Ted Peck – Sour Grapes on ‘Bago

From Ted Peck, an article covering an issue that should concern guides and gudie customers alike.

Sour Grapes on Winnebago May End Guiding Career

Ted,

I read your article and thought I should clear a couple misconceptions up so people do not get the wrong idea. In regards to the test for the USCG Captains license, this is a hard test but to compare it to a quest on the scale of Lord of the Rings is quite an overstatement. You need to study and prepare but it is entirely doable and easily within reach of mere mortals. Once the license is received it is good for 5 years and there is no annual renewal fee. After 5 years it is a simple renewal with a drug test and physical required and a $95 fee.

To say you will have to give up a 30 year guiding career because of the cost of the license is simply makes no sense. The total cost of this is not much more than a few good quality rod and reel combos. Guides who are licensed and work in areas where compliance is enforced earn 25 to 50% more than guides in areas where it is not required. Even if this ends up costing you $1000 to get the license it will easily pay for itself in 10 or 20 trips and end up netting you many thousands of extra dollars of income each year. Why any guide would want to avoid something that will increase there income makes very little sense.

The requirement to have the license even on non-federal waters is what is coming in the future. What this does is allow state DNR’s to have a measure with which to assure that fishing guides are qualified to operate watercraft. If the state sells a license to guide to someone who ends up having an accident or killing someone they may find themselves a party to the resulting lawsuits. By requiring a USCG license they are demonstrating that they have at least required that someone have a certain level of skill in order to obtain the license. This has the effect of reducing the states liability in such cases.

Fishing guides carry the most valuable of cargo “human life”. To argue against something which will help insure the safety of clients which often times includes children seems to be a little misguided. You need a license to drive a car for hire, a commercial vehicle, any airplane, as well as boats for hire.

Kwfsh,
While I agree with the basic principles of the law in question, it’s obivious that there has been some major loopholes added by some people in the legislature.
Most likely, these were in response to some pretty major campaign donators from the Dells area.
Other wise, why are college kids being allowed to take 20-50 people/trip and run up and down the river with the duck boats while not having to aquiring one of the aforementioned licenses?
Not to mention the fact that the college kids in the dells are making who knows how many of these trips every day!
Laws were meant to make rules and competition equal for everyone.
Now a days, the way our government is selling out to the highest bidder, just the opposite seems to occur. The law is used to eliminate other competitors when ever they can get away with it.
JWB

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Guides who are licensed and work in areas where compliance is enforced earn 25 to 50% more than guides in areas where it is not required.

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I’m not a guide…some people say not even a decent bait caster…but why would these guides make that much more? Because they charge more.
If I was on big water (Winabago and the rivers are not big water) I guess I could see it. I do hire guides once or twice a year and don’t understand why I should have to pay the extra for my guide to be certified.

But then again…today, with everybody and their mother being a guide. Maybe it’s not a bad thing either.

BrianK,

The reason for the price differential is due to supply and demand. In areas where compliance is enforced you do not have all the wannabe guides driving the price down. You end up with cheaper prices and a lower quality of guide.

When all the guides in an area are licensed the prices end up being higher. But you end up with guides who can earn a decent living by guiding full time and can invest in better equiptment. You the client ends up getting a better quality product for your dollar.

What the license does is insure that commercial operators have the knowledge, experience, and qualifications to provide a safe, quality experience for their clients. Would you go to an unlicensed doctor just to save a few bucks?

I don’t think comparing a fishing guide to a doctor is apples to apples. It sounds like this is a dumb law that encompasses groups that it really shouldn’t. Typical government at work.

I agree with WF, some of the best guides out there do not have this license and I really dont think it would make them any better. Much of it is common sense. I think most guides that have this license think they are better than others. Would you hire a guide that has this liscense but is not properly insured?

Derek,

You have a valid point that by virtue of the license alone does not make one a better guide. However I think you will find that as a group licensed operators are better-qualified and more experienced than unlicensed ones.

The point you make about insurance is of the utmost importance though. What most people do not seem to realize is that if you are operating in an area that the license is required and you do not possess the required license you in effect have no insurance. So by not being licensed you are setting yourself and your clients up to receive huge fines, and in the event of an accident have your insurance be null and void. If you hire a guide who is not licensed, you are hiring a guide who is not insured!

I have seen replies from a number of people on these forums that they think the law should not apply to them. Well it applies to everyone equally. If it is important to observe bag limits, seasons, slot limits, and the need to obtain a fishing license why should this be any different?

As far as properly licensed individuals thinking they are better than anyone else. I have not found this to be the case in any different proportion than occurs among guides, tournament anglers, or the average fisherman for that matter. That is something that happens in some human beings due to a thing called human nature.

This may sound funny but induldge me… To operate in my curent location as a chef….I have to have a card from the federal goverement that states I have been through.. and passed a class on sanitation…protecting “you” from the evils
of…Well get it?…the kicker is that the state does “NOT” reconize it unless I turn in my test scores from the fed?….and pay another $25…thats in addition to the $115 it takes to have the test…Which you cannot pass unless you take the class that pre-pares you for the “test” at a cost of around $400.00 per aplicant…I’m I a better Restuarant because of this…YOU BET YOUR Can I charge more….no way…Everyone else is taking the test and you have to pass it to remain open….Go figure