“Do I really need a guide?” is usually one of the first questions asked from anglers going on their first fishing trip. It’s impossible to accurately answer that question with a “yes” or a “no”, but we can give you the information you need to know to answer the question by yourself.
Guides can be worth having as long as you know exactly what you’re getting. For example, most people don’t realize hiring a guide is no guarantee you’re going to catch a trophy fish. The guide will take you to the places known to have fish, but catching them is still up to you.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, the guide can only help you so much. However, if that’s the case, a guide may be well worth it to you. Since you will be arriving at a lake you’ve never been on before, and you only have a few days to catch fish… a guide can really be a big help. Without a guide, you could spend days just trying to find out where the fish are.
Most guides are great anglers themselves. They spend all spring and summer on the lake and know what works and what doesn’t. Here are some things...