Increased Guided Fishing Trips from Rising Fuel Prices…
Friday, July 11th, 2008“Gas, Boat cost, Tow Vehicle, Insurances or maintenance all dictate when and how the costumer can fish.”
For local fishermen and part-time anglers alike, fishing cost has grown sky-high. Actually the current economic situation for fishermen has been affected. Whether an angler travels to there local lake for large-mouth bass or maybe a distance for urban peacock bass. He’s noticed a drastic increase in his overall cost to fish, which changes the number of times his kids and friends get to go fishing with him. The economic situation has changed the way fishermen go fishing, they have had to make personal changes in when and how they fish.
Full-time Bassonline.com guide Capt Brett Isackson said, I think, “The economic change really has seem to alter my client base and increase the number of trips I have taken,” we seem to have more local angler verse out of state clients. One of my most resent customer Ken said, “I have had to change the way I look at fishing, but have not enjoyed fishing this much in a long time.”
President of Bassonline.com Capt Todd Kersey said, “Detailed planning of each client’s fishing experience helps them realize that they can still be a big part of the fishing experience, by helping with planning and decisions on where we go and what technique they would like to fish. Most anglers by habit fish the same half-dozen lures all the time and only use a few techniques. The great benefit other then the overall cost savings, is learning new techniques & lures presentations throughout the different seasons of the year.
Capt Brett remarks, another customer Matt said recently, “With the increase cost of gas, boat payments and insurance it’s much cheaper for me to just show up and have you take me fishing. I have no fuel cost, no boat payment and I don’t have to worry about finding fish and for that, my son is very grateful. We show up and start catching fish. The best part is when we are done I don’t have to clean the boat. I’m fishing more and catching more,” he said. Capt Todd replied, like we always say in this business, “a good day of fishing starts with a good plan.” We are more diligent about it then most … we work harder at it and it just comes easier to us.”A good guide makes a great day out of a really bad day of fishing,” there are bad days of fishing. We just don’t let our customers know that.
Capt Todd continues to point out, “We are a full time guide service, a lot of guides can say it. But, very few can actually accomplish that and it really shows in our catch results.” Overall guiding cost have been increasing for years, but with the accelerated fuel cost our charges for being a guide need to increase also. We have had to go up a little on the price (of a guided trip). That’s just an effect of fuel cost. “The last time we went up in price, gas was $1.50 a gallon.”
In a phone conversation with another full-time Bassonline.com guide Capt Mark Shepard, he said, a resent customer toll him, “The storage alone in Florida, not even counting that I would need to get rid of my sports car.” no way, he said, “we will continue to use you guys when we go out.”
Capt Todd replies, while there has been substantial decrease in tourism throughout the state of
One of the ways we try to keep our customers is by offering a NO FISH, NO PAY policy. We have had rejection in the industry to it, saying it a marketing gadget. But it’s not, we look at from a full-time professional guide stand point, “if we can’t find fish and get you catching fish, then we don’t deserve to get paid.” It’s as simple as that, by being on the water all the time it is easy for us to offer. “I guess if I was fishing part-time around another full-time job it would be hard to offer also.” If they hire any of our BassOnline.com guides, they can at least count on that. The big swing is not that surprising “As a matter of fact, the customers we deal with are pretty much set on taking fishing trips,” Todd said. “I have actually guided many people myself who said, “they sold their boats instead of paying the boat maintenance, payments and the gas, then they booked me.”
It is affecting the tourist who might be visiting over the next two or three months,” he said. “But right now, I think we are hovering around the same overall numbers “Nearly everyone on the water is feeling the effects of rising boat and fuel costs. He says, people are still going out on the water but they’re buying 1/2 or 3/4 day trips instead of the full day trips. Instead of going out by themselves, they are bringing one or two people with them.
If you take the cost of an average freshwater guided trip $300.00, divide that by three and it come out less then it takes for me to fill-up my Ford F-150 full of gas. How can they NOT go out fishing with us! Do the math, the actual cost of a fishing guide in no way compares to the cost of owning your own boat.
From Staff and Wire Reports
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com
