Single person, 6 hour float trip for Muskie, Pike, and Smallies$125?

[MidwestArcher]

It's always been in my intrest to guide day trips on a river back home that I have become extremely familiar with over the years. My question is does $125 sound resonable for a 6 hour trip with a shore lunch and plenty of fish to go along with it?? I would appreciate any and all comments, including any great Shore lunch ideas/recipes..

[ted4887]

That sounds like a very good price to me. I know a lot of the trout guides in SE MN charge around 200 for a 4-6 hour trip. Would definitely be tempting for me when I decide it's time to learn how to fish muskies.

[Transporter]

I don't know if you have a client base or have estimated how many trips per week or day you would do or like to do. But it sounds too cheap to me unless you plan on many trips per week. Does your area of interest fall into a USCG license requirement? Do you plan on insuring and protecting yourself and your assets properly with commercial vessel insurance? How much fuel will you burn (water and road) to and from the areas? All these things add up quickly and are the primary reason very few people can make it in a part of the country that realisticly has a 12-16 week season. Not trying to burst the bubble, but rather giving you some other perspectives. Don't sell youself short, charge what you need to, if you are good enough to be guiding people will come and gladly pay the price. This isn't like warm weather areas where the high volume/low price models work over a 12 month season.

[CAMAN]

There is so much more involved than just putting some fliers up at the local bait shops. Licensing and insurance are two huge issues that come up. I assume you're talking about the Chippewa river? If so, since it is connected to the Mississippi river, I believe you are required to have a USCG Captains license if you are going to use your boat for any kind of commercial use. Also the insurance will be through the roof the moment you tell your agent you will be guiding from the boat. Then you get to the shore lunch issue, I believe if you're going to be preparing any type of food for customers you need food preparation training and insurance, which isn't cheap.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong with any of this or expand on my thoughts if you like. Just relaying info from threads I've read on this site in the past concerning this same issue.

Good luck if you decide to do it, just don't want to see someone get into trouble for things you may not have realized.