Fishing Guides - Making money on tax dollars?

[Roaring River Veteran]

I would have to agree with Al. let the fish go, especially if you are being guided or are guiding(for money).. If you want to eat fish go to a trout park where they are stocked every night. They aren't exactly a natural resource at that point.

[Feathers and Fins]

I would have to agree with Al. let the fish go, especially if you are being guided or are guiding(for money).. If you want to eat fish go to a trout park where they are stocked every night. They aren't exactly a natural resource at that point.

If they are not a natural resource then why are trout caught at them allowed to become STATE RECORDS?

One thing I was hoping someone else would bring up but has not so I will. How about the guides that take out Handicap people (free) or work with DNR agencies (free) or put on seminars do volunteer work to clean up the lakes from the non-guides trash. Most the guides I know and speak to do a hell of a lot more than just guide and put a lot back in to the resource but that seems forgotten by most people.

Al, I have to say though catch and release might be preferable for certain species MANY anglers want to keep what they catch. A responsible guide would explain to the client the value of C&R but he cannot tell a client NO unless he wants to quickly be out of the business that just a simple fact. I would hate to see a smallie kept even for a mount with the way technology is today and perfect replications but in the long run the client is paying for the service and has the final say unless it was agreed upon up front of C&R.

[Roaring River Veteran]

F&F. I can't answer the RR state record question. in my opinion catching a record out of RR is not really a record. If a state record deer escapes from a hunting preserve and is killed on public property it is not awarded the state record, but if a state record fish falls out of the spring pool at RR and is caught it is a state record... seems wrong to me.

As for the guides and what they do for the corp or mdc... I agree they do a lot, But in the same respect, the lake is their business. If you owned a business you would want to keep it clean and pleasing to the eye or you wouldn't be open very long.

As for volunteering to take people out free of charge, I would still like to see guides go strictly catch and release regardless of client.

[Feathers and Fins]

Ok lets say they make it that if you hire a guide you cannot keep any fish. I would guess that most people want to keep fish or at least 80% of people that hire guides do and probably higher. That would mean that the state would be losing the revenue generated by those clients. It also would mean those people would take their money elsewhere costing local business's not even affiliated with fishing such as restaurants, hotels, shops etc revenue those anglers would bring in.

Now you're hurting more and more people. Game and Fisheries keep close eye on the lakes so they can regulate them properly and so long as they do that job we shouldn't be worried about Catch and Keep anglers. Size and Possession limits are set for a reason and can be adjusted as needed. If your only concern is because guides give people a better than average chance at catching fish, I would argue so does Sonar and Hydrowave not to mention information on the net and bait shops and hey live bait is a big advantage.

I'll put my faith in the game and fisheries biologist to keep an eye on the waters and input to them when asked and abide by their findings so long is its based on the best facts science can provide. But because someone hires someone never guarantees limits except maybe in trout parks.

[Al Agnew]

F&F, I don't know that I buy that the vast majority of clients want to keep fish. Yeah, guides up in the north country fully expect their clients to want a shore lunch or keep some walleye, but the trout and smallmouth guides I know in Missouri are mostly catch and release, and the guides out in Montana would be flabbergasted if a client wanted to keep a limit of trout.

[WettinLine]

I would have to agree with Al. let the fish go, especially if you are being guided or are guiding(for money).. If you want to eat fish go to a trout park where they are stocked every night. They aren't exactly a natural resource at that point.

Good point, you must have a job that requires you to stay on task

[Feathers and Fins]

F&F, I don't know that I buy that the vast majority of clients want to keep fish. Yeah, guides up in the north country fully expect their clients to want a shore lunch or keep some walleye, but the trout and smallmouth guides I know in Missouri are mostly catch and release, and the guides out in Montana would be flabbergasted if a client wanted to keep a limit of trout.

Al, its easy to see. just look on Facebook at all the guides around the country with Ice chest full or Bleeding fish from the gills etc or their websites even. You betcha they keep.

[WettinLine]

Al, its easy to see. just look on Facebook at all the guides around the country with Ice chest full or Bleeding fish from the gills etc or their websites even. You betcha they keep.

Prime example of that - go Google beaver lake striper guides. Ive heard the constant pressure on Beaver lake by guides is a large contributer in the loss of the 20+ Striper http://www.beaverfeverguides.com

[Old plug]

I got to wonder if any of you undrstand there is a balance needed between larger fish and smaller fish like bass. That is why thre are slot limits. Putting everything back may or may not mean anything depending on how they were handled. Especially small fish that hit larger bait like bass.

[Feathers and Fins]

Prime example of that - go Google beaver lake striper guides. Ive heard the constant pressure on Beaver lake by guides is a large contributer in the loss of the 20+ Striper http://www.beaverfeverguides.com

I don't know where anyone would be thinking that, I wont post my numbers for this year but it has been my best year ever for fish over 20, 30 and 40lbs and have personally seen several over 50 caught by other anglers. I will say this much as its on the board but I was targeting those big fish AT WILL from Dec to Early May with no issue finding or catching them in fact I took out several members of this site and put them on them. They have got tougher to find the last couple of weeks but I attribute that to the water rise.