Tipping your guide

[Rick J]

I would agree with the 20% as typical - so if I am fishing alone with a guide it would be the full amount - so it would be around $100 for a day at $500 and if with another person it would be $50 per person.

When Bruce and I did our float last year on the Grand Ronde we each paid the guides $50/day and $25/day for the camp folks (there were 4 of them) - this came up to $150/day for tips and it was well worth it!!! Great service from everyone and great fun!

[wjorg]

I would agree with the 20% as typical - so if I am fishing alone with a guide it would be the full amount - so it would be around $100 for a day at $500 and if with another person it would be $50 per person.

When Bruce and I did our float last year on the Grand Ronde we each paid the guides $50/day and $25/day for the camp folks (there were 4 of them) - this came up to $150/day for tips and it was well worth it!!! Great service from everyone and great fun!

Thanks Rick, you made me feel better. My $50 tip is always with another guy in the boat who is tipping too! I'm not such a cheap bastard after all, just a schmuck...

[Sammy]

cool sounds like i'm ok. i've only been on one guided trip. (herb out in lewiston) He was awesome. we tipped $60.00 and he seemed very appreciative. Even gave us some flies for the next day as well as chilling for an extra 1/2 hour and enjoying a cold one with us.

Need a guide for 3 dudes on June 24th in Tahoe if anybody has a recommendation. thinking little truckee depending on flows

[chixnribs]

Brendan Burnside 530-318-6717. Straight up awesome guide.

[fj40]

Now, what if you book a guide through a shop and the shop tells you that the fishing has been good. You go out and spend a day fishing your but off and not catch a fish. Feeling a bit duped by the shop. Knowing what good fishing should be like and knowing that you should have caught fish. I would not have booked the guide if they would have told me that the fishing was not that great. I did ask a couple of times.

[RenoLipRipper]

Great thread. Wow, my wife and I tipped for two-two day guided outings $160 to one guide and $180 to the other. Price of trips in 2007 were I believe $375 so we were ok.. I think the resturant rules could apply. 20% for excellent service and so fourth. A guiide should not expect a tip but when one is tipped they should be appreciative no matter the amount.

[amoeba]

Well I totally disagree with the 20% rule; tipping guides is not like a restaurant:

Restaurant people are paid min wage or less; guides are not; they are paid a fair price - and they should charge a fair price - and not expect tips.

As such, while tipping is only for exceptional service generally, it is especially so for guiding. Tips are not for average service - or below (see below) - at $400/day. If that's not enough money for a guide, then charge more. But don't charge less for guide service with the expectation that it is going to be made up in tips.

That said, I only tip when the guide service is exceptional (whether or not fish are caught). Guides that watch clock, knock off at the best dusk fishing times bcz they have something scheduled at some ridiculously close time to the end of the guide period is one of my pet peeves. Another is pounding one piece of water forever with other guides close by. A third is only fishing from a boat as if that was the only way to catch fish. A fourth is "horse blinder mentality" - as if there are only two patterns in the world, both nymphs. A fifth is the "dries don't work" mentality. Nothing wrong with any of the above, one or more of the above occurs in the majority of such guided trips. It just isn't top notch service in my opinion. No offense, it may not apply to you, but it does to me.

Conversely, guides that explore, vary methods, show new methods/techniques/correct errors (like changing from nymphs to dries; use something else besides a san juan worm), show up early/work late, as needed, and don't rush the client, put me in a frame of mind to tip.

I do guided trips from time to time; it is fun and worth the money simply to have someone else row the whole (or half day). Yet, alot of the time I wonder which way the knowledge transfer is.

[Mike O]

I had a question regarding independents vs. fly shop guides and the statement about the shop getting a cut.

Were you saying that the shop would get a cut of the tip or the fee only?

When I tip those who deserve it, from the paperboy to a guide, I tip in cash. That way, NO ONE, incl. Uncle Sam, gets a cut. I know wait staff in restaurants have a portion of the tip added into their taxes, and many don't really share their tips around much (I was a bus boy and dishwasher in a high-end restaurant, and got nearly bupkis), which is why I have been known to directly tip a bus boy, while stiffing the waiter, because the busser was doing the waiter's job (he gave us bread, water, and brought out our food) because the waiter was on the phone (could see him outside).

[amoeba]

I had a question regarding independents vs. fly shop guides and the statement about the shop getting a cut.

Were you saying that the shop would get a cut of the tip or the fee only?

When I tip those who deserve it, from the paperboy to a guide, I tip in cash. That way, NO ONE, incl. Uncle Sam, gets a cut. I know wait staff in restaurants have a portion of the tip added into their taxes, and many don't really share their tips around much (I was a bus boy and dishwasher in a high-end restaurant, and got nearly bupkis), which is why I have been known to directly tip a bus boy, while stiffing the waiter, because the busser was doing the waiter's job (he gave us bread, water, and brought out our food) because the waiter was on the phone (could see him outside).

What you are implying here (non-reporting of cash tips) is a really bad idea. Tips, cash or otherwise, are taxable earned income. A tip-based employee (e.g., restaurant worker), who reports no tips, or some silly proportion (like 10%, when it is actually 20% or more) is asking for an audit of every cent that has passed through your hands, credit cards, rent, utilities, and bank accounts; and -if you cheated - paying alot of back years in taxes, and more in penalties than they would have in tax.

Don't make an example out of yourself, especially a bad one.

[DFrink]

You have to be kidding me... or do you work for the IRS?

What you are implying here (non-reporting of cash tips) is a really bad idea. Tips, cash or otherwise, are taxable earned income. A tip-based employee (e.g., restaurant worker), who reports no tips, or some silly proportion (like 10%, when it is actually 20% or more) is asking for an audit of every cent that has passed through your hands, credit cards, rent, utilities, and bank accounts; and -if you cheated - paying alot of back years in taxes, and more in penalties than they would have in tax.

Don't make an example out of yourself, especially a bad one.