[Rookiemistake]

just having a conversation with a buddy. Whats the consensus?i know its a gamble every time a guide takes someone to a spot that they may very well see them in there one day fishing the same flat, cove , bar... etc. little back ground on this i went out of town and fished with my buddy on a charter. I jokingly said " wow now we got this place mapped out" i guess loud enough that they could both hear me(buddy and guide). Never said anything like i was bringing my boat and fishing the same spot.So now we talk about taking another charter and my buddy Tells me not to say that again.I laugh and said the guide probably doesnt care. Im Sure it happens all the time. mind you this is out of town and i dont travel with the boat but once a year if that. So got to thinking, i wonder how many people do this. Ive only been on one fly charter . Since i have a boat i never wanted to pay anyone to fish inshore.

 

[EasternGlow]

If guiding is his livelihood, he probably wouldn’t want many of his customers frequenting his spots. The essence of booking a guide is to have a great day on the water at the least, and learn techniques and methods and how to be more productive at the most. Not to tief his spots.

 

[trekker]

Tough call. You pay a guy 5 bills plus tip to go fishin for 6 hours, i'd say any knowledge you gain on that trip is yours.

I have fished one time with an inshore guide. 2 years ago. In Charleston. If I ever take my skiff to Charleston, I dont think I am being a bandit if I fish the spots we were in that day.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I think most guides would be pissed. They are being paid to take you fishing, and most are willing to teach you a few things, but you don’t have a right to the decades of knowledge they’ve earned.

Finding spots isn’t likely to make a big difference in many cases anyways, it’s more about how the fish are moving, tides, water temperature, what they’re feeding on, etc. I’ve had spots that were absolutely on fire one day and completely devoid of fish for months after.

 

[Frank Ucci]

Buy yourself a Hot Spot Map. If the areas that your guide takes you is NOT displayed on the chart as a fishing area, don't go back there on your own. You're paying for the guide's expertise, not his hard-earned fishing spots.

 

[crboggs]

The best is when a guide moves into your neighborhood from the east coast and suddenly wants to fish with you "for free" when he realizes you know the area better than he does.

Responding with, "Sure but you gotta leave the spinning gear and trolling motor at home" seems to have had the most desired effect so far.

 

[crboggs]

Finding spots isn’t likely to make a big difference in many cases anyways, it’s more about how the fish are moving, tides, water temperature, what they’re feeding on, etc. I’ve had spots that were absolutely on fire one day and completely devoid of fish for months after.

This.

There are no such things as "spots" inshore.

But there are "areas" that hold fish on certain tides, winds, etc that don't need additional traffic or pressure.

 

[Boneheaded]

Spots? There one day gone the next.

 

[Rookiemistake]

Buy yourself a Hot Spot Map. If the areas that your guide takes you is NOT displayed on the chart as a fishing area, don't go back there on your own. You're paying for the guide's expertise, not his hard-earned fishing spots.

im not looking for spots, read the post

 

[TheAdamsProject]

Guides do thier research on clinets and know who they are taking... we know who are fishing for fish and who are fishing for spots. The best part is not all fish stay put 24/7

 

[texasag07]

If you are asking this question I’m betting you already feel guilty. They earn their livelihood off those spots.

Next time ask them for the reason’s why they think this spot works then go find your own with similar habitat’s.

I would never take a guide trip with someone no matter how much I paid them and then come fish their spots. You are paying for their knowledge and in some cases access to their fishing grounds not to pot lick them for yourself.

Teach a man to fish....

 

[Rookiemistake]

If you are asking this question I’m betting you already feel guilty. They earn their livelihood off those spots.

Next time ask them for the reason’s why they think this spot works then go find your own with similar habitat’s.

I would never take a guide trip with someone no matter how much I paid them and then come fish their spots. You are paying for their knowledge and in some cases access to their fishing grounds not to pot lick them for yourself.

Teach a man to fish....

i dont feel guilty at all . I didnt say i was paying for spots. Did you read the original post at all? It was a general question.

