Should I hire a guide?

[hanso612]

I want to hire a guide to fish walleyes on Burntside. I am conflicted because my parents live on the lake and I know full well,I will exploit any info gleaned from hiring a guide. What are the expectations/conventions of hitting a spot again after you have been guided there. What if you already fish that spot?

Most of my fishing success comes not from techniques or lures but from having my bait in a good spot. How much are these good spots worth? Do guides have honey holes they keep to themselves or does the pressure to get results force them to give up the good stuff?

How much of guiding is repeat business? Do most fisherman get a guide on the first day and fish the same or similar structure the rest of the week? Do guides ever hold out knowing full well the person they are guiding needs no help at all?

I really want to try a guide-how do I know if I should. Hans

[Steve Foss]

Hans, I'm not sure it'll be that easy to find a professional guide for Bside walleyes.

But if you do, rest assured the guide will fully expect you to fish spots you are guided to later when you are on your own. Guides know they're being hired for the day to show locations and techniques that will produce fish for the angler on his/her own for the next few days.

Guides want to put you on fish. That's their job, and they can't continue to make a living unless they offer their clients meaningful fishing experiences. Some will hold back a few spots for their personal use, some will not, but it's understandable when a guide keeps a few locations private, and as long as the guide puts you on fish, that shouldn't matter at all.

If you can find a guide for Bside walleyes and have the money to spend, it's money very well spent. Because the 'eyes are skittish and the water clear and deep and structure and forage plentiful, a knowledgeable guide will definitely be able to teach you in a day not only where to fish that day and the next couple, but where to search for walleyes and what to use for them during other periods, things that would take a long time to figure out on one's own.

[Northlander]

A guide expects you to fish where he takes you. If not he is a fool. One thing is use of a GPS. If you intend to mark the guides spots make sure you ask him to make sure he is cool with it. This is a respect thing in my opinion.

On some lakes repeat clients are the norm. On others people get a guide to learn the lake quick so they can get there boat out on it.

If you find a walleye guide up there, wich I dont believe there is a walleye guide on B-side, discuss all your questions with him and make sure your on the same page.

My bet is on Burntside you could fish it a lot like any other clear lake with a smelt forage and troll it with boards and stick baits or spinners and spoons. I think walleye location at different times of the year would be the most important aspect of your process.

[finnbay]

 Quote:

But if you do, rest assured the guide will fully expect you to fish spots you are guided to later when you are on your own. Guides know they're being hired for the day to show locations and techniques that will produce fish for the angler on his/her own for the next few days.

I've day guided on Basswood for over 20 years, and much of my business were people staying at one of the resorts on Moose Lake for a week. They hired a guide for the first day, and then went up on their own for the rest of the week. I think those people were smart - they didn't hunt unproductive water for a week looking for fish. I also felt it was my responsibility as a guide to be informative about the area, both from a safety perspective (rock piles, reefs etc that might cause a problem) but also from a historical and cultural perspective. A guide's job is to make his client's stay a good one. It's good for the client, for the resort (or outfitter) and for the guide as well. Repeat and much of the new business comes from word of mouth from satisfied customers.

[Great Outdoors]

hanso612,

Give me a call, on Sunday morning 8-noon. I can tell you about the lake, and what you need to do.

(and it's free, same with info about where & how to fish lakers in the winter)

G.O. please read forum rules.

[hanso612]

Living in the cities, I don't get to fish Burntside as often as I would like. So I try to plan my trips around known patterns and fish in places I know there are fish. I think many fisherman fish in places where there are no fish and blame themselves, the weather, their choice of bait or presentation. I think more often than not, they are fishing in fishless areas.

I watched a guy named Ben Mauser for years on White Iron. He would pull up at the river mouth and catch walleys when nobody else would, even people in the same boat. I was able to pattern Ben and noticed his school came in at the same place and time and if you were not on them you weren't catching fish. I've sat in Ben's hole and pulled walleye after walleye out when my buddies using the same bait and presentation where at the wrong end of the boat catching nothing. It has nothing to do with skill, but patterning a school of fish. It's matching "spot on the spot" with season and time of day.

I have few reliable patterns on Burntside, but would like to fill in some of the months. I can't buy a walleye in June on Burntside. The opener has been hard as well. I'm looking for a guide who can put me on eater size walleys during these times.

I joke with my wife that when she is gone I often lay in bed and play with my rod. Truth is, I buy every map I can, I supper impose satelite images and dougle check with my own soundings. I've chartered a plane and marked others spots. I've looked up the guides in town and looked for their ice houses, I've driven around marking every hole in the winter, and take note of every fish I see caught in the summer. I stap on a mask every time I can. And I know I spend way too much time on the internet and way to much on baits.

A guide fee sounds like a bargain in comparison-but will it be as satisfying?

[ditchpickle6996]

There is a reason why most guides in the Ely area don't want to touch B-side for walleyes,,, because all of the rules go out the window. There are a few guys in the area (GO being one) that seem to do well on B-side walleyes,,, but not many.

[hanso612]

Are Go and Maki the same guy. I've glassed a guide my dad said was Maki in a red lund. I've watched this guy back troll a point across from Tamarack lodge and have seen him pull in a few nice ones. My dad is on the bluff high on the west end and we can see the world from his place.

My college roommate was a Jacobsen. He was related to one of the bait distributers up there, so I usually buy bait at the place he took me. For all I know the Jacobsens distribute to many dealers in town but for a few hot tips my loyalties could be bought. Hans

[Great Outdoors]

Aha,

Been watching the old guide through the beenocks, have we??

I've programmed the coordinates into the rocket, and it's ready to go next time I sense surveilance from Hansville.

[hanso612]

I'll stop in and formally introduce myself next time up. I'll be fishing pike on the opener. Birch sounds good or if I hit White Iron I could pick up walleyes too. Either way, I'll be looking for some large suckers. I'll call before to get the scoop on a guided trip, it's something I really want to do.

The last fish I watched you catch was at least 25 inches. I wasn't glassing but fishing in a green super guide 16 with a forty merc tiller right next to you on the same point. The evening was beautiful and the lake was dead calm not a cloud in the sky. It was just after dinner not late. Precision boat control looked to be the name of the game. Just like Burntside to give up a fish against all the rules. Hans

[Great Outdoors]

I don't guide anymore, but can give you the lowdown on the walleyes, for what it's worth.

Is Hans your father, place off the Wolf Lake rd., by Levarville???

[threeball]

Its interesting to get the guide's perspective on using the spots again. Its something I have often wondered about.

When I'm at home I use the binocs all the time on guys fishing in front of my house. Most of them now have the good sense to hold up the fish so I can see it; that way I won't call their cell.

[hanso612]

GO, that's right. He is over by levarbunkport.

Last Year I was up the dead river and into twin and saw the rapids out of Everet posted as a fish sanctuary over the opener. Is this another sucker run or something else?

[Great Outdoors]

I would assume it was a posted spawning area for walleyes.