Prince Rupert, Land of fishing Guides with Problems

Drewski Canuck

Active Member
Went for 3 days with an elderly friend. We were SUPPOSED to fish with "the man...". Got there, and low and behold, boat troubles, so we were put onto "that other guy".

AND I SAID is it OK if I bring my tackle and gear? NO NO NO! we have everything,... except "we" did not include Darren.

Good thing I brought some tackle anyways. Lots of Coho around, but a few unmaintained reels also, drags could have been cleaned up, reels needed grease, but we caught fish anyway.

Some Coho were in the 10 - 12 pds. Some springs are that size also! Apparently, missed the run of big Springs, they were in the river. It was too rough to go outside, but other boats did???

Last Day, met the prize. Lets Just Call him "J". He has a serious control / control/ anger / control problem. We knew nothing but he did not know us. He decided he would tell us about when to set the hook, fight the fish, land the fish, do the bait, and all on cut plug only.

Lots of other boats in the area, from Eagle Point Lodge, were catching fish on anything but cut plug.

By the end of the afternoon, he lightened up and we could fish together.

So, my question is, is there a guide service that delivers what they say they will? Will they have guides that don't have family problems, emotional problems, control problems, etc?

I get it that there are people who can catch fish, that can't guide, and vice versa, but there must be someone who has had a straight talking guide service, who uses quality people, that paid attention to tackle.

The icing on the cake was when "the other guy D" asked Kev "where should I take them". "The man" replied, "don't worry, they paid already".

Drewski
 
Sounds brutal but in my experience prince Rupert can't seem to get anything right. Tried to buy some salt ice there a couple years ago on my way to the charlottes and it was $40/cooler. When questioned the ppl said 'you don't have to buy it'. Seems like the Rupert tourism sector could use a lesson or two in treating people right
 
for me the best part about Rupert is the ferry waiting for you at the airport. Now that's a pain in the butt. I'm amazed people still go there at all
 
I must comment. I have been to Rupert 4 times (live in Langley) and never had a problem with guides or catching fish. Guides have always known their "stuff", where fish are biting and constantly talking with other guides about where the "bite" is happening. Price of sea ice is the same as Bamfield or other locations as before going to Rupert this year I was in Bamfield for 5 days. By the way, we were on a 3 day trip and could have limited after 2 days but decided to target a big Spring on the 3rd day but alas no luck and had to settle for high teens. If you really want the name of a good guide I can give you his name. Tight lines.
 
I've fished Rupert for over 20 years now on my own boats. I Have met some great people there over the years. Yes there are some guides that need a little coaching on how to be a gracious host but that being said there are also a lot of paying customers who need to learn to be gracious guests. Fishing is fishing no matter how much experience you have as a fisherman. Sometimes the fish bite and sometimes they don't. No where on the coast are the salmon there 100% of the time, especially the big Chinook. I have a ton of respect for the guys who make there living as guides because it is such a grind and the pressure to catch fish is always, always hanging over your head. This is why I do not ever want to become guide. I take friends and family out and even than I have had a couple guys who have fished on the ocean a handful a couple of times questioning my ability to put fish in the boat and it drives me absolutely crazy! Guess what though? They don't come fishing with me anymore but that's my choice because it's my boat and I'm the captain. :)
 
I guess a guide that promises fish when you book puts the pressure on himself, guests who have been told how great the guides are when they book have a right to expect some effort...it sounds like Drewski didn't find that. Fact is, if other boats are getting fish and the guide isn't able to put you on fish, it's not the guest or the fishes fault.

Day rates are not peanuts (grand plus a day), albeit there is a lot of cash tied up in the gear and operation, the effort and attitude is what is lacking here, Darren might have spent a few minutes maintaining his gear with a better result. Spending a day with a control freak like J sounds like a mistake you don't want twice. There is a huge difference between being a good fisherman (J may be that, perhaps) and being a good guide (J isn't), being able to work for and with the guests is key here. I'm guessing J doesn't roll like that, this guy should come with a special warning.

Maybe a 2 minute chat at the dock to determine the experience level of the guests would give a different outcome, but once you've paid who needs that banter...at least in Rupert.
 
Actually correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like they did catch fish but just not the "big springs". Funny thing is I know a few Eagle Point guides who use nothing but cut plug when targeting springs.
Also I'm only assuming this but as far as J deciding not to go outside could it be maybe that it was too rough for the "elderly guest" onboard? I watched a young guide on the West coast of the Charlottes take out two 70+ year old guest offshore for Halibut in 20' seas because they "insisted". They caught their Big Halibut alright at the cost of broken ribs as one of the guest slipped on the deck and went sideways into a post. I asked the guide what would have happened if one of them went overboard? I spoke to the two guys while waiting for the ferry and asked them the same question and they both agreed a big fish isn't worth it.
Which guiding outfit are you talking about?
 
