Booking a charter and choosing a river guide must not be an easy task as there are so many to choose from and tons of websites offering guided fishing trips many who are not even guides but lodge owners , outfitters , and some others just trying to make an extra buck off the resource. You may book your trip with them and get put into any available boat or one that will work for cheap. When I travel and book a fishing charter I will always look for a seasoned veteran guide or one that grew up in the area that I am interested in fishing because he will have a vast knowledge of the area and know the secrets of hooking up. I want to know how many years he has under his belt and where he grew up or came from. Then there are always reviews but they can be a little manipulated in such that they are usually proof read and hand picked by the person in charge, hopefully they are somewhat legit because I often read them and also use it as a tool to judge whether they are worthy. I also try to book with a guide that owns his own boat and is the captain of the vessel I will be going out on. I do realize the better the fisherman he is and if he runs a good business he will be very busy and you may get subbed out to another guide of his choice. Hopefully he is honorable and cares about his reputation and puts you with the best guide he can , over the last 24 years of guiding I can honestly say that being a good guide is not all about catching fish (it does sure help though) but also has a lot to do with being personal and communicating well with your clients during their trip so when you are researching for your guide you may want to pick up that phone and call him , ten minutes of talking with someone can be a great chance to be able to judge his character and may be all you need to make your decision. Check on your guide and make certain that he is registered with the state of Alaska and if your not sure have him show you his state business card that he got when he registered. There are some bandit guides out there giving us a bad reputation try not to end up with one of them and if you do and know it you are breaking the law as well. He should also have this proper decal on the side of his boat along with a three digit number.
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