Guiding

[Bamboozle]

Deffinitlu will

haha thanks, I do have a YouTube channel but it’s kinda small rn only about 1200 subscribers, I gotta work on better quality production besides just chest cam of me flinging bugs at trout

You got to have a fancy "outdoorsy" title page, annoying, overly loud intro music with water trickling in the background and open every video with, "Hey guys" to have any hope of being moderately popular on YouTube.

Quality production and fancy camera angles are secondary... 😉

 

[chief17]

I don't know anything about guiding but know several guys who do or have. My advice is, if you've never worked a customer service based job, try that first. AKA working the counter at McDonalds, the gun counter at a big box store, etc. You're interactions with dbags there are brief. If you're guiding a dbag, you're stuck with them for hours. Ask yourself if you're really cut out to handle that.

I've heard some real horror stories about entitled clients treating guides horribly. Maybe it's the exception and few and far between, but it's probably going to happen.

 

[Clams]

To the OP, here is your blueprint for becoming a young fishing guide. My son grew up in a suburb of Philly and is currently 25 and a fishing guide in South America (Patagonia). Here's how he did it. He and I started fishing together when he was little and we discovered fly fishing around 2017 when he was 17 years old. A few years later when he was a sophomore in college, he told me he was going to spend the summer working as a fly guide in Alaska. He had no fishing related experience and had never been anywhere close to Alaska so I just rolled my eyes and said "sure son." What I didn't know was that he had already put together a "fishing resume" which included some photos of him with a fly rod and trout on the Lehigh River, his education and work experience, and leadership type stuff like being a summer camp counselor. He emailed that resume to around 50 lodges in Alaska. To my surprise, a handful actually replied and scheduled video interviews and one lodge offered him a job. This lodge employs 8 or 9 young guides mostly in their 20s each summer and brings them up early for guide training where they taught him about the fishery, the boats and equipment and the local waters. They paid for all his flights plus all room and board, meals etc for the summer. It was a hard job but he was young and he learned so much. The money (salary + tips) was decent and he pretty much brought home every penny he earned because there's no place to spend when you are off the grid in Alaska. He wound up spending 3 summers at that lodge guiding people for salmon, trout and pike. Meantime he graduated from college here at home and managed to parlay his 3 summers in Alaska into guiding during the winter at a lodge in Chile, which in turn he parlayed into a fourth summer in Alaska at a better known (and better paying) lodge. Right now he's back for his third winter in Patagonia (it's summer down there). It hasn't been all roses and sunshine - of course there have been ups and downs along the way. And from a parent perspective it sucks when your kid lives 6,000 miles away. But he is just 25 years old, he has money in the bank, he is fluent in English and Spanish, he has a college degree, he has lived in some of the most beautiful places in the world, and he has a network of friends from all over the US and South America. I have visited him twice in Alaska and once in Chile - he is smart, strong, confident and capable on the water. He is an impressive young man and I'm not just saying that because I'm his dad. He does not want to guide forever but he is in a great spot for now and I'm certain he will find his calling when the time is right. To the OP, I say follow your dreams, anything is possible. My son sent me the photo below just last weekend (and that is just an average fish for him, lol)

 

[mt_flyfisher]

@RLeep2, I had written this response a day or 2 ago, but didn’t post it. After just reading @Clams excellent reply regarding his son, and noting that his son got his college degree while guiding in the summer, I decided to post it:

Here is my take on being a guide:

1. Plan to get an education first. Go to college, a trade school, or the military, etc. Whatever.
2. Once you’re well on your way with your education, start thinking about being a part time guide.

Completing your education should come first, and becoming a guide should be secondary. Whether you start working in a fly shop part time after hours, going to a guide school, or whatever it might be, completing your education should be your top priority.

Here is another guy’s perspective on being a guide:

Pro Tips: How to Become a Fly-Fishing Guide - Orvis News

The author poses at the headwaters of Alaska's Gibraltar River in 1995. When I decided that I wanted to spend my summers a fishing guide—I was in graduate school at the time—I didn’t really know how to go about becoming one, so I used a shotgun approach. I applied to. . .

news.orvis.com

(You’ll notice that that guy, like @Clams son, was also getting his education before he started guiding, although that guy does say he wishes he’d have started it earlier.)

P.S. Added on edit: I haven’t seen him around here for awhile, but @MJMFlyfisher was a summer guide at Hubbard’s Lodge, located near the upper Yellowstone River in Montana. I believe he was also a college student at the time. If someone could put you in touch with him, he’d be an excellent source of information for you.

 

[krayfish2]

This is always a funny look at guiding. While it's a fun poke at the guide/client interaction, if you do it for a few years, you'll run into a Dave Previs or two. 🤣.

