I see many people in the bait shop and obviously most of the topics are about fishing. On a weekly basis, I hear folks telling me “We’ve been coming here and fishing these lakes for over 30 years”. Then the next day they tell me they are not catching fish and ask; can you give us a few good spots to catch fish? This is when I’ll pass on SOME information and a few general spots to fish. A few days later, I’m asked again from the people that have been fishing the chain for 30 years, for more fishing locations. Well, locations change year to year. There are areas that were my go-to spots that are not holding fish now.

After trying spot after spot and you are not finding fish or the quality of a certain species, what do you do. At some point you have three options. 1) You can keep asking where to fish, (if children are not involved that gets old). 2) You spend more time on the water trying different locations. OR  3) You can, and I strongly suggest HIRING A GUIDE.

Here are a few things I hear in the bait shop when anglers are leaving after a week of fishing. We had a great time as always and caught a lot of fish. I caught the biggest fish I ever have this past week. We did pretty good, but wished we found more Walleye. Then I hear the flip side of other anglers’ week. We were only here for a week but wanted to catch fish to take back home. We look forward to this fishing trip all year and after a few days we couldn’t find nice size fish or the number of fish you would like. This is when I’ll give those people the best advice possible.

Next year, when you’re planning your fishing trip, book a fishing guide for the second day (MORE ON THAT LATER) of the week you will be here. Why? This is what guides do for a living, know the area lakes and hiring a fishing guide is an experience you will never forget. Not only will you catch fish, but you can learn from the guides knowledge. You can learn patterns for that time of year, what bait works the best, do you fish shallow? In deep water? In weeds? Over rocks? Shorelines? By hiring a guide, you take the guess work out of finding fish.

BIG TIP. This is the reason I tell people to secure a guide a year in advance on the SECOND DAY of their week. After fishing with a guide for one day, YOU HAVE NEW FISHING SPOTS, YOU KNOW FISHING PATTERNS, YOU KNOW HOW DEEP TO FISH and YOU KNOW WHAT TO USE FOR BAIT, for the rest of the week.

Do I believe anglers that do not know the lake they are fishing or want to learn more about that lake should hire a guide? YES, it is definitely worth the money. Here’s another plus. Your guide will clean all the fish you caught, plus you can brag about the amount for fish you caught when you get back home.

Here is the only bad thing about hiring a guide a year in advance. You never know what the weather will be the day you are booked to go out with your guide. It could be raining, high wind, a front might have just passed through, and fishing could be slow.

One thing I want to stress, and we all have been there is, THERE ARE DAYS THAT FISHING IS SLOWER THAN OTHER DAYS FOR THE REASONS I MENTIONED ABOVE. SO, REMEMBER YOUR GUIDE HAS NO CONTROL OVER MOTHER NATURE.