The point is, don't bait and switch, and don't sluff off someone else who you should know has lesser interest and motivation. Anyone can catch fish with basic knowledge when there are lots of fish around. There were lots of coho. The point of a guide being so set in his ways, and bragging how he catches more tyee than anyone else as long as you do EXACTLY AS HE SAYS really backfired by not being flexible. As in basically no springs, and no tyees, but thank god for plentiful coho.

Normally we don't use a guide, but this was new water to me, so there was an expectation to try something else when the tested and true came up blank. we fish much more competitive waters, where variation is the key to zeroing in on the fish.

Also, at the rates charged, it would have been "neat" if the tackle on board did not look like some garage sale leftovers. This did not reflect well on Big K, as it was his other boat, and he did not take any pride in ensuring that he was appropriately geared up, with sufficient bait for new clients.

I have fished with good and bad guiding outfits. Its more than just putting out gear. The good outfits made sure to gauge your expectations, and then tried hard to deliver. They are sensitive to your input, and work with you and for you. Sitting at anchor for 3 hours for Halibut while the guide took a nap suggested that he did not expect us to catch anything either.

Drewski

Drewski
 
Ha Ha! Ya a guide who naps is not cool.
As for what equipment comes out I have a rule on my boat- if you lose one of my $1000 rods/reels over board I'm going to charge you a rod/reel replacement tax. :) (I wouldn't get away with that if that person was my father-in law though)
And you are right a little communication goes a long way. A good fisherman should be flexible in his techniques.
 
Lol, are you talking about Kevin and Don, both 'big' guys? If same outfit, years ago ran a Grady and a Trophy. I use to fish there hard for 8 years before I moved to the island. When I was there, Kevin was one of the better guides, if it's the same outfit. Don, of what I remember was abit on the I 'messy' side. One thing I've learn since I've moved down to Island, it pays to be versatile, i.e. fish multiple methods. Why do I say this, I never had a downrigger on my boat until I moved to the island, only fished cutplug with weights when I was there. I remember a well known guide (from the south) coming up to the Rupert area to guide for a season, (just as I was leaving), he kick some major butt at time since cut plugging is great but not all the times. Too bad for a not great experience, guiding is a tough job but that's no excuse for not a 100% effort.
 
Not going to mention names but was in rupert a few weeks ago stayed for 10 days first few days nailed a lot of coho big northerns , fished a few more days and couldn't get any springs .... Called a guide Thru a local lodge and booked for the day 3 of us went out .

Picked up at dock at 6am , had to get gas " no biggie " head over to the gas station grab gas after we pay him 1000bucks of course , head to our destination humpback bay , engine problems on the way limp over there get to the hole at about 730 . About 15 boats there already , his gear was **** rods were crap and one of the reps was so beat up we were fishing for salmon with like 100lb braided new to me but okay it worked .. Had one islander mr2 so that was a plus ... Caught some nice coho right off the hop then slowed down the guide just bitched all day about he didn't get payed enough , about how his boat always is in the shop , about other guides in the outfit , didn't show us proper technique on nothing luckily I already knew how to fish but one of my buddy's was a newbie and I was expecting to show him stuff as in it was his first time out , he would just sit there smoking cigarette after cigarette bitching , we just starting guiding ourselves for last 5 hours I don't think he did a thing except get flustered over dumb **** .. All in all we caught some nice coho a few springs 20lbs so I can't ***** , he actually did better than his other outfits boat ... We gave him a 100 dollar tip anyhow since he claimed 250. A day apparently isn't good money for his days work .. Wouldn't recommend him at all ... Midday we wanted to bottom fish nope , change spots nope , he didn't wanna do anything but continue to fish the same area .. On way boat ran fine and we figured he just didn't wanna spend the money on gas for the day .
 
Yup!

And he needs to be told to his sour face why he's not getting a tip.

I did that once...gave $50 for 3 terrible days and told his boss that I'll give him another $300 if he came by and we talked about his attitude...surprisingly he didn't come by. I hire a guide to work with me for the fish...it's not his fault if they don't bite but he needs to actually try. I always wait until the trip is 75% over and see if the guide takes us on a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the experience, good times, jokes and other things that didn't exist. Milking for a tip is a special skill. How folks stay in business with this type of customer service is amazing to me...
 
We laughed the whole 18hr drive back about how horrible this guy was , his attitude was just **** poor ... I didn't personally give him the tip my buddy did who landed the spring and his first one at that.. I'm sure this guy ain't guiding for this outfit no more . it almost felt as if the guy who runs company hired this guy the night before when we called , he kept trying to upsell us to his other guide for a 100 bucks more who had just landed a 39lb spring the day before .. We said a 1000 is our top doller and that's what we got , my 4 experiences with guides have all been **** to say the least , I'm grateful we landed 2 springs since that's a learning curve for me but usually in rupert without a guide and only a few years exp on the water we have learned a lot .. Heading to nootka on Monday for a week and if I don't drink all my money away jk :cool: I might think about hiring a guide for a day while I'm there but I'll prob get the same thing with my luck
 
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