 

[PennKev]

Here is something that I, as a customer, would ask you, and you should ask this of yourself:

Why would I hire you as a guide? How good are your skills? How advanced are you? Do you excel at something? Do you have rights to special waterways? How deep does your fishy knowledge run?

To be successful, you need to build a reputation. In today's world, that is easier than ever through social media. But why and how would I hire you?

I've said this before on here, and I will say it again, I know "guides" who I would be pissed if I hired. To me, these people barely even know how to fish. Yeah, they passed their CPR certifications and whatever else you need. I have encountered self-proclaimed professionals in real life, and their social medias make them look the part, but then they cannot even cast in real life.

Frankly, most people just end up with a guide based on who is affiliated with the local fly shop in the area they plan on fishing. The shop decides which guide get's which booking unless there is a prior request or expectation from the client. This is where a guide builds a reputation and then, if he's good. He can set up his own operation and have enough repeat customers and word-of-mouth customers to make a go of it.

To start from scratch, on your own, without a shop or outfitter getting clients for you is an uphill battle. You would need some serious street cred to just start up a guide service and expect many bookings. And yes, the fly shop is usually getting a nice cut of the what the client is paying, but that is how guides get steady work. I know guides who have worked for 3 or 4 different shops/outfitters at the same time in order to fill up their schedule. Later they were either able to set up their own operation or settle into working for only one shop. Sure, some guys build up such a social media reputation, or competition success, or whatever that they can just jump right to being their own boss, but those guys are the pro athletes of fly fishing. For every social media star there are thousands that fail to get any traction and amount to nothing.

 

[wildtrout2]

This is always a funny look at guiding. While it's a fun poke at the guide/client interaction, if you do it for a few years, you'll run into a Dave Previs or two. 🤣.

That was hysterical!!! LMAO 🤣

 

[rancid waders]

And don't forget the time it takes out of your day to keep updating facegram etc......connections need to be made to grow business.

 

[PennKev]

I'm aware. But still, working for a shop as a guide sounds lame.

It's where the action is.

 

[Mikey2006]

Guiding would be my dream job, but unfortunately I suck at fishing and I’m even worse at dealing with people. Closest I’ll even come to guiding is when my friend payed me 5$ to use my rod and tie on all his flies for the rest of an evening sulphur hatch after his rod broke 😂

 

[Trails and trout]

You got to have a fancy "outdoorsy" title page, annoying, overly loud intro music with water trickling in the background and open every video with, "Hey guys" to have any hope of being moderately popular on YouTube.

Quality production and fancy camera angles are secondary... 😉

Started doing that already 🤣

 

[hooker-of-men]

@RLeep2, I had written this response a day or 2 ago, but didn’t post it. After just reading @Clams excellent reply regarding his son, and noting that his son got his college degree while guiding in the summer, I decided to post it:

Here is my take on being a guide:

1. Plan to get an education first. Go to college, a trade school, or the military, etc. Whatever.
2. Once you’re well on your way with your education, start thinking about being a part time guide.

Completing your education should come first, and becoming a guide should be secondary. Whether you start working in a fly shop part time after hours, going to a guide school, or whatever it might be, completing your education should be your top priority.

Here is another guy’s perspective on being a guide:

Pro Tips: How to Become a Fly-Fishing Guide - Orvis News

The author poses at the headwaters of Alaska's Gibraltar River in 1995. When I decided that I wanted to spend my summers a fishing guide—I was in graduate school at the time—I didn’t really know how to go about becoming one, so I used a shotgun approach. I applied to. . .

news.orvis.com

(You’ll notice that that guy, like @Clams son, was also getting his education before he started guiding, although that guy does say he wishes he’d have started it earlier.)

P.S. Added on edit: I haven’t seen him around here for awhile, but @MJMFlyfisher was a summer guide at Hubbard’s Lodge, located near the upper Yellowstone River in Montana. I believe he was also a college student at the time. If someone could put you in touch with him, he’d be an excellent source of information for you.

One could certainly guide part time and cultivate a network in the industry while working towards a degree that could be applicable / tangential to fly fishing in a more long-term sense than guiding. Mechanical engineering or biology come to mind as relevant fields. It seems like working for a fishing company in a different capacity than guiding would allow you to be heavily in the culture while actually fishing yourself more, but you could still get all the hands-on learning from those initial years of guiding.

It sounds like a great plan, but I have to be careful about too heartily agreeing with the folks recommending sensibility. All work sucks; make big mistakes.

