Nonboater Question

[stackenem]

This is a question for boaters. With the gas prices going up and up this season what would you consider a fair amount that the non boater should pay. Lets have a couple of amounts one for lakes like St. Clair where you might run a long way and then one for inland lakes where you might not use hardly any boat gas. I am trying to get an idea as I will be doing both this year boater and nonboater. As this is my first year doing it this way I really don't know what to expect or what would be fair to the boater.

[dartag]

20.00 for inland and 30.00 for stclair is what i would say...  i fished the Everstart the last 2 years as a co-anlger.  i offered 40.00 a day.. some guys took it some didn't.
even on inland lakes the boater still has to tow the boat.
look at his windshield there will be 50 - 100 dollars worth of stickers for launching.  i am adjusting my schedule this summer to fish closer to home beacuse of $ 3.00 a gallon gas.. 

[blakstr1]

i think dartag is about right, especially since i'd be going to my spots whether the non-boater was with me or not...  our club does a $25 non boater fee, but i let the lake and conditions dictate whether i keep the $25 or give them money back.  at the state championship i used to always offer $40 when i was a co-angler, just seemed right with all a boater has to go through at a higher caliber event...never had one boater take the whole $40 though.  I think the best thing that a non-boater can do though is when you meet your boater for the day, start with the handshake and introduction then get the money out of the way right away....as a boater i hate to ask for the money and as a non-boater I hated to be asked for the money.  Only had one boater a couple years back ask me for the money before he asked my name...it was a quiet day on the water that day

[djkimmel]

It's tough and you never know the 'budget' of the boater either. I usually get offered $20 to $40 when I'm the boater. It usually depends somewhat on how much the person enjoyed the day and how much fish they caught.

I will take the $40 if I put them in the money and/or ran a long way doing it, especially if I ran to some of the spots they wanted to try. I do that in some tournaments.

Sometimes I take $10, sometimes $20, sometimes $30. I know I try hard every time I go out. Sometimes it all clicks and sometimes it doesn't.

At the Stren Series and above level, it starts to get different in that many more anglers think a 'pro' shouldn't be expecting money, and many pros do not expect money. When I fished EverStart, I didn't go out of my way expecting money from the non-boater, and was not bothered whether it was offered or not. I did enjoy when Tom Burks (from Indiana/Florida) brought me hot breakfast the morning of the tournament during the cold at Lake Martin, Alabama - that was nice! Super nice partner and he caught big bass out of the back of my boat. His great attitude from start to finish during the day was worth more to me than anything else. I think that is why he has done well including winning an EverStart a little after he fished with me.

I really do prefer to get it out of the way the day before as we talk about everything else in planning for the actual fishing day. More non-boaters are doing that now. It simplifies the fishing day for both.

[yukonjack2]

I am just jumping in the boated role this year, so its gonna be interesting.  As a non-boater, I tried to figure what was used for my half, and give them a little extra from there .  Example, on a small inland lake where you might only burn 5 gallons of gas max- even though half may 2.5 gal at $3 plus oil and sticker and towing,... I  would still offer a minimum of $20 no matter what. On the big water, used to be $30-40 would cover it.   At $3 gas, just think you could rip thru $150 in gal alone, nonethe less 1.5 gal of oil at $20+  (see my other post on this - lol), so, whatever you are comfortable with is best - I didn't hesitate in the everstart to give em $50 each last season, but gas was considerably less.  Do what feels right with the pro as you figure how the day was-  did he make room for your stuff, act hospitable, make sure you had opportunity to catch fish depending on the style and methods chosen,... then be generous - if he backseated ya, and basically ignored you, or acted selfishly, I would go with the minimum rather than max - just my $0.02!

Jack

[MaizeNBlue]

I fished my first year as a non-boater and last year as a boater, so i have seen both sides of this. The ABA says to pay your boater $20, so I ALWAYS brought that, and offered that to my boater. Some of them would only take half, on a small lake, or where we didn't run around a lot. I did offer more when we fished on Clair, but no one would take it. One boater I had even refused to take any money from me at all, as I had zeroed on Lodbell (caught 8 shorties, god I hate that lake). I argued a little, telling him I had to give him something, but all he said was "If you ever have the chance, do the same for someone else". I thought that was really cool of this guy, a guy I had just met, and this being only the second tourney I had ever fished in, it left a very good impression, of the club and the make up of it's members. Note, it had been about 6 months since the first time I had ever picked up a rod in my life. I will tell you this boater's name, as much as it pains me, later.

As for last year, being a boater I got to see the other side. I took my former boaters words to heart, I had a Cast member in one tourney, he did poorly, I didn't really run at all, and took nothing from him. I also took $10 from a few other members, the Yamaha 115, 4-stroke doesn't really burn a ton of gas, lol. However once on Clair, when we finished, my non boater looks at me, and says, dude i didn't bring any extra money with me today, sorry. So i told him to pay me at the next one, last I saw of that guy. Also had one tell me on Wixom, dude I only have $10 bucks. Those 2 guys really ticked me off. I made it a point to read the rules, the director, during every pre-meeting, always made a point of reminding the non boaters to pay there boaters, and these 2 small male donkeys get in the boat anyways and at the end of the day claim poverty. I guess it's my fault for not asking them for $20 bucks the second the steped on my boat, but I figured everyone read the rules, listened to the directions, and had made sure they could pay before they showed up at the launch, as I had done, and still do when I fish as a nonboater, silly me.

As for the boater I had on Lobdell, if anyone has made it through this rambling post of mine, it was none other than that silly man we all know Poor Boy!


(I think you meant to say - small male donkey, right )

[blakstr1]

I argued a little, telling him I had to give him something, but all he said was "If you ever have the chance, do the same for someone else".

Pay it forward!  I used to cross the Mackinaw Bridge about 6 or 8 years ago almost weekly, since I moved down to Saginaw I don't get up there much..but everytime I do I always pay for the car behind me, no matter who it is...I always wonder how far it goes...do they just say okay or pay for the car behind them and so on?

[McCarter]

I will tell you this boater's name, as much as it pains me, later.

  I finally made a good impression on someone.  i have to call my mom and tell her the good news!

PoorBoy himself

[Team houston]

Would not suprise me if the booth operater kept it and never said a word.

[djkimmel]

Awww, now you done gone and depressed me. I like to think a miracle happened somewhere down the line all traced back to the first kind act (and as long as I never find out differently, I'll be happy).

Actually, I'm surprised they don't have a rule against something like that - one of those partypooper rules...