WANTED: Guide Fishing (Benwahh)
 

Just saw this in the wanted section....."There isn't anything I love more than catching fish, I'm 19 yrs old been on the water for 18 1/2 years, fishing for 17 years. I've thought about attempting to become a guide however my dad (fisherman as well) is telling me the guide life is a hard life. I would appreciate any advice or words of experience from guides or captains that live this life. I would really like an opportunity to work or intern for a guide service and really get a feel for the behind the scenes fun"..


The best advice I can give you is.....never make your hobby a job....then you have no hobby you have a job.....this is not a snap ya finger and your a guide type life....tons of lake time and the patience of Jobe are some requirements to start working on if your serious about this.....Oh and pick a good "Sea School"....<---this won't be fun if you pick the wrong one....

This guy and his dad fished the Redfish tournament Saturday.
Him and his dad seemed like real nice folks.

First off thank you for you're advice. I understand it's competitive field however we fish 7/8 weekends, no matter what the conditions are. I understand that's only 2/7 days a week but we work for our fish.. I have other hobbies that allow me to escape.. Is a degree required in order in to become a guide or is it just preferred?

No degree is required . 90% of the guides pass the required test and the rest of the knowledge they have came from years on the water.
If you are serious and want to guide for a living .make sure and learn Multiple areas well.
That way if your main area gets hammered by a hurricane or fouled by an oil spill ,you are not sitting there w/ no where to take clients.

The best way to learn is to try and get on with a big guide service that runs alot of boats. You will learn a lot from the other guides and will always force you to fish as hard as you can to keep up with them so you don't look so bad when everyone comes back to the dock. Most every new guide will struggle to keep up with the rest their first year. You will either learn quick or be looking for another job. And it's not nearly as easy as peole think, most of the time you will have people on your boat that have no fishing experince at all. Main thing is you gotta figure out how to get a fish on the end of their line.

Capt. B is right, if it is a hobby you love then it is no longer a hobby. It becomes a job. I only guide part time for just a few months out of the year, and it is hard work. I absolutely love to trout fish and it is fun being on the lake and catching fish all the time, but there are definitely those days that are just plain tough-and they are even tougher when you have clients that are expecting to catch fish. I don't know that I could do it every single day. It is very rewarding to go out and put people on fish and have them tell you that they had the best trip of their lifetime though. I love seeing the smiles on people's faces after a good day. Guiding is a lot of fun but there is a lot of hard work and knowledge that is required as well. Like I said before, its not a full time deal for me so I find it extremely enjoyable, but it seems like it would be very tough doing it every single day. It's just like anything else in life though - if you want to make a living out of something and be successful, you have to love it and be dedicated to it. Ditto about the sea school as well. Pick a good one. I went to Capt. Roy's in Seabrook, TX and they did a great job and were reasonably priced.

P.S. It is helpful to have some entertaining stories in your back pocket for those days that you just can't make the fish bite! Lol

All I can say is you wont know if you dont try. Better to try and not like it ,than spend the rest of your life wondering what it would have been like.

Like the others have said its gonna be tuff at times and gonna be great at times ,but it is a job .

Capt. Roy's has a captains school a couple times a year here in Lake Charles.
I think it is 3 weekends, instead of a full week like at his place in Texas.

I went through Capt Roy's. Good school

Listen to this guy

Captain Roy knows how to teach....you will know the material when your done thats for sure....Capt Roy is an avid sailor and was employed by NASA....very sharp fella as you will see if you attend one of his courses. Sea Academy is another option for Sea School.

Man you are young, you got your whole life ahead of you! I say go for it ,do like boss hog said n try n get on with a big guide outfit when someone may be willing to take u under their wing and if not lIke he said seeing the others catch fish will help motivate u if you are tge competitive type. Better to do it now and realize u hate it and find another gig before u have churns!

Thank you thank you thank you
 

Capt. Roy will be in town in a few weeks however not sure if I can afford it.. but will definitely check in to it asap. as far as learning new water, we discovered some new water this past saturday and will be looking more into it next weekend. I'm cometetive however new to the fishing tournament world, trying to be involved in as many as possible for experience. I'm gonna ask around at the guide charters for either a side job or intern of some sort. I appreciate everyone's advice and words of wisdom.

I say you go for it. I wanted to guide out west when I was young and never did it. I really wish now I had done it as I am sure it would have been a wonderful adventure filled with good times and bad. The thing is, as other have told you, I will never know now what I missed....you know why, because I let people tell me it was a crazy dream and listened to them when they told me to go do something practical. You have the rest of your life to get a 9 to 5 job, do what you want to do when you are young and you will never regret it. As Morgan Freeman said in Shawshank Redemption "get busy livin or get busy dying."

The best thing to do is try it out and see if you can handle it. Then after a year do it part time while going to school. I started guiding when I was 18 and went to school also. It is a really good job while going through college

I know this guy personally,he has been taught well.He has the drive and dedication to do this.Him and his father are on the water every weekend,no matter what the conditions are.They don't quit till they find fish!!!! They always figure the fish out. GOOD LUCK BENWAHH!!

Do it, You can get a job as a deck on a charter, be ready to clean some boats and do the dirty work.

good luck with that, I don't have the patience to teach someone how to fish when there biting, and I'd have a hard time putting a pole down too. Only time I put my pole down is to grab the net for someone catching a big one! I've brought friends fishing and taught them how how to cast, and have told them where to cast and have had successful trips but had to apologize for getting rough with them while they were learning. Its just always easier to fish with someone who fishes often.

Go for it man!! Like some said, you'll never know until you try. Good luck!!