Is there a standard amount to tip a guide? Is It like a restraunt,15 to 20 %. Is it reigonaly diffrent or universal?

Its a personal gesture that can only be regulated by the individual there self! It can be based on many things. Your experience while fishing! How personable was the guide? Did you get what you expected or much, much more? Some people expect to catch fish, some realize that fishing is a wonderful, nature inspireing experience and catching fish is just the bonus. Ive seen take-outs were the river we were fishing was prodominately guides and you had to know someone to fish it with your own boat. The guides, maybe not all of them had spraypainted all over the pillars of the old bridge and what not "Tip you Guide" all over it! This was very tacky...Its like begging and the Grafity looks like hell in the nice forest. So what ever you think personally is fine. Just the gesture is like an extra "Thanks, I appreciate all the effort put forth today"

Fish on...

Great question, I've wondered the same thing. Ok, so there isn't a standard, but what is the range that the majority of the average clients give for an average trip?

Schultz's Encyclopedia says that a cash tip of $15-$20 per person per day is customary for an "average" trip. This seems a little low to me if the guide charges $300-$350 a day for two people, particularly if it's just a one-day trip.
Schultz's also says that giving merchandise such as fishing equipment or a T-shirt as part of the tip is appreciated in some distant locations or poor countries, respectively.

[This message has been edited by AkBill (edited 02-03-2000).]

My buddy and I have been out with a few guides and we usually tip between $25-40 each depending on the experience. I'm a relative newcomer to this sickness and one of the biggest things I'm looking for is information. The first salmon trip I ever took was with a guide on the Hump. Talk about a madhouse. Another story alltogether.
Anyway, it rained sideways all day and the river puked out from under us. We had two takedowns the whole time and neither was on my rod. But I tipped the guy I think $45 because he worked his ass off on the sticks and gave me more tips and info than I could have picked up in a year of SST or other sources. That's my .02.

Bruce

For instance! I went on the Sauk once and the guide BBq'd marinated steak and baked potatoes....Thats beside the fact that we also landed some nice fish that day including a 25.6 pound Skagit buck...Now the BBq guides also charge 150 per person as opposed to the 125 plus tax usally spent on a other guide. But dont ya think he got a better tip than the guy who sat ya in the boat and ran ya down the river at lightning speed just to stay in front of every one else! Even if ya caught fish you could still feel the stress he was emitting. And this is also supposed to be semi relaxing. So to this guy I would give 20.00 dollars too. The BBq guy gets $40.00, the guy on the Columbia get 20 also but remember even if ya have the time of your life...Theres still 5 guys on the boat so take a collection!
I gotta go back to work now!

See ya on the Coast!

The few guide trips I've been on, I've gone by $20 per guest. I've been pretty open and honest with the Guides and they say this is pretty much the average. Again it all depends on the trip and how you did as well as how you feel the guide did for you. I have to admit, I've had an incredible trip with the one of the guides who works with Bob and I gave him a little extra. Take care of the Guides and they will take care of you!

Kev

$30-$50 is what I've been paying on average. I've tipped more, but those were some awesome days grail-wise, few and far between.

I am normaly not a tight arse but after you and your friend just spent $150 each do you really think it is necessary to give out more. I hump concrete all day and work for myself, and at the end of the day if I have poured the perfect concrete wall there isn't anyone there to give me an extra 20-50 tax free dollars. maybe today I am bitter and the wall didn't turn out so good and my back hurts and the last three steelhead I hooked all came undone before I even saw them

With a guy like me in the boat -- talking all the time, hyped up and absolutely frenetic every time he hooks up -- I've had guides offer ME money if I'll just get out early and walk!

My favorite tip came after a phenomenol day -- really once in a lifetime -- on the Zipperlp when my buddy and I had so many hook-ups that we seriously lost count. Between the two of us it was something over 50 and might have been 60, all in the middle of a snowstorm. An absolutley surreal day that had some episodes like buddy Slick's being hooked up and then kicking over the homemade heater (Coke can with gasoline in it), setting the bottom of the jet boat on fire. So there I am in the tip of the bow watching the flames dry out Slick's wet waders mid-thigh while Bob (not THE Bob) is kicking snow over the fire trying to put it out, and Slick is yelling 'Don't let it burn my line!' (That was the only time I actually DID want to get out and walk back but we were about 5 miles above the take-out.)

