[clemsondds]

I’ve been fishing for several years now, but still struggle to find fish each time I’m out. I have good electronics and livescope. I only get to fish once a month or so and I just don’t feel like I am improving at the rate I would like. I don’t have any fishing friends and the only instruction I get is on forums, which is great but still can’t replicate on the water instruction. So my birthday is coming up and I want to just hire someone to ride with me and for a full day and teach me how to fish better. Do I am looking for either a guide who is highly recommended or a local stick who would be willing to spend a day helping me. I live in the Greensboro area so anyone within a few hours. Thank you all for your time!

 

[meenyt1]

Ralph Hollifield, possibly Todd Walters. Both are on Facebook, so you can find them easily.

 

[clemsondds]

Ralph Hollifield, possibly Todd Walters. Both are on Facebook, so you can find them easily.

Thank you! I'll look into them!

 

[cobra-drvr]

What lakes do you fish?

This brings up a topic I have never found a great answer to: "How do I get better at fishing?" Hiring a guide for a day can be a great jumpstart but its a crapshot too. Also it doesn't really scale, The cost per trip X say 40 trips is not feasible for most. Yes you can learn a lot in a day but there is a lot to learn and need to understand the different conditions and different lakes etc (aka multiple trips are needed versus getting it all in 1 trip).

The classic answer is "time on the water". I agree time on the water is invaluable to understand the environment etc but going and doing the same things over and over again and not making progress is counter productive. To me its TOW with a plan. For example shad spawn is coming up soon. How will I try to get bites during the shad spawn? Lots of things to try etc. I know what hasnt worked before but I have never really unlocked it. How do I get better at it? I dont know. But I dont think you learn to golf by just going to the driving range and have at it?. So I dont understand why the classic answer is TOW? TOW with a plan maybe, but how do you get the plan?

There are dozens of great youtube channels (fishthemoment. tacticalbassin, bassgeek, bassfishinghq are just a start). There are numerous websites like this one, wired2fish etc. They help but can also be information overload.

Trust me your not alone, every time I think I have unlocked the lake and made progress I get humbled

 

[meenyt1]

Ralph Hollifield, possibly Todd Walters. Both are on Facebook, so you can find them easily.

Also, you may consider fishing some local BFL tournaments as a non-boater. You never know who you will fish with, and it will jump start your learning curve for sure. I fished with both of these men in these events, and feel like I learned a bit from both. Plus it will probably be cheaper than hiring a guide!

 

[benkeller3]

I had a wonderful day a couple years ago with Joel Richardson's Guide Service. He is in Greensboro. We fished Randleman.
He taught this 70+ year old a bunch of new tricks.

336.803.2195

 

[clemsondds]

Ok thank you! Really looking to find someone really knowledgable with modern electronics (ie livescope, ds, ss...)

 

[meenyt1]

Then you should hook up with Todd Walters for sure. He is a pro with that stuff, I'm pretty sure he runs Garmin units and gives seminars on it so he should be able to show you how it works.