Tipping a fishing guide

[Theringworm]

Yeah I’m not playing the “norm” game with tipping anymore. Just like at restraints where the “norm” was 10% now placers are calling out diners that don’t leave 30%.

I’m ok tipping 20% if they do awesome work but I’m not going to tip 20% because it’s the “norm”.

Agreed, the “norm” is now out of control. Have you realized now that the restaurants calculated tip guide has you paying tip on also the taxes, not just for the meal. I have gotten to the point I don’t even look at the “recommendations” anymore. They are grossly miscalculated. The norm is also to now be asked to “tip” at every fast food restaurant where they do nothing besides hand you the food at the counter. Not happening. Airports, ha….also not happening. You are already getting price gouged there.

Hunting….i always started at 10% of the trip cost. Depending on my guides efforts it would deviate up or down from there. Typically always up.

Fishing, if I know I’ll have the same guide the entire trip then I’ll give one big tip at the end of the trip. If uncertain, or I know in fact I’ll have a different guide each day then I’ll tip daily. Once again, typically around 10% is where I start and deviate from there. If there are lodging expenses included that the outfitter has nothing to do with, I.e., he just booked me a room at the hotel, that price should be deducted out of the total. If he actually is providing lodging, cook, etc then I’ll include it. The only time I have given less than 10% was indeed on a fishing trip, he actually got NO tip. Terrible guide, terrible trip. We fired him after day 2 and hired someone else. Our new guide did what the first one should have and got a weeks worth of tip for two days work (what the first guy should have gotten plus what he did).

I don’t let the tipping industry pressure me. If they earned it, they’ll get more than what most would give. However , if they didn’t, it will reflect in the amount.

 

[Truck24hr]

If I can’t afford to tip well if it's earned, I won't do whatever it is. Dinner out or a guided trip.

My guides have never fished or hunted with me. Yeah, the fly guides get to float a river sll day. I'm sure it can suck ass with some customers

My fly guide in Montana brought all drinks, snacks, and food. Paid for shuttles, gas, equipment.

He was contracted by the outfitter. I don’t know what the average split is between the outfitter and guide.

But, IMO, knowledgeable service costs. I learned a lot from the guide, and thoroughly enjoyed my trip. I caught a single fish.

Tipped the dude $250 for the day

 

[Trial153]

10% and work up from there, for the cook/staff ect usually figure what I go with for a week and then divide my share by so say....600 for the trip/ three guys...200 each for the cook

 

[thinhorn_AK]

If I can’t afford to tip well if it's earned, I won't do whatever it is. Dinner out or a guided trip.

My guides have never fished or hunted with me. Yeah, the fly guides get to float a river sll day. I'm sure it can suck ass with some customers

My fly guide in Montana brought all drinks, snacks, and food. Paid for shuttles, gas, equipment.

He was contracted by the outfitter. I don’t know what the average split is between the outfitter and guide.

But, IMO, knowledgeable service costs. I learned a lot from the guide, and thoroughly enjoyed my trip. I caught a single fish.

Tipped the dude $250 for the day

Oh I can afford to tip any amount I’d realistically choose. But I won’t be blindly tipping 20% because some guy told me it’s the “norm”. If it’s earned then fine but it has to be earned.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

There are deadbeat guides, and there are guys that live and breathe fishing. My best fishing buddy became a guide and he is absolutely scraping the barrel paycheck to paycheck. Tips matter. I happen to be pretty dang good at fishing on my own and rarely use a guide, but when I do we usually split the tip aiming $100 minimum upward of $150-200 if they are exceptional and busted their butts for us.

And if you don’t buy that hard working/tough lifestyle line… go fish without a guide on that water you’ve never seen and see just how badly your ass gets handed to you. There’s a dozen things I guarantee you don’t know if guided trips are your general way of experiencing fishing.

Believe me, I’d prefer to just DIY fish but I don’t have a drift boat in that location so it is what it is so spare me the subtle insults and stop patting yourself on the back about how great of an angler you are. That is irrelevant to the question I asked.

Also, don’t try to guilt me with this “scraping the barrel” “paycheck to paycheck thing”, if its truly so horrible that he can’t do what he wants in life he can get another job. Same with waiters and waitresses.

 

[WRO]

Believe me, I’d prefer to just DIY fish but I don’t have a drift boat in that location so it is what it is so spare me the subtle insults and stop patting yourself on the back about how great of an angler you are. That is irrelevant to the question I asked.

Also, don’t try to guilt me with this “scraping the barrel” “paycheck to paycheck thing”, if its truly so horrible that he can’t do what he wants in life he can get another job. Same with waiters and waitresses.

Everything is expensive, it’s 200.00 a day in expenses to take my boat out and fish I figure.

Tack on the set costs and it gets worse.

If they do a good job, tip them accordingly and if they suck don’t do it.

As for the op, tip the guide a 50 a day per person as his daily rate is probably somewhere between 2-400 pp, then tip the rest of the staff wherever you feel appropriate.

 

[rkcdvm]

10% minimum.

 

[Truck24hr]

Oh I can afford to tip any amount I’d realistically choose. But I won’t be blindly tipping 20% because some guy told me it’s the “norm”. If it’s earned then fine but it has to be earned.

Yeah, wasn't trying to insinuate that. I should've worded it differently

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Believe me, I’d prefer to just DIY fish but I don’t have a drift boat in that location so it is what it is so spare me the subtle insults and stop patting yourself on the back about how great of an angler you are. That is irrelevant to the question I asked.

Also, don’t try to guilt me with this “scraping the barrel” “paycheck to paycheck thing”, if its truly so horrible that he can’t do what he wants in life he can get another job. Same with waiters and waitresses.

You're right. I shouldn't assume anything about your level of skill. Let me see if I can say this in a way that isn't insulting.

You can rent a boat. Or buy a boat. Or pay a guide to fish in their boat. But if you want to fish in someone else's boat, they deserve your respect. Tips are how they survive, and if you don't like it then just don't get a guide.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

You're right. I shouldn't assume anything about your level of skill. Let me see if I can say this in a way that isn't insulting.

You can rent a boat. Or buy a boat. Or pay a guide to fish in their boat. But if you want to fish in someone else's boat, they deserve your respect. Tips are how they survive, and if you don't like it then just don't get a guide.

Respect is a 2 way street though isn’t it? Should I respect them because they are a guide? Or because they are a hard worker who is a solid dude that’s fun to spend a day on a boat with?

The main reason I’m asking is because I don’t want to under tip the guide but I’ve also had a few less than satisfactory guide experiences over the past few years, bit of which I still tipped well because it was the “norm”, upon reflection I wish I’d kept the tip money, not because I needed it but because the guys were being dicks.

Neither of those were fishing trips though, they were aoudad and mule deer hunts on private land. On those trips we shot animals but they weren’t fun. When guides are on their phones, texting, complaining, making you aware of all of their home/personal problems and trying to push you to shoot animals you don’t want so they can end the trip early and go watch football games, that’s annoying and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

I’ve also had good aoudad guides and the fishing guides I’ve had in Mexico and Belize (again, because I don’t have my own personal para boat in those countries) have been phenomenal. I’ve often wondered why guides in the USA often don’t operate at the level the Mexican and Belize ones do.

Also for the record, I used to guide in northern MM, San Juan River and some other places, I got out of it because I was always guiding rather than doing my own fishing and it also didn’t pay well but that was 25 years ago now so I’m very far out of the loop of what to tip a guide in the USA.