Now that the thing of money has came up I thought a good thing would be what is the things you as a person should ask of your guide before going out. Like how long is the trip , the type of gear and so on. I do think that most of the problems some people have could be taken care of long before getting on the boat.

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rip some lips

A few things I would want to know up front:

1. Do I use my gear, or yours. If I have to use mine, what should I bring

2. Should I have my liscense in advance, or is there a place where we can pick one up

3. How long, is a typical day on the river

4. Do you encourage catch and release on fish

5. If fishing is great, is there an additional charge to stay an extra hour or two if possible

6. Should I bring a lunch, or is this provided. Pop,etc?

7. Do you specialize in gear, flies, etc. Am I going for a boat ride, while you pull plugs all day, or can we drift fish.

8. Do I need to bring a camera, rain gear, sun screen, polarized glasses?

I know these are all basic questions, but you have to remember that some guides don't provide all of the gear and rods, while others do. Guides also handle a wide range of clients. Some are more than happy to go for a boat ride on a pretty river, and have a crack at one fish, while others like myself, would fish from daylight till dark if possible. The fishing ability of these people varies also. Sometimes, the only way to get them in to fish is to run plugs, or troll, while others would do fine in spots where they could drift fish. You need to have a realistic understanding of your own fishing capabilities and expectations before you book a guide. There are a lot of people who think that once they plop down $150, that it is an automatic fish filled day. That just isn't the way it goes. Book a good one, and you can learn more in a day, than you would in a year, if you keep your eyes and ears open, and willing to ask a few questions.

#1 What river are we most likely gonna fish?
#2 What pound test & rod size will I need for my set up,as I use my own rod & reel with left hand retreive?
#3 Are you willing to split the eggs 50/50 if we get into them?
#4 Do you want the deposit now or pay in full the day of the trip?
#5 How'd you do today fishin?
#6 What are the fish looking like this year,are they nice chrome fish or runnin a little tinted?What's the average size?
#7 What time and place would you like to meet at?
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE
I always bring my own rain gear,lunch,camera,
and buy my license the first day possible of the new year.
#8 Will we be runnin bait or plugs most the day?

The fisrt thing I would do is tell him/her that I have my own lunch, gear and bait then I would ask for references and then I would ask what I believe is the # one question. Do you also fish?

This egg thing has come up a few times now... when you ask a guide to split the eggs.. does that mean that you are bringing your own eggs to fish w/ during the trip? Or are you using the guides eggs to catch your fish and then wanting to split after the trip is over? Interesting...

If you go fishing w/ a buddy in his boat do you share the eggs w/ him? Do you share eggs while on the trip? Or do you fish your eggs and he fishes his?

TH

www.thcustomrods.com

I have always kept the eggs on trips I have taken with guides and none of them have said a word. Have people had problems doing this with guides before? I would think most smart guides would have plenty of eggs by the end of silver season, can't imagine more than 50% of their clients fishing enough or even knowing what to do with the eggs if they did keep them. I have a friend that uses the same guide I do. he went to the peninsula one weekend and he ran out of eggs. He ran accross our guide whom stocked him up with enough eggs to last a few weekends and salvaged my buddies weekend. Maybe this whole egg thing is different on rivers like the Cowlitz where Guides live and die by eggs, I have never chosen to pay money to fish that crowd down their.