Looking for an erie ice fishing guide

A group of us are planning on heading to Erie this winter for ice fishing walleye (if we get fishable ice). Really trying to decide whether to use a guide or not. We have everything we need but doing it safely is the question. There was a post on here from 2015 that said you don’t need a guide but it’s big water and things can change quickly. I have done a lot of research on guides but it’s tough to know who to go with. They all talk the talk including my best friend who is a walleye guide LOL. I have had one bad experience with a guide once before so I really want to avoid that scenario again. Any help/knowledge/previous experience would be helpful.

Ross Robertson. I’ve never been guided by him but I’ve heard a lot about him and he seems top notch.

Thanks guys. I’m sure we can figure it out and yes I’m sure we wouldn’t be the only ones out there. Planning on at least 3 days of fishing. I guess I worry a little bit about all my gear getting stranded on the ice if the ice breaks free. We’ve all probably seen the stories of all the ice fisherman needing to be rescued. Well when they get rescued, their gear stays on the ice. Ahren, I have also heard of Ross. Thanks. Anybody else got anything to add about guides… good or bad experiences? Ripjiggen, I wasn’t rippin my friend … he’s a really good guide but he has no Erie experience either. The best way to choose a guide is from people who have 1st hand experience with them good or bad. Again thanks for the input.

Would not recommend Fat Boy Charters . The guy was unprepared , overbooked , and I think his fishing gear came from wal mart . Definatly had buyers remorse after that trip . Had the same idea you did , hire a guide to be safe and shorten the learning curve . The ice was very sketchy , so I’m glad we had an airboat , but didn’t learn much.

Have you checked into any of the airboat guides?

We are also interested in an Erie ice fishing trip. I’m not sure if this would be the way to go or not?

So up to this point, my research and comments have said to stay away from these services: A1 Airboats, FatboyCharters and Reelsport charters. It seems easy to find negative stuff but much harder to find info on good/professional guides. I haven’t found any airboat guides that don’t have really bad reviews. I don’t want to pay good money to someone who doesn’t have his clients interests above his. To me the airboats sound great because you’re not going through and you’re not going to get stranded on an iceberg LOL. I have read that the airboats can go through an area and damage the ice which makes it very unsafe for snowmobiles, atvs etc. I don’t know, I just wanna fish and get back home safe!!!

justfish88 wrote:

So up to this point, my research and comments have said to stay away from these services: A1 Airboats, FatboyCharters and Reelsport charters. It seems easy to find negative stuff but much harder to find info on good/professional guides. I haven’t found any airboat guides that don’t have really bad reviews. I don’t want to pay good money to someone who doesn’t have his clients interests above his. To me the airboats sound great because you’re not going through and you’re not going to get stranded on an iceberg LOL. I have read that the airboats can go through an area and damage the ice which makes it very unsafe for snowmobiles, atvs etc. I don’t know, I just wanna fish and get back home safe!!!

There is a group of us in the same position as you. We also looked at the airboat option, but are not ready to pull the trigger on that. We have open water fished Erie in May but would like to ice fish it.

Its just hard to be dependent on ice conditions and short notice.

Hopefully we will get out there at least once soon. Bucket list item for some of us.

justfish88:

I know that Gillespie has fished with Mike many times on ice and in fact last year when ice wasn’t safe they fished with him on Saginaw Bay in MI. One of my close friends fished with Mike during the open water period, but I don’t think he ever fished with him on the ice.

I have another friend who has fished with Mike with Gillespie as well as has fished with him in FL on other exotic trips.

http://www.mikessportfishing.com

Mark

X2 for Mike Patterson..

First time we ever went there he was our guide and was very helpful and giving information. He had all the gear you would need. He told us to mark the route out on our GPS so we could get to that area the next day when we would be fishing solo. He told us to call him the next day before we went out just in case he found something bad with the ice. Overall it was a great way to cut the curve and stay safe.