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Trophy King II
Thanks for the suggestion, Deathb4Disco. I am aware of Callaway Gardens. I just checked their website, and evidently they just recently opened up the fly-fishing only lakes to also allow lures.
Callaway definitely has exceptional bluegill fishing, but it's not on a par with my best ponds. I saw an episode of Roland Martin's show that he filmed there fishing for bluegill, and the biggest one they caught they estimated at three-quarters of a pound; the Callaway website states that pound-size bluegill are caught regularly...The bluegill in my best pond right now average over a pound each, and the last time I fished it, with two clients from Texas in July, they caught three bluegill in the pound-and-a-half range in three hours of fishing, and at least twenty that were over a pound. Back in June, my second-best pond, which is the one that produced the two-pound hybrid on Thursday, produced half a dozen bluegill (pure northern-strain, not hybrids) that would have gone between eighteen and twenty-four ounces each, in three hours of fishing. So I don't think Callaway's bluegill fishing, though good, compares to what I offer. My rates are only $50 a day more than what they charge for two people, but to my knowledge they don't employ automatic feeders and high-protein fish food; I spent $7K just last year just on food.
I'd be more than happy to make a pond fly-fishing only, except for the fact that I don't have as much water as Callaway does, and considering I'm getting no business at all right now, I wouldn't want to have to tell someone that booked a trip that they couldn't fish one of my best ponds if they weren't fly-fishing.
Slabmaster II
tnpondmanager -
It's probably time to give 2 for price of 1 gift certificates and even try and convince your local Hotel/Motel to offer discounts for your clients.
Even run Fall specials.
Many fishing guides use these types of strategies.
Worth a shot since you are talking about quitting anyway
Half price is better than nothing now days ! JMO
Have you posted Videos on You Tube ?
Trophy King II
I did actually give my only two clients thus far a discount, only charged them for one person. I have thought some about lowering the daily rate further; perhaps that's what I need to do; it's just discouraging to me to have to lower my rate to the range of guides who guide on public water. But I may have to.
I had planned on making some videos to put on Youtube, was trying to scrape together the dough to buy a camera, and then one of the clients I had in July bought me an underwater camera with HD video capability to show his appreciation for the quality of fishing...So then a couple weeks later I took a friend fishing, and at one point he said he was moving the camera to a safer spot, and that's the last I saw of it...What's that old saying about if it weren't for bad luck I'd have none?
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Maybe you can contact Russ Bailey and see if he'll come and do a show with you. That would be a very good way to get the word out about your buisness.
Trophy King II
Thanks for the suggestion - I will definitely consider that. Right now I have to be pretty careful about how often I fish my best ponds as altogether the ones that have trophy-sized bluegill only comprise about eleven acres between eight ponds. I just started last year working with a 21-acre lake and a six-acre lake that are on the same property and which will give me more water, and there's also a four-acre pond a hundred yards downhill from one of my best ponds, that when it gets right will give me more water; but eleven acres is not a lot, especially considering most of these ponds are about an acre each, meaning, every time they're fished impacts how hook-shy the fish will be in the future. I don't even fish them myself now except with clients. And, it makes a big difference: the guys that fished with me in July caught the heck out of fish in the ponds that don't get fished at all except by me, whereas they didn't do as well on the four-acre pond because the owner of that pond lets other people fish.
But, I will consider it - it certainly would be great publicity, for sure.
Trophy King II
Here are a couple photos of my latest build. I just shipped this rod out to a bluegill nut in Austin. It's a 7' super-UL spinning rod built on a 3-weight Lamiglas fiberglass fly rod blank:
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