Anyway, at the end of this Alice-in-Wonderland day we ask Bob the Guide what he wants. He said 'Brad, I need a fishing vest. Yours looks to be too small for you. How 'bout that?' I said 'Sure -- once we're done for the week it's yours'. Now Bob is a very particular steelhead guide as he uses just one method, and it absolutely slays 'em. So because he's such a purist, Slick and I loaded the vest with all sorts of [Bleeeeep!] that you take on fishing trips and never use -- T-Spoons, #25 Flouro pink Hotshots, 8" pink worms, halibut jigs, the whole works -- and dropped it off at his place while Bob was out.

He called us later that night at the lodge and said he that while he unpacked the pockets he was laughing so hard he thought he'd hurt himself.

So what was that worth? I dunno. Maybe $45 for the vest and $10 in miscellaneous junk from the two of us on top of a $300 guide fee.

In Australia (where NO ONE tips) I usually give the guides few 'draft choices' out of my tackle box. Lures are expensive in Oz and I get Christmas cards from Dave Cabela, so it's no BFD replacing some of the American Classics back home.

I don't think there's a point to this tale other than to let the guide know you had a good time, and to put a little dough (or merchandise) in his hand -- 10-15% for an average good day feels about right. Someone rowing a drift boat gets a little more, particluarly if they rowed upstream any to put me in better water for landing a fish.

But the really valuable things about using a guide aren't the fish you catch on the day, it's the techniques you pick up plus the knowledge of where the fish hold under the prevailing conditions.


But those guides who race down the river . . . zilch.

It is my opinion quality guides are under charging at $150 per person. I fish guides 20 plus times per year and that is still cheaper then owning a new sled and all the gear. Not to mention the number of fish I catch because of thier experience. The best part is no washing boats and gear. Tip your guides well. $50 per trip minimum or $20 per rod. Some guides have a small sled, large sled, and drift boat. Not to mention the tow rig and Loomis rods. This makes it hard for them to keep things going.

Well, I see this discussion from time to time, and I wondered when it would come around again. I currently charge $150.00 a head, although I will likely be bumping up again next season a little. But, I certainly don't net $150.00 a head on the trips ...

How 'bout phone bills pushing $700 some months. New rods / reels every other year (a few thousand each whack), a thousand here for insurance, another 1000+ a year in licensing costs, a few thousand annually for advertising ... not to mention all the odds and ends like bait, terminal tackle, boat upkeep, and so on and so on ...

The tip money is certainly appreciated, but not always expected. Most NW clients do tip, but midwesterners (I get a few here and lots up north) rarely ever tip ... just customs in different parts of the country. Average tip?? $20.00 a head I'd say. Had tips from a a couple of bucks to $500 day. Best tips aren't always money ... some faves: the full boxes of my favorite fly patterns; the fat steaks Charlie sent us; the group from Anchorage that comes down to the Kenai / Soldotna area with a Baskin-Robbins Mud Pie on dry ice ... a real treat fo a tuckered guide in the middle of the summer!

Perhaps I'm biased as a guide here, but even though tips are often propotional to the quality of fishing we've had ... that's often out of our hands (sometimes the fish, sometimes the clients ... we just help you hook 'em, we can't play 'em for you too , sometimes just lady luck) ... I advise that you look at all the little things that your guide (hopefully) has done eith before, or during your trip to make your experience better than average: pulling the boat back up to a productive area, trying to correctly balance getting quality water and giving a full day's worth of fishing (I'm not going to fish every single spot if it means I have to follow ten other boats through), setting up the boat with your comfort in mind, providing use with the best in equipment (no five year old reels with half-full spools of last month's line on my boat!), if keeping fish - taking excellent care of them - not throwing them around, bledding them (some guiys won't 'cuz it makes a bigger mess), etc.

And since there has is always been mention getting what you were looking for out of the trip in these sort of discussions. Remember, some of this is in the client's hands. Let your guide know what YOU want. If you tell him / her that your goal is to maximize your possibility of hooking the highest number of fish ... there are going to be days that plug pulling will be the answer to that ... some people don't like doing that all day, but unless you tell your guide that, he / she will liekly do that if that is what the conditions call for. If you want it to be a learning experience, say so!

But say you ask to driftfish on a cold, dirty water day ... don't fault the guide if you haven't caught as many fish as the next boat coming in behind you that plugged all day when the conditions called for that. Try as he / she might, these sort of conditions will usually favor the plugger and the results at the end of the day will show it. Personally, I try to discuss our options every morning at breakfast as to what I think our options are and the anticipated results for each. If your guide doesn't bring this up, and you are looking for something in particular ... just be sure to let them know!

My 2 cents ...