Guide tipping

[Wmass]

I am taking a guided trip with my father-in-law. It's a day trip to some private water in New Mexico. I am wondering what the tip should be? I have never fished with a guide so I don't know.

 

[pabrookie94]

I would look out because you just opened up a can of worms...Some say that the tip should be built into the pricing of the trip others say if you do not tip then that's ridiculous.

My view on it is that if the guide truly tries hard to provide you with a quality time then you should certainly give him a tip. It doesn't have to be hundreds of dollars but just something to show you appreciate how hard he worked to make the trip a quality experience.

 

[Biggie]

My feeling is this: If the guide is working for himself, then the price of the trip is the amount he should get, if he works for a shop or lodge, then a tip is in order. I never tip the barber that owns the shop, but if one of the other barbers cuts my hair, I tip them. Everyone feels differently on this subject. Don't know about a set percentage for a tip. Good luck on your trip.

 

[Biggie]

M.

 

[808transplant]

It's a service industry job. I tip my waitress, my bartender, my barber, and my guide.

If a guide is totally lazy or something went truly wrong and they are at fault, I would tip the bare minimum. If my guide works his tail off, I tip well. It's just part of the game and it should be respected.

 

[LetortAngler]

It depends. Your tip should always reflect quality of service that the guide has provided. There is no standard percentage of what one should pay, but a 10% minimum seems appropriate.

 

[Wmass]

I think a full day guided on this stretch is like 400 or so. I was thinking of throwing him another hundred. Sound reasonable or too much?

 

[Wmass]

I think a full day guided on this stretch is like 400 or so. I was thinking of throwing him another hundred. Sound reasonable or too much?

 

[BrookieChaser]

From being on both sides of this interaction, I will say, if you decide to tip, don't base your tip solely on the fish caught. While fish are the goal, they aren't the only measuring stick of a successful trip.

 

[PennKev]

Just like tipping at a restaurant.

20% for decent service. Increase for good service, decrease for poor service.

A good guide can make a poor day of fishing very enjoyable, but he can't snap his fingers and put fish in the net. Sometimes fishing just sucks and it is outside of anyone's control. That's not so say you shouldn't tip more if you have an extraordinary day, but the guides knowledge, advice, work ethic, and personality should be considered before numbers of fish.

 

[blueheron]

Is that like cow tipping?

 

[Aducker]

20% is Avg.
25% if you were very happy.

 

[PatrickC]

$40 per person is a good starting point. More for exceptional service (which has little to do landing fish). If the guide bends over backwards for you, puts you in great situations to catch fish, handles all of your snags and tangles, handles suggesting and putting on new flies for you, and teaches you a few things you may have never considered for the situation....you had an exceptional day with a guide. Reward him/her for that. If the guide simply shows up and points you to a few places and stands back and lets you do it all, you have not been served well (unless you specifically asked the guide to treat you that way).

 

[Rolf]

Wmass wrote:
I think a full day guided on this stretch is like 400 or so. I was thinking of throwing him another hundred. Sound reasonable or too much?

Yep.

 

[Biggie]

Not to be a jerk about guides (well.....) what does the $400.00 fee cover? Just taking clients to the water and showing them where to fish. I think $50/hour is pretty good money. A waitress gets something like $2.50/hour plus tips. I don't think there is a comparison. Like I said, if the guide works for someone else he only gets some of the fee and a tip should be given if he does his job. Fire away..........and I've hired a guide a few times, one got tipped and the others did not.

 

[Fishidiot]

Biggie wrote:
Not to be a jerk about guides (well.....) what does the $400.00 fee cover? Just taking clients to the water and showing them where to fish.

My guess would be that guides can have some significant expenses invested in boats, gear, insurance, and fuel costs. Not a guide here so can't say from personal experience how the budget breaks down.

Speaking only for myself, I'm an advocate of generous tipping for guides if they show you a good day - in other words, they did everything right with respect to trip planning, local knowledge, friendly company etc.
If the fish didn't bite, I usually attribute that to tough luck rather than poor guiding (especially if I could see a lot of fish, but just couldn't make 'em eat a fly).

 

[Deane]

It is really like any other professional service. If you are pleased with the service that you received then tip appropriately. Tips traditionally begin at 15% for an average day. If the guide goes out of his or her way to watch out for your safety, has good equipment, provides a good lunch, and works hard for you by rowing back up for a second pass or two in the good runs or offers assistance to get you over to the other bank in a deep swift one. That is about all you can ask or reasonably expect. You have the right to expect a good performance; if it a great performance then 20% is more than adequate. My wife and I use the same guides when possible; so they are all good. The cost on most western waters is $495.00/day and I round the 20% upward a little and tip $100.00/day in most cases. The whole issue is just as subjective as can be.
Hope this helps.
Deane

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Fishidiot +1. GG

 

[crs5942]

I paid for a guide 2 years ago when my wife and I were in Colorado. The fishing was horrible due to an early fall snowstorm and snowmelt the week before. The guide tried everything to get us into fish but we only caught 4 fish all day. He spent some of the time taking us on a scenery/history tour due to the poor fishing. I knew the poor fishing had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the recent snowmelt. The water was just too high and cold. I ended up tiping about 25% because he went out of his way to make it a great day for my wife, even though the fishing was not productive. I tend to tip 20-25% depending on the experience.

 

[nimrod]

Just came back from a trip out West and talked to a couple of guides about it including one who works for himself and others. Typically they pay for gas for their vehicle (which can be a fair bit if you have a long ride), they pay for any shuttle service and the lunch, drinks and snacks that you get. The last guy I talked to said that the guide typically gets about 80% of what the shop charges (e..g 360 for a 450 trip). I'll typically tip 100 if the guide works at it, less if they don't. On a float 'working at it' means getting you into position and changing tactics, several times if necessary, to get into opportunities for fish. I had a couple of days when conditions sucked and not a lot of fish were had. Still tipped the 100 as the guide worked just as hard if not harder.

The only thing that gets my goat a bit is the shops (not the guide) that charge 2.25 per fly when you know they pay about 80 cents apiece. To me that's nickel and dining after you've paid 450 plus tip and should come with the package.