Crappie Guides

[Tacoma Guy]

Hey all,

I have a birthday coming up and the gift from my family is for a one day crappie fishing guide at Roosevelt.  Does anybody have any recommends for a quality guide ?  I know Art has retired, but there has to be some others out there.  Anyways any info would be much appreciated, thanks !

[Tacoma Guy]

Oh and I want my Dad to be able to go, so looking for a guide that is OK with 2 clients would be a must.  Thanks again

[cousinlll]

With Art enjoying a well deserved retirement, might try LeRoy Price:  http://www.bassncrappie.com/

LLL

[o from wi]

I went out with LeRoy a few times b4 I got my boat out here. He will answer ANY questions you have about crappie fishing. I learned a lot from him. Good Luck!

[OneBlade]

I see he does Apache lake too.  Tough to spend money to have someone take you fishing but I've taken countless trips to Apache with minimal results.  Maybe worth spending the money.

[cousinlll]

Tough to spend money to have someone take you fishing

You can't look at it like that.  They're not just "taking you fishing".  You've heard people mention about going with Art on an "instructional" guide trip & LeRoy's website says he also has these.  Bottom line - you'll learn a ton of very valuable information on not only techniques but also understanding your electronics & the water you're fishing.

[AZfisherdude]

Tough to spend money to have someone take you fishing

You can't look at it like that.  They're not just "taking you fishing".  You've heard people mention about going with Art on an "instructional" guide trip & LeRoy's website says he also has these.  Bottom line - you'll learn a ton of very valuable information on not only techniques but also understanding your electronics & the water you're fishing.

I would seriously consider why you are taking the guide and how good of a fisherman you think you are already. I have done two guide trips before and learned a ton.
The first was on San Diego bay. I had no idea where to fish or how to fish that water. After doing a guide trip we went out the next day on Mission bay and rented a skiff with confidence. The cost was significantly less and we caught less fish than with the guide but we had a great time.
The second one was on Sag. I wanted to learn more about the lake as it was close to my house and my success there is up and down. In fairness to the guide, he called the day before and explained that the bite had slowed significantly. We still managed to catch a few that day but it was disappointing in some senses. It was not without value however. I learned some things about the lake and it's structure that I was previously unaware of. I learned some little things about handling a rod and casting. The most important thing I learned though was that I am a better angler than I gave myself credit for. Neither of these trips were for crappie but I really don't think that matters.
If you are hiring a guide to simply put you on fish I'd say you have a good chance of being let down with the trip. If you go in with an open mind and look for ways to learn and ask lots of questions then you could have a good experience whether the pea brain water breathers cooperate or not.
Guides are expensive but it is in their best interest to get you on fish. Their knowledge is where the real value is.

[2nafish]

Here is a link to several local fishing guide

http://thearizonafishingguides.com/guides.htm

[OneBlade]

My wording may have been poor.  Going out fishing with a guide for me would be to learn about various rod/reel setups, electronics, depth, speed, location, colors, etc. how to fish a lake at least for the conditions that day.  I'm less interested in bringing my gear with my setup and just fishing his hot spot.  I wouldn't learn anything except one spot in the lake that day that is hot.  Even fishing with non-guide but friend who fishes a certain lake a lot would be beneficial as well.

[Art Chamberlin]

I agree, it isn't all about how many fish you catch. I had three goals for my guide trips: 1) have fun, because if you don't have fun, nothing else matters. 2) you take home some knowledge that will help you in future trips. 3) catch fish.    Sometimes two out of three ain't bad! .........Art