forgetting how the fishing was. You can imagine spending 8-10 hours with someone you want to kill.
Cap’n Bob
PS: Nurse! More whiskey.
Cap’n Bob,
Well said my friend.
Kent
Good post. The whole subject of guide compensation is interesting. I will tell you that my admiration and respect for river-rowing guides in the West has increased enormously, after a trip to Florida. I paid $700 for a day of chasing tarpon and watched the captain do a nice job of looking for fish. But he had everything motorized and never broke a sweat. Oh, and I had to BRING LUNCH FOR HIM. Western guides charge almost half as much, work ten times harder, and serve me my meal.
Merkincrab,
$700, thats the highest I’ve ever heard of someone paying to go tarpon fishing on the flats. My buddies charge $550 in the keys.
I won’t get into the differences in work amounts, but I will say when its windy a guy poling has to bust his ass to keep you in position and cover the flats. You did give me a good laugh though, and I do kinda find it weird they don’t supply clients lunch but even weirder they expect the client to also bring them lunch. Never understood it.
Kent
Yep, honest….at Captiva. The captain, a VERY FAMOUS guide, just anchored up at some spots and waited for fish. We had just anchored up at a great spot when tons of jet skis ruined our fishing. Not his fault. We anchored up at other spots but no luck. Just a bad day. But seriously, $700 was his fee. (Wouldn’t share with another client, either.) Another guide at Islamorada charged $600….I can share a guide in the West for $200 and that guy’ll bust his butt, tell stories, serve me lunch, and teach me a ton!
Alrighty, I think since I have guided both I will comment on this… $700? Apparently I’m not charging enough.. Most guides anymore don’t require you to provide lunch for them however it is customary just like out west it’s customary for guides to bring you lunch. Now we don’t share the boat because it can get awkward especially if you guys start debating who’s turn it is on the boat.. You can only fish one at a time while flats fishing… Now as far as what that guide did with you when he staked out for that area, that is about the only thing they can do is wait on migrating fish. I can do that down here in the Keys also during certain times of the year, however I prefer to fish for laid up tarpon in of which you don’t have that luxury. Now in saying that, I can be honest to say most of the time a lot more effort goes into poling a boat rather than rowing especially when there is wind and if you have ever fished the Keys that’s pretty much every day. Not to mention its 90+ degree and 90% humidity. Look I’m not taking anything away from guides that row a boat, but I’ve done both and I can assure you the effort cannot be compared.
Now another thing guys Need to realize is that we can spend upwards of a $100 a day running from spot to spot half a gallon of oil for the 2 stroke which is about $15, not to mention we can drive as far as an hour and a half one way just to dump in where we fish. Then when we get done we go home wash down the boat YOUR equipment you leave on the boat so it’s not a pile of rust from your week of fishing, then after that we tie flies because that day the tarpon were eating tan vs olive or purple or whatever other color…. So now that 8 hrs has turned into more like 15-16 hrs… Yes 15-16 hrs… Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE what I do and I’m not complaining but I don’t think guys realize what actually goes into a guide trip. So break down $575 divided by 15-16 hrs subtract fuel, oil, tying materials, leaders, water, Gatorade, and that’s what we are left with. No offense guys or disrespect, but I don’t want to hear about $100 tip being too much it’s just not right. Nor do I want to hear about who works harder some one rowing or someone poling. It’s different types of fishing and different environments can’t be compared… Thanks
Thanks for your reply, Capt. Joel. I’ve taken numerous trips to Yucatan and have been poled all day in heat and humidity. The local guides make beans, after the lodges take their cut. You’re absolutely right about all the work that goes into guiding….I’m not disputing that. I am just honestly relating my impressions about my lone Florida trip, the money I paid, the exertion of the guides, and a comparison to the river guides in the West. I was not poled (much), the story about lunch and fees are the truth, and my reaction was, hey, I guess that’s what the market will bear. By the way, I’ve been fly fishing 28 years and I went fishless both trips…….never even saw a bonefish the whole day and my permit fishing consisted of casting to a trio who pranced around pilings at 20 feet. The tarpon trip was just bad luck….didn’t see one bent rod among the thousands (?) of fishermen at Boca Grande. I will say, however, that my Florida experience was much more “normal” than the fishing culture I encountered on the Salmon River in Pulaski, New York. Now, that’s a real shit show….
