Striper Guide Advice

[kwall]

I've hired many guides in my quest to learn how and where to fish , as I recall only 2 times did we limit out or caught more than a fish or two -- but , gess what it was worth the thousands that I have invested -- I hired these guides to LEARN to fish knowing that we may not catch a thing that perticular day -- a good guide is a teacher , pick their brain and duplicate them , that's what you pay for - because of that investment I have good sucess today

[Champ188]

I've hired many guides in my quest to learn how and where to fish , as I recall only 2 times did we limit out or caught more than a fish or two -- but , gess what it was worth the thousands that I have invested -- I hired these guides to LEARN to fish knowing that we may not catch a thing that perticular day -- a good guide is a teacher , pick their brain and duplicate them , that's what you pay for - because of that investment I have good sucess today

You are all over it, kwall. As a former guide and one who will likely guide again someday, I always tried to educate my clients as much as entertain them.

Of course, some just want a good time and a Ziploc baggie of filets at the end of the day. And that's fine. They can be a lot of fun to guide.

But the real fishermen want to know what, when, where, how and why ---- info they can take away and apply to their own style of fishing. That's the real value in a guide trip. Otherwise, you have nothing but a $400 baggie of filets.

[Fish24/7]

I have used Don at Beaverfeverguides.com twice. The first time was great. We limited out within 1 hour and he kept us out on the lake for the remainder of our time to see if we could catch a big one. However, the second time I used him I was rather disappointed. He took us to the exact same place he took us the previous time (Big Clifty) and there were no fish. After trolling around for about 2 hours with no bites or indications, Don looked at us and said, "what do you want to do?" I asked him if he thought it would get better if we stayed and he said no. I thought he was supposed to be the guide. How would I know what do? He ended up taking us to the Rocky Branch area where we were also skunked. If we are not catching fish and he don't think we will catch any in this area shouldn't the guide be trying to "find" us some fish. We were in a group of 3 and we did not catch any fish. Now I realize that some days are just like that but if you pay a guy $400 to take you fishing for a half day I kinda expect him to at least try to find some some fish. I will use a different guide next time.

it's been many years ago, and i don't recall the guides name we had, but your guide sounds like a guy we hired for a full day.

He was 35 minutes late and was not properly dressed for cold weather imo.

The first spot we stopped produced a 20lb. striper. After that fish was put in the box the guide took the rod away from me with my bait still in the water, reeled in all the other lines, and we made a long run up/down ...somewhere, and never caught a fish the rest of the day...He hardly spoke to us, was impatient at times, almost rude when we asked questions. That afternoon I asked him why we left the first spot , he said "Most of my clients are happy with just one fish".(even though there were 2 of us fishing ). I noticed everywhere we went after we left that first hole I never saw bait or fish on his electronics. He knew he was in the wrong spots all day...I got fed up with his bs and asked if we could please go back to the place we started. His reply was "I've got several trips coming up, I'm saving those fish for later this week."

I told him what i thought of his service..

[Champ188]

it's been many years ago, and i don't recall the guides name we had, but your guide sounds like a guy we hired for a full day.

He was 35 minutes late and was not properly dressed for cold weather imo.

The first spot we stopped produced a 20lb. striper. After that fish was put in the box the guide took the rod away from me with my bait still in the water, reeled in all the other lines, and we made a long run up/down ...somewhere, and never caught a fish the rest of the day...He hardly spoke to us, was impatient at times, almost rude when we asked questions. That afternoon I asked him why we left the first spot , he said "Most of my clients are happy with just one fish".(even though there were 2 of us fishing ). I noticed everywhere we went after we left that first hole I never saw bait or fish on his electronics. He knew he was in the wrong spots all day...I got fed up with his bs and asked if we could please go back to the place we started. His reply was "I've got several trips coming up, I'm saving those fish for later this week."

I told him what i thought of his service..

It's a shame, but there are guides out there like that. They really do a number on the reputations of the guys who bust their butts to put their clients on fish and keep their rods bent throughout the trip.

[nomolites]

it's been many years ago, and i don't recall the guides name we had, but your guide sounds like a guy we hired for a full day.

He was 35 minutes late and was not properly dressed for cold weather imo.

The first spot we stopped produced a 20lb. striper. After that fish was put in the box the guide took the rod away from me with my bait still in the water, reeled in all the other lines, and we made a long run up/down ...somewhere, and never caught a fish the rest of the day...He hardly spoke to us, was impatient at times, almost rude when we asked questions. That afternoon I asked him why we left the first spot , he said "Most of my clients are happy with just one fish".(even though there were 2 of us fishing ). I noticed everywhere we went after we left that first hole I never saw bait or fish on his electronics. He knew he was in the wrong spots all day...I got fed up with his bs and asked if we could please go back to the place we started. His reply was "I've got several trips coming up, I'm saving those fish for later this week."

I told him what i thought of his service..

For what it's worth, this is not a description of the Don Andraeson I have fished with multiple times. As stated in above comments I learned a ton from him and now beat up the stripes everywhere I fish them.....

[Robert Haynes]

I was a taxidermist here locally for 16 years mounting thousands of Stripers. I know almost all of the guides well. I kept freezers at their homes and made regular pickups. I agree that this is not the description that I have of Don Andreasen. The only complaint I ever heard of was when he refused to take a client back in during a tough day of not catching. He had a repuation of catching fish and big ones and did not want to go in without catching fish. I don't know of anyone who works so hard for fish. There are other good guides on the lake but Andresen is definitley one of them. I have not seen him in years but highly respect him as a fisherman.

[Jack Perdew]

Fishing is in the chase and catching a few. If you fill the boat every time you go out ,you would quit shortly. Enjoy the time with others chasing the dream of a world class fish.

[JohnF52]

Most people tend to quit when they don't catch much. Back in the 60s and 70s when we filled the boat, we fished more often.