What To Expect
What to Expect, Bring and What To Wear on Your Catfishing Trip With North Texas Catfish Guide Service
Once you have verified your date and made your deposit for your guided catfishing trip we will reserve the date for you.
One to two days prior to your trip you will receive an email from us verifying the date, time to meet and location.
You need to bring food, drinks, your Texas fishing license and appropriate clothing. The only other thing you will need is a proper fitting life jacket if you are bringing a child less than thirteen years of age.
If you bring an ice chest please make sure it is a small ice chest (small enough to fit in the floorboard of the car).
The day of the fishing trip, please arrive a few minutes early so you can be ready to get going when we arrive at the boat ramp. Most of the time we are out catching bait and will arrive at the ramp right at the scheduled meeting time to pick you up and start fishing.
If you have any questions at any time you can call me at 817-522-3804
What You Should Bring:
Food, drinks, fishing license a camera (optional)
Please note the following information about your fishing trip:
Payment: Payment is due in cash the day of the trip unless prior arrangements have been made for credit card payment.
Gratuity: I often get questions about tipping myself and our guides. Tips are certainly not expected but they are appreciate if you think we work hard and you enjoyed yourself. This is obviously at your discretion.
Food and Drinks: All you need to bring is your food, drinks and fishing license. You can bring a small ice chest for your food and drinks. Please make sure it is small enough to fit in the floorboard of a car. If you want to bring a larger ice chest to take fish home please leave it in your vehicle. There is ice available for $3 a bag at the marina.
Alcohol: You are welcome to bring beer on the boat but it must be in cans or plastic bottles. It is illegal to bring glass bottles on the water. Hard liquor is not allowed on the boat due to our insurance carrier. You are welcome to enjoy a few beers on the boat as long as it is done in moderation.
Clothing: It is always cooler on the water than at your house or hotel so dress warmer than what you think you will need. You can always take close off but you cannot add them if you don’t have them. In the Fall and Winter it is a good idea to have some sort of rain gear, and not a pancho. If you bring a pancho what will happen is we will head across the lake, the pancho will flip up over your head, you won’t be able to see and you will still be wet.
Sunglasses: Light reflects off the water and makes it very bright all year long. This not only makes it hard to see but will give you a headache. Bring a pair of sunglasses.
Fishing License: This is your responsibility and is required by the state. We will not ask to see your license or verify you have one but it is again required by law. The cost is very affordable and is use to fund the great fisheries we have. If you choose not to purchase a license or forget and we get stopped on the water, you will receive the citation. The cost of a ticket for no license can run anywhere from $200 to $400.
Guarantee: We will do everything possible to catch fish but we cannot control them. Some days are good, some days are bad and some days are in between. 99% of our business is repeat and referral business and we want our clients to be happy but it’s fishing. Please understand going into the trip that we will do everything we can to catch fish but we again cannot control them. This is how we make our living and feed our families. It costs us the same amount to operate whether we catch 1 fish or 100 fish.
Inclement Weather: In the event of bad weather, we will contact you the morning of the trip. Weather cancellations are done at the guides discretion. If there is lightning or extremely high winds we will not be able to fish for safety reasons.
Contact: If you get lost or have issues the day of the trip please contact us at 817-522-3804 and let us know. Often times we are already on the lake working(catching bait) and cannot hear the phone, so please leave a message if we do not answer.
Schedule: The time to be at the marina is indicated in the email you received. Please be on time or a few minutes early. If you are not there when we get there and we do not hear from you we will wait for 30 minutes. If after 30 minutes we have not heard from you, we will leave and you will be charged the $150 deposit to your credit card. Please communicate with us if you are running late or lost.
Children: We welcome kids on our trips. Please make sure we are aware if you are bringing children so we can assure we have proper fitting life jackets. If we do not have the correct sizes available you are expected to bring them. Anyone under 13 years of age is expected to have a proper fitting life jacket and it must be worn at all times when on the boat.
Gear: Please leave your rods and reels at home. We ask that you not bring them with you. We have all the gear needed and it is in good working order, appropriate for the techniques we are using and is rigged correctly. In 11 years of being a guide I have never had anyone bring a rod and reel that was appropriate for the techniques we are using and we have no place to store extra equipment. This means that they usually end up getting broken.
Lost Equipment: One rod and reel setup costs $175. Rods are not made for picking up fish like you see on TV and they will break if you attempt to pickup fish that are more than a few pounds. If you break a fishing rod because you are attempting to pick fish up with them there will be a replacement charge of $75. We have rod holders all around the boat. If there is a bait in the water you need to either have the rod in a holder or in your hand with a firm grip. if you throw one of our rods and reels in the water, drop it in the water, or lay it down with bait in the water and it gets pulled in there will be a replacement charge of $175 for the lost rod and reel.
Catch and Release: We release all catfish over 10 lbs, and there are no exceptions to this policy. These are the brood fish that keep the lakes stocked. We catch a LOT of big catfish all year long and if we removed these numbers of trophy class fish from the lake it would have long term damaging effects.