 

[jay.bush1434]

I have a good friend that is a local fly guide. I hired him for 3 trips and we went to different spots each time. I was very honest with him that I live on the water, have my boat in the lift behind my house and plan to fish the same water. It has been my backyard for 19 years. We fish for fun together now and he doesn't charge me but he also knows that I'm not out there to slay the fish or be a social media attention whore either. I asked him about what he thought about customers hitting the spots they fished. He said it is just part of it. He's on the water a lot and knows where the fish are and he wants to help his clients catch fish so they go where the fish are. He said mostly, his clients don't have their own boats that could get them where they are fishing anyway. He did take me to a few places and teach me a couple techniques that he asked me to be very selective with who I shared the info with.

 

[Capnredfish]

You paid for them to take you to a public spot. Provide a little help if needed and bring you back. They don’t own the spot. Sure you can go back there and fish. However, the guy makes his living, works hard to provide that fun. Find your own spot. There are hundreds if not thousands of productive spots and not one of them is a secret anymore. A descent person would use the info gained and fish another spot or look for a spot that you think is your own until the next time you go out.

 

[Vertigo]

I have dozens if not hundreds of inshore spots filed away in my memory. I also know that certain conditions have to exist, time of year, tide, wind, time of day, temperature, weather conditions, etc before a spot will be productive. Where to go and when is probably the most important ingredient for success when it comes to catching fish. I don't care if I show someone a spot and they mark it on their gps. Unless they know the factors that will make that spot work, the info is useless. If the fisherman knows the factors that make a spot work, he's probably smart enough to find his own and doesn't need me to show him around.

 

[Str8-Six]

There is more satisfaction in catching a fish when you put in the work for it. Who knows you might get lucky. My first time every chasing Biscayne Bonefish I had no clue what I was doing, might as well been blindfolded. I asked the guy at the bait shop for any general tips and went on my way. Well it ended up working out and I caught my first Bonefish on fly that day. Definitely more rewarding than catching it in someone’s spot. On the contrary, I’ve also heard well known fisherman start off their carreeer following around guides to get spots. I believe I heard Flip say this in a HB video once, could be wrong. But that was a long time ago and times were different.

 

[jonterr]

I have dozens if not hundreds of inshore spots filed away in my memory. I also know that certain conditions have to exist, time of year, tide, wind, time of day, temperature, weather conditions, etc before a spot will be productive. Where to go and when is probably the most important ingredient for success when it comes to catching fish. I don't care if I show someone a spot and they mark it on their gps. Unless they know the factors that will make that spot work, the info is useless. If the fisherman knows the factors that make a spot work, he's probably smart enough to find his own and doesn't need me to show him around.

A buddy of mine went with a guide years ago in an airboat.
He wasn't allowed to take a phone or gps AND he was blindfolded
But, he caught some big ones

 

[jmrodandgun]

blindfolded

Hard no. I don't care if the nazarene himself descended from the heavens and commanded it, there is not a man on this earth who can blindfold me without a fight.

 

[Padre]

Here is my 2 cents:
1. Here in Destin, if you are fishing offshore with a charter captain and you are fishing his private reefs, (He permitted them and sunk them) and you mark them on your phone, etc or come back and fish them, or follow him to see where they are, you can expect to either get beat up back at the dock, shot at or have your boat rammed. They do not tolerate people trying to steal their private spots. Now, if you stumble upon it with your scanner, that is another story.
2. Like everybody said, inshore, the fish move around here. And this winter, I found an area that has been holding a school of 100 reds all winter. And I have been fishing it basically by myself. I have seen nobody fish this spot all winter. I have taken a few of my buddies out there and asked them not to tell anybody. If I went out there the next morning and they were staked out on that spot, I would not hesitate to pole right in and fish it too. I wouldn't normally do that.
3. A couple of years ago, a buddy and I hired a guide in Salida, CO. We told him that we hired him to show us the area and how to fish the area but we wouldn't fish his spots. He guided us to mostly public spots right off the highway. That night, we got on Google earth and found some out of the way places for the next day. We had to use our 4 wheel drive to get there and then hike about a quarter mile to get to the spot. We were fishing for about an hour with good success when imagine our surprise, and his surprise when that guide came hiking down another trail by himself and found us fishing that spot. We had a good laugh.

 

[el9surf]

Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine how the guide feels showing up in a spot with a new client only to find their previous client already there. They are trying to make a living.

Having said that there are some guides where stuff like this is just karma coming back around to bite them for their poor daily behavior on the water.