At first glance the price to hire a professional fishing guide can be quite intimidating, but here are 10 reasons why you should hire a guide. While it is possible, legal and practical to go it alone, without the services of a guide, most find the cost of a fishing guide to be a worthy investment. By hiring a professional guide you will likely catch more fish, learn different fishing techniques, try new or different tackle, benefit from the guide’s local knowledge, gain access to otherwise inaccessible areas, save money, make new friends, be able to relax knowing that your safety is of top concern, have a fun day of fishing, and enjoy the benefits and ease of letting someone else work out the details.

Here are the 10 reasons to hire a fishing guide service, like Alaskan Fish Guides:

1. Catch More Fish

Year after year, studies show that those who employ the services of a professional fishing guide, like Alaskan Fish Guides, are more successful at fulfilling their dreams by catching these trophy fish. Statistically, a guided angler in 2006 (the most recent year for data provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game) was 5 times more likely to catch a king salmon than the non-guided angler. This is determined by dividing the number of king salmon harvested by the number of angler days, either guided or non-guided. "You can improve your chances by hiring a guide, especially if you are either a novice angler or an experienced angler with little time to spend and/or you lack suitable equipment. On the Kenai River, guided anglers are about twice as efficient as non-guided anglers." (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) Clearly, using the services of a professional guide service, like Alaskan Fish Guides, will increase your chances of catching more fish.

2. Learn Different Techniques

Sometimes the difference between fishing and catching is the fishing technique utilized. Fish will respond at different times and different locations, under different conditions to different tackle presentations. In some situations the most productive method to catch king salmon, for example, is to back troll using diving plugs, while other situations require bait to be back bounced and yet others are more productive drifting/dragging bait through the hole. But what is the effective way to utilize each of these techniques? A professional guide, like Ed French of Alaskan Fish Guides, will be able to determine the best technique for each of the conditions/situations/locations and allow you to experience different ways to present your offering. Hiring a fishing guide is a great way to learn new and different techniques. You can view tutorials on Alaskan fishing techniques at our "Fishing Tips/Tutorials" page.

3. Try New/Different Tackle

What is the best fishing rod? What is the most effective tackle? Is plug fishing better than bait? These are all frequently asked questions. But how do you sort through all of the persuasive sales pitches? Can’t justify paying top dollar for name brand equipment? I find the best way to determine what works best for me is to try before I buy. A definite advantage of hiring a professional fishing guide is that you will be able to experience using top-quality, name brand tackle and see for yourself the difference that it can make. At times, this could be the different between fishing and catching. It could make the difference between hooking and landing. There is an overwhelming abundance of choices for tackle. By hiring a professional fishing guide, you will have the opportunity to try before you buy.  Alaskan Fish Guides uses quality, name-brand equipment like G-Loomis, Shimano, and Ambassadeur rods and reels.

4. Local Knowledge

You might have good tackle and bait, but where do you go to find the best success? It takes many years of fishing an area to gain the knowledge and experience to be consistently productive. By hiring a professional fishing guide, you can substantially shorten that learning curve. Alaskan fish guides have the local knowledge and experience to put you where you need to be, when you need to be there. There are so many things to consider when deciding when/where to fish. Things like the tide, current, weather, time of day and so on. A professional guide is constantly evaluating the things that will influence the chances of success by applying their local knowledge of the area that they work.

5. Access

“No Fishing,” “No Trespassing,” “No Public Access.” These are all signs that you are likely to encounter while trying to find a place to fish. Professional fishing guides know not only where to go, but how to get there. Sometimes, it is simply impractical/impossible to access great fishing spots without using the services of a guide (see #6).

6. Pure Economics

Many times, when people look at the cost of hiring a professional guide, they are driven to look at other options. There is no doubt that you could “do it yourself” when planning the trip of a lifetime. But this may require the purchase of tackle, and potentially a boat. And then, after you use these items, what do you do with them? Or you could simply rent a boat and tackle and save some money. Nevertheless, by the time you look at the cost of purchasing all of the necessary tackle and bait, and then add the price of a boat or rental, and fuel, you will likely find that the price of a guide is much more reasonable than you first perceived, and often times less than you would spend trying to do it yourself. It is frequently less expensive for the travelling (or even local at times) fisher to hire a guide than to go it alone.

7. Make New Friends

One of the greatest things about being a guide is the people I meet and the new friends I make. By hiring a guide you will get to spend a day with someone who is passionate about the sport of fishing. But you may also have the opportunity to share this experience with other like-minded clients on board. Hiring a professional fishing guide is a great way to meet people of like minds and make new friends.

8. Safety

By hiring the services of a professional fishing guide, you can rest assured that they will have the knowledge, skills and equipment to ensure a safe trip. For boat trips, guides are required to have on board the correct number and size of life preservers for each person, fire extinguishers, signaling devices, and first aid kits. Professional guides should also be certified in first aid and have an emergency action plan. For shore based guides, you can expect them to be equally prepared and also for the additional hazards such as bears and terrain hazards. By hiring a professional fishing guide, you are truly hiring a fishing safety professional.

9. It’s Fun

Because it is “fishing” and not necessarily “catching,” professional fishing guides are by nature entertainers. They always have a good joke or amazing story to tell that is sure to keep you rolling in your seats. And besides being a stand-up comedian, they get really, really stoked when a guest finally connects with that fish of a lifetime! Many people greatly enjoy the scenery, flora and fauna that they experience while fishing with a guide as well.

10. It’s Easy

Finally, fishing with a professional fishing guide is easy. From the moment you make that first phone call to the end of the trip as you are driving away with your cleaned fish, a professional guide takes all of the work out of fishing. They will assist you in your needs before the trip such as securing lodging, suggesting things to do while in the area, and help you with your travel plans. Once on board, they will rig the tackle, change the bait, retie the knots, help you to land your fish, safely and efficiently harvest (or release) the fish, and professionally clean and possibly fillet your catch. So, there you have it; 10 reasons to hire a professional fishing guide service like Alaskan Fish Guides. By hiring a guide you can expect to catch more fish, learn different fishing techniques, try new or different tackle, benefit from the guide’s local knowledge, gain access to otherwise inaccessible areas, save money, make new friends, be able to relax knowing that your safety is of top concern, have a fun day of fishing, and enjoy the benefits and ease of letting someone else work out the details.