how to become a fly fishing guide

[Yotrout]

A quiet evening. A bottle of moscato. Maybe a dip in the outdoor hottub under the romantic glisten of the red and blue lights. All with ReRe's sister. Gift cards are available.

 

[buffalo7]

wetnet wrote:
There is no ribbing on the issues. Insurance, CPR..This is no joke. You need to keep your clients safe! Despite the fact that you feel bad about a twisted ankle you can get sued!

This is no jokeing matter, Yotrout! if you are serious about becomeing a guide, than pay attension and stop jokeing around!

willdeb,
Great post thanks.

 

[SkyBlue]

Ditto Dave

 

[Yotrout]

Could you really be sued f your a guide and someone twists there ankle? Im sure theres some sort of liability waiver involved. I wonder what the worst thing one has been sued for is? Maybe an issue with a strong current.

 

[gfen]

Gotta say, I'm pro Pete's Rere's sister, not much Yo's.

However. in a rare moment of ontopicitude, I'll be bowing out of this thread before the wrath of Afish is brought forth.

Seriously, though, I don't know who Renee Rere is, but I'm pro.

 

[stevehalupka]

pete41 wrote:
If you do decide to try guiding,don't be one of those that consider their clients necessary nuisances to pay for their[guides] fishing.I have hired a few of those.One back of the boated me so he could get first cast in.Not a happy outing.

haha but we should support local fly shops? Basically the same thing going on in some, not all.

in all seriousness, for anyone looking to become a guide, sweetwater river travel is your best bet in terms of reliability for job placement and the cost in lower than orvis certification. 2,000 for 1.5 weeks I believe.

To be a succesful guide in Pa... you gotta strike some luck and be at the top of your game not with just fishing, but your people/marketing skills as well.

 

[jdaddy]

Yotrout wrote:
Could you really be sued f your a guide and someone twists there ankle? Im sure theres some sort of liability waiver involved. I wonder what the worst thing one has been sued for is? Maybe an issue with a strong current.

You could be sued. If you pushed him. Simple negligence law in PA. Owe a duty to protect, breech duty, damages suffered then liability is asserted. Client was walking slipped and twisted ankle, then no. Client twisted ankle after being push by guide, yes. Guide knows that pool is 15' deep and instructs client to walk through it, breech of duty. Still needs damages. These policies are made more for real issues with real damages. Guide demands they stay out to fish epic olive hatch in a lightning storm, client gets all sparky and dies, then ya. Money is owed.

The "liability waiver" you are thinking about would be a hold harmless agreement. No, generally it wouldn't work. Most hold harmless agreements are pure #OOPS# in court. $1 mil liability with minimum gear coverage of $10,000 in a package Business Owners Policy should be around $500 a year.

 

[sandfly]

Pa. requires a 1 mil. liability and cpr and guide lisence from the state now. I was a guide for 10 years before the health went down and I can't walk as good as I used to.

 

[SkyBlue]

It is time to get down to the nuts and bolts of the cost to be a guide. Insurance is more like $ 800-1,000.00 for $ 1,000,000.00 in coverage for a total package. CPR, First Aid, $ 50.00, PA Licenses, $ 135.00, Seeing a client catch his first fish on a fly, priceless...

I have been guiding for over 10 years and still enjoy it. It is a lot of work to promote your services. Looking over the listing of guides on the PA Fish commission site will tell you a lot. They have issued around 700 guides licenses in the past 5 year. Only 200 are active. That means 500 have come and gone. I think a lot feel they can make a living from it. I can't, I am blessed to have a very flexible job that allows me to work my guide business.


See you later, need to guide the next two days...Living the dream.

 

[Squaretail]

But cant you claim your fishing gear at tax time? Did those fly by nighters not gain substantial fishing equipment during their brief tenure?
Was told to me once, dont know for sure.

 

[Cornholio]

Well i figured i'd bring this thread back from the dead. I have considered becoming a guide on a part time basis. I surfed the web some and found a bunch of conflicting results. What is the deal with the inurance? How much does it run on average?

 

[Cornholio]

nevermind, it is posted right above me lol.