 

[discomidge]

When I graduated from college a good uncle told me "don't get married before you're thirty and travel as much as you possibly can." He was right. I think everyone should go goof off in their twenties and do dumb, crazy things - you have time to do smart, considered things after that. If you wanna learn to guide and live on the cheap, go for it. I wouldn't trade that reckless freedom for anything.

 

[Prospector]

For you guys that guide, how often does the client completely stiff you or only pay a portion of the agreed upon cost.

 

[jifigz]

When I graduated from college a good uncle told me "don't get married before you're thirty and travel as much as you possibly can." He was right. I think everyone should go goof off in their twenties and do dumb, crazy things - you have time to do smart, considered things after that. If you wanna learn to guide and live on the cheap, go for it. I wouldn't trade that reckless freedom for anything.

I can support this. It also rings very true in my life. I had a wonderful time that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Good advice! Live and have fun

Edit: but still maybe learn to invest at least small amounts of money. I wish I would have started back then.

 

[PennKev]

For you guys that guide, how often does the client completely stiff you or only pay a portion of the agreed upon cost.

Many (most) guides/outfitters will specify a deposit due before the trip to prevent a total loss, either from cancellation or being stiffed. It's typical for this to be relaxed for repeat customers who have proven to be reliable. Deposit policies with deadlines allow for possible re-booking with more reliable/commited clients while also allowing for refunds if the client cancels far enough in advance.

 

[dryflyguy]

I would think guiding full time would be mostly suited to someone who is young or single - with no family ties.
In that case, you're free to go and do whatever you want.
So why not go for it.

Have also met some older guides who are for the most part, retired.
And that would be another good scenario to do that too.

If you want to guide part time, while working a real job - that sure wouldn't leave much to fish for yourself.
And wouldn't have worked for me.
I still really enjoy my time on the water and doing what I want to do

 

[Ggrove]

I’m sure you’re pretty overwhelmed with folks telling you their idea of how to pursue your life.

As someone who was in a similar boat to you, and a few years older, here is what I have to offer.
Spend the last year or two of high school trying to figure out what you want to do next. If it is college, focus on getting your grades up to set yourself up for scholarships. You will thank yourself in two years. If it is trade school, start shadowing and getting involved.

As far as guiding goes, having a passion and making a career out of it is anybody’s dream. I can tell that is yours, and if it ultimately is what you want to do, then work at it so that you are in fact one of the people who can make a living off of it. It certainly is not the easiest profession and is vastly different from fishing on your own. My advice is to get into a fly shop, learn from the pros, and wet your feet. If you like it and think you want to do it full time, go for it. If you can’t see yourself making that your life, keep pursuing a trade, college, military, etc. and think about guiding as a weekend job.

Supplementary income from something you love to do is a great thing. If you do decide to guide as a side gig, I would implore you to invest any extra money you make. That money will multiply when it is time to retire. I’m sure there are plenty of guys on here that did exactly that and are living good.

In the end, it’s up to you. Take everything on here with a grain of salt. I have definitely seen good advice from other people but if you dont want it then that is up to you. Either way, I wish you the best of luck with whatever you do. My biggest piece of advice is to put 110% into whatever you end up doing. It will put you above everyone else and it will pay off.

Edit: If you want a career that is still focused around streams and fish, look into a degree in wildlife biology. Tons of awesome opportunities with that.

 

[jifigz]

I’m sure you’re pretty overwhelmed with folks telling you their idea of how to pursue your life.

Spend the last year or two of high school trying to figure out what you want to do next. If it is college, focus on getting your grades up to set yourself up for scholarships. You will thank yourself in two years. If it is trade school, start shadowing and getting involved.

As far as guiding goes, having a passion and making a career out of it is anybody’s dream. I can tell that is yours, and if it ultimately is what you want to do, then work at it so that you are in fact one of the people who can make a living off of it. It certainly is not the easiest profession and is vastly different from fishing on your own. My advice is to get into a fly shop, learn from the pros, and wet your feet. If you like it and think you want to do it full time, go for it. If you can’t see yourself making that your life, keep pursuing a trade, college, military, etc. and think about guiding as a weekend job.

There is always room for one more, right? I kid. I kid.

 

[Swattie87]

There is always room for one more, right? I kid. I kid.

Only applies to advice given by others. 😉

I took the OP at their word that they wanted advice on potentially going down this path. They’ve gotten a wide variety of responses. IMO that is ideal, and should help the OP reason through and decide on their own what best fits them and their plans for life. I would argue NONE of the advice given here, though certainly different, was bad. It was all sincere with intent for the OP to think about that viewpoint when making their decisions. No one has told the OP what to do. There’s pros and cons to every decision in life, and this thread does a really nice job of pointing out both in this context.