Guide License

Does anyone on this forum know if you need to get any sort of license to guide in the state of Minnesota? Thanks in advance.

I believe yo do. Not positive about it. PM James Holst. He can give you the info you need.

On the Mississippi River you need your OUPV License from the Coast Guard to guide. It’s expensive and very time consuming to get but wihout it you’re uninsurable and subject to some stiff fines should you ever be caught without it.

If you have more questions about the OUPV, PM me.

What prevents a “guy” from “guiding” unofficially? Say 5 guys want to be taken out, as a guide would,with gear, boats, etc… but all agree that its unofficial… Thoughts?

I guess it would depend on if you’re getting paid to guide…correct?

With friends and close aquaintences, I’m sure you could. Try telling an insurance salesmen booking a trip to impress clients that your trip is to be considered unofficial and see how much business you get.

If you’re going to treat guiding as a business and actually plan on being high profile, respected and busy.. get the licenses, get the insurance and walk tall.

Yup… guiding in exchange for compensation.

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I guess it would depend on if you’re getting paid to guide…correct?

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i would always error on the side of caution a 40,000 bass boat isn’t something you would want seized because you did not want to spend the time to get your guide license. Whatever the cost would be it sure would be cheaper than having all your gear seized.

To be brutally honest, the reason I got the license was to keep myself insurable. Without this license your boat (being used in the process of guiding) is not covered in any way and should someone in the guide party get hurt, well, so long to your house and retirement fund.

James what’s the cost for getting licensed? I thought it was in the $1000 range.

Yup… plus one week of in class time and travel to and from the class.

Other “extras” that add up.

– drug testing
– physical exam
– first aid and CPR class
– application fee to the Coast Guard

A bunch of us here at IDA went through World Wide Marine Training for our licensing.

http://www.wegivethetest.com/

The OUPV (Operator of an Uninspected Passenger Vessel) is the license you’d need to guide on the Mississippi River.

Thanks everyone for the info. So is the assumption correct that to guide on inland lakes in Minnesota all you need to do is clear it with your insurance agent?

You’ll need to get yourself a commercial policy…. your normal boat insurance won’t cover you in a boat for hire situation.

Crawdaddy,

There many inland waters in MN that the USCG license is required in order to legally guide and have your insurance be valid.

In addition to the license being required on the Miss, Minn, St Croix, Red, St Louis, and Rainy rivers. It is also required on such lakes as Cass, Leech, Winni, LOW, Kabetogama, Pokegama, Bemidji, Gull, Whitefish Chain, Red, Namakan, etc.

I think James summed it quite well when he said that if want to avoid putting yourself and your clients at risk. Be legitimate, get the license and walk tall!

I would like to congratulate all of the IDA staffers who recently got their Captains licenses. This is no small feat and is an accomplishment to be proud of.