If there is one thing I have learned being in business for 19 years, it is that you don’t always get what you think your buying. I have a lot of clients ask my opinion on what type of fishing equipment they should buy from Boats to floats, I can only give my opinion on what I use and what I have used in the past. I get the same question about other guides also, and all I tell them is to talk with them and get a feel of who they are and what they do.
One very important thing in this business is to be flexible in how you fish and where and when you fish. I have always wonderdrd how somebody can fish out of the same dock year round, the fish migrate and the weather patterns dictate where they will be. If you are anchored to one place you only have a specific time to catch fish. Having your boat on the trailer gives me the ability to move with the fish and do different things, this make fishing fun!!
The next thing I find interesting is how some will fish out of only one type of boat. If you are a carpenter or electrician or a plumber you have the right tool for the right job, Well the same holds true for fishing, we do not fish the same tides and times everyday and we should have the right tools to get to the fish we are trying to catch. Now I know boats aren’t cheap…but if you are spending your money to catch fish I think you should have the best opportunity to do that. And having the right style of boat is the best way to catch them.
But back to my first statement…Know what your getting before you get on the boat. If you guide can’t tell you what your going to catch and how your going to do it…he or she is probably not on the water very often, remember you don’t know whats going on if your not out there. And in todays world of information and the ability to get it, you want to be careful of the “phone guide”, if your guide is always calling other guys to find out whats going on….you may want to get the number of the guys he is calling for your next trip!!
Finding a good guide is not easy to do, and this is the reason the good ones have a very long client list and very rarly do a lot of marketing. But if you talk to enough people you will get to the good ones, remember if your guide is doing a lot of advertising and has a very up to date website with all the bells and whistles, he has a lot of time to do that….And after 19 years at this, time is not something I have a lot of!!!
Good luck and good fishing and when you get to Florida’s West Coast give me a call and we will get out on one of my 3 boats to catch what ever you would like to!!
Fish on!
Capt. Greg DeVault
727-919-8666
