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, both 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 panga 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 NM, 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.

 

[IdahoElk]

Yeah I don't think that's a good attitude to have about a trip you're guiding. I was taught to never mention the previous days/weeks/months before that trip. Just let the folks you're guiding have a fantastic day regardless of how many fish hit the net. Making any comparisons is a sure-fire way to demean the group and lower your chance at a solid tip.

I say just base it on the effort the guide puts in, the level and quality of conversation, and not the amount of fish caught.

Where are you going?

Just curious but what does a guide make a day minus tips?

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

@thinhorn_AK I think I was majoring on a minor point you said. So I'm sorry for that. Thank you for your measured response. I absolutely understand not wanting to overtip a bad guide. I can only pass on my experience with good guides, and normally if there are two of us on a boat we budget up to $150 tip for the day, and I don't like to go sub $100 total, but if the guide is a bum I could see going lower.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Just curious but what does a guide make a day minus tips?

There’s probably no real clear answer for this, too many variables. If the the guide owns the company and does their own guiding, they make a lot. If it’s some kid who’s been working in the shop and is getting started as a guide, probably not much at all. And then everything in between.

One question I do have though, is that if these guides are sort of contracted through outfitters or lodges, why not just advertise for themselves and keep all of the money? I know a guy here in AK who just advertises day trips, has his own jet boat, is not affiliated with any lodges and focuses on the client pool of people who have a day to kill before leaving AK (hunters who are leaving or getting here early etc) and he get like 800 dollars a day, and keeps it all. He stays busy all summer and I’d imagine pulled in 40-50k just in those three months. I was with. Guide in Hawaii once who dropped 180k/year as what he made, he was also the owner and did all of his own guiding. Then on the other end, I met a guide in Hawaii who was going to has job as a valet at a hotel as soon as he was done fishing for the day.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

@thinhorn_AK I think I was majoring on a minor point you said. So I'm sorry for that. Thank you for your measured response. I absolutely understand not wanting to overtip a bad guide. I can only pass on my experience with good guides, and normally if there are two of us on a boat we budget up to $150 tip for the day, and I don't like to go sub $100 total, but if the guide is a bum I could see going lower.

Thanks, I was thinking 150-200/day would be solid. I doubt the guides will suck, I think that comparing professional PNW guides to Texas aoudad guides is probably an unfair comparison as the Texas ranch scene seems to have a life of its own. Aoudad hunting has gotten so popular that it’s turned into a booming business opportunity so there are lots of guides/businesses popping up to grab the $$$ while the getting is good. They probably also realize the the vast majority of guys are going to hunt aoudad once and never come back anyways.

 

[IdahoElk]

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.

Not to start an argument but what you said can relate to most service related jobs, I'm a finish carpenter and although customers can nail boards together they call me to do it better than they can which makes them happy, I never expect a tip.
Having said that I'm messaging a fishing charter on an upcoming trip to see what the standard tip for the first mate should be, Ha!

 

[IdahoElk]

There’s probably no real clear answer for this, too many variables. If the the guide owns the company and does their own guiding, they make a lot. If it’s some kid who’s been working in the shop and is getting started as a guide, probably not much at all. And then everything in between.

One question I do have though, is that if these guides are sort of contracted through outfitters or lodges, why not just advertise for themselves and keep all of the money? I know a guy here in AK who just advertises day trips, has his own jet boat, is not affiliated with any lodges and focuses on the client pool of people who have a day to kill before leaving AK (hunters who are leaving or getting here early etc) and he get like 800 dollars a day, and keeps it all. He stays busy all summer and I’d imagine pulled in 40-50k just in those three months. I was with. Guide in Hawaii once who dropped 180k/year as what he made, he was also the owner and did all of his own guiding. Then on the other end, I met a guide in Hawaii who was going to has job as a valet at a hotel as soon as he was done fishing for the day.

I'm talking the guide not the owner for a day of drift boat trout fishing for example, My friends guide but I'd never ask them what they get paid. They do say they must guide at least 200 days a year to make a living.

 

[JoshOR]

10-20%. If the guide works for an outfitter they take up to 20% where I live. Tips are appreciated but at the end of the day it’s all good. If your a college kid a guided trip is a ton of money, small tip is understood. If you’ve got money and had a great day, tip great!

 

[dtrkyman]

I pretty much averaged 100 a day per person on fly fishing trips, was always cheapos giving 20 bux and guys giving 3-500 but it all averaged out. This was 10 years ago though, prices have gone up and fuel is brutal!

Amount of fish caught was rarely the determining factor in tip amount!

Had an old codger stiff me once, was a slow day no doubt but dude could barely cast 20 feet and was not much for listening, my boss called him to check on the trip and the guy praised me, so boss asked why no tip and dude said he didn't catch anything(he did).

Another guy and his wife barely fished 2 hrs, caught a few and were done, was back in town at noon, 500$ tip. Best client ever...lol

 

[roadrunner]

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've never priced out a trip with all the operating expenses while trying to stay competative for a luxury service have you.

Especially when competitors can almost give trips away for whatever reason or another, and, they aren't guiding 7 days a week for 48 weeks out of the year either...

 

[thinhorn_AK]

You've never priced out a trip with all the operating expenses while trying to stay competative for a luxury service have you.

Especially when competitors can almost give trips away for whatever reason or another, and, they aren't guiding 7 days a week for 48 weeks out of the year either...

What point are you trying to make? Just say what you want rather than playing the “you’ve never” game…..

If you’ve got some inside information I’m unaware of that may influence the amount I’m going to tip then I’m all ears.