Alaska Fishing Guides: Selecting Professional Fishing Escorts Around Alaska

If you're considering hiring Alaska fishing guides to enhance your Alaskan fishing trip adventure, you've already made a great decision. Charters and guides typically know the waters, fish migrations and great strategies to ensure you'll come home with a trophy-sized catch.

However, fishing guides come in all packages, and there are both bad guides and good ones. So, how do you choose? How do you differentiate between a quality guide and an overpriced charlatan? How do you tell if you're hiring an Alaskan fishing expert or a con artist with a boat? For answers to these questions and a brief overview to hiring an Alaskan fishing guide, keep reading.

Check References

Before you lay down a few grand for a private, multi-day fishing charter in Alaska, always check their references from previous clients. Ask for a phone number or email so that you can speak with the former client directly. If a company refuses to give you any references, don't be inhibited about walking away.

In addition to verifying references from former clients, you can also try a quick phone call to the local tourism office. Remember, Alaska may be big, but it has small communities. Ideally, you want to hire Alaska fishing guides that are not only known by their tourism office, but also recommended.

Investigate Qualifications of the Crew

Before you arrive or upon arrival, you can ask to see the crew's licenses and certifications. These can be faxed ahead of time or presented to you before departure. You also want to look for a crew that has a lot of experience in Alaskan waters and a strong understanding of the area.

Look for Local Experience

Ideally, your Alaska fishing guide or tour operator should either be an Alaskan native or have extensive working experience and history in the area. You want a guide that knows the waters, knows how to navigate them, can find the fish and lead you to the catch. Otherwise, you could simply rent a boat and go out alone.

A great way to check a guide's success is to ask for their catch track record. How many fish are caught on each trip? What are the average weights? What's their overall success rate? Remember to ask about their safety record too.

Check What's Included and What's Extra

Many Alaska fishing guides will include extra perks like lunches, fish processing and freezing, equipment, licenses, bait and tackle. However, some won't - so, it's important to find out what's included and what's not before you book.

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