fishing in February?

[rancocasrich]

Is there a link for "open" boats for fishing in a drift boat. I see that on some forums when one fisherman needs another to keep the cost down. Are there suggestions for finding possible individuals to share a trip?

[Mike Carey]

gotta love Craig's list, but like anything in life you need to do your homework. I once went with a guide on the Cowlitz who had a big fancy ad on the Cowlitz river map that was circulating. Spent a miserable day with a chain smoking guy that was only interested in trolling plugs.

I certainly would ask for a couple references and not pay the full amout in advance (I think a deposit is fair). Also, I would expect to be able to view a guide's website from a Craiglist ad link. It would be hard to imagine in this day and age no website, those can be gotten free just like the CL ad. If a guy wants to be legit it just seems to me he/she wuld put in the effort to have some kind of information available to anglers to see.

Hopefully coming soon to this site will be a Guide Index which wll give our readers a list of guides for various fisheries. Coming with the next upgrade...

[rancocasrich]

Folks, This is a very good forum with knowledgeable and interested people involved. I appreciate their efforts for me. It is a great way for a newbie like me to learn some in advance of my coming out your way to fish. In our local area we have a site >www.bassbarn.com< with forums covering topics in a similar way and offering lots of great advice like here. One of the links I stumbled upon when surfing that site was the link on "Open Boats" where charters needed a person or two to share costs. I was able to take advantage of that with great success. Check it out if you get a chance.

Would anyone be willing to recommend a guide? I would like to keep the cost between $150 - $200 for the day. if that isn't possible, then I'll bite the bullet and pay the full fare. Can anyone recommend how I can research a guide on the web? Thanks.

[Marc Martyn]

Being that it is a lazy sunday morning, I surfed the web a bit for guides in that area. I couldn't find any listed, but did find the Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce. You could give them a call and see if they would recommend someone.

http://www.ghonline.com/go2/graysharborchamber.html

There are a couple of ocean side motels in the area that might recommend someone also. Just google Moclips, WA.

Hope that is some help.

[A9]

ranco,
Go to 3 Rivers Marine website and they have a link to a ton of recommended guys. They all seem to among the best from what I've heard...3 rivers wouldn't damage their rep by referring their customers to bad guides....

[rancocasrich]

Folks, Thanks for the excellent advice. I'll follow up on it.