Fishing Guide Logbook Progress Report (2023)

Guided fishing plays an important role in Washington’s recreational fisheries, providing unique opportunities for Washingtonians and visitors from around the globe. Guides provide equipment, watercraft, tackle, and technique training for paying customers. Fishing guides must hold a business license, a commercial food fish, game fish or combination guide’s licensed and must be insured to operate in Washington State in accordance with RCW 77.65.560. ¹

Fishing guides increase access to recreational fisheries by introducing the sport to new anglers and can play a critical role in Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) efforts (Washington Hunting and Angling Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Plan, 2022). Anglers visiting Washington from around the world use guides to access fisheries without investing in or transporting their own equipment and watercraft. The guide industry creates job opportunities and supports tourism, providing economic contributions to rural communities across Washington.

Some in the guiding, fishing, and conservation community have expressed concerns that concentrated guiding activities in certain fisheries have increased pressure on salmon and steelhead stocks and limited opportunities for non-guided anglers. In response to these concerns, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) held several public meetings with the guide industry in 2018 before proposing to collect trip data from guides to better understand industry trends and demographics. In 2018 the Washington State Legislature provided authority to require logbooks for fishing guides and in 2019 the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission passed a rule requiring guides to submit trip reports, effective January 1, 2020. Data gathered from these trip reports is intended to inform the agency on industry trends including improving the understanding of the demographics of guides and their customers, the geographic and seasonal distribution of guide activity, and their contributions to local economies and the recruitment, retention, and reactivation of anglers (R3).

This report is organized as follows. First, we provide an update on implementation of the logbook program, including changes to reporting tools, enforcement, and the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). Then we provide an analysis of the data collected through the guide logbooks. We focus first on guide demographics and the distribution of guided trips across the state. Next, we examine trends and demographics among guide customers to answer questions about who takes guided trips, including where they come from, how often they use guide services, and their previous and subsequent experiences with Washington recreational fisheries. We end with next steps for the logbook program and other data gathering efforts related to Washington’s guide industry.

¹ Guiding services discussed in this report refer only to trips to freshwater fisheries by guides with one of these three licenses. These trips are distinct