Kent and Louis, I think I’m going to follow up on this post. I’m going to do a post for you guys about what actually goes into a trip from the guides perspective. This is the part of guiding that clients never see or hear about. Maybe that will solve a little bit of the confusion also.
Merkin- it’s unfortunate that your experiences on the flats were not the best to say the least.. We really do have good fishing down here and there are guides that work till their pole is worn off.. A lot of it depends on the conditions provided that day.. I do feel you on the fact the guy staking out feels lazy I personally would rather take an a$$ beating behind the wood shed that is why I stick to the back country as much as conditions will allow. What I would suggest is you do some research on a trip a
Down here and most importantly ask questions about how you are going to fish. Explain to the guide your goals and expectations if you would like please feel free to contact me and I will explain seasons and what to expect etc.. And that won’t cost you a dime! Advice is free lol! Other than a long distance phone call.. I have been in situations similar to most that have commented on guided trips I have taken and the best thing you can do is research.. Let’s be honest guided trips are not cheap at all and should be an experience you will tell your grandchildren about and show pictures! The worst is getting to a destination and being disappointed by the professionalism of the guide.. I guess that’s why I am always 12++++ hours into a day by the time I’m done! I hope this helps !
Pingback: Some pre-season tips on…tipping. | Montana River Outfitters
Most of these guys charge a very steep fee for the basic trip. We recently tipped 15% and got no thank you at all. I didn’t even catch one fish. You price many people out of the market with these fees and then a big tip. Who can afford that in THIS horrible economy. Next time we’ll take a pass and just go it on our own. At some point, it’s just out of the normal person’s reach.
Penny,
I bet you make quite a bit more money than I do guiding. Damn near Half the money I charge my clients goes to land owners and the fly shop, and gas prices aren’t helping. I haven’t raised my prices in 13 years either.
My advice is the following. If you’re worried about the money it costs to hire a guide, you probably shouldn’t be doing so in the first places. Secondly, I’ve probably got about a 95% catch rate ( meaning: we at least catch a couple fish, generally lots more than that) for my guide trips, but some clients are so difficult to teach and so low on the skill level, you need a miracle to get them to catch fish. That being said I always thank my clients for tips.
Kent
Hopefully I’m not waking a post from the past, but I do have a question. If you fish with a guide who is 100% self employed, has his own boat, fishing in saltwater (wouldn’t have to pay a landowner) and everything would you still tip him? The day of fishing is $650 in the first place and I’m guessing all of that money goes to him. Is he still expecting a tip on top of that?
If I sell an insurance policy, I get paid a commission and I don’t expect the purchaser to pay me anything else above the agreed-upon price.
So here’s how my day went July 23 2016:
River blown out, had to go where EVERYONE was going between 50/60 other boats(rafters, other fly fishing boats)
Smashed my thumb in the car door as I get out to prep boat for launch.
Five minutes into the float my rod breaks(I had a spare in which I always bring)
another 10 minutes a clients seat breaks (The back part, so no sitting back).
Fishing was bad NONE to the net.
Any guesses on the tip?????
Scroll for answer
$150.
Moral of the story keep going and make the best of the day!
Guide kinda screwed up the rowing and let a 34″ish steelie get into some snags on the PM, fish broke off, but it was my first hook up ever on chrome, poor guy really beat himself up over it, I was stoked though! I even high fived him on that lost fish, landed another a few hours later, guide even grilled up some smoked pork chops on the boat, taught me to cast a two hander that day also, tipped the guy well, bad ass guidr
Hope it was “Steve”, either one are great. From BBT or Batchkes.
That Cornett boy will run like a linebacker through shit to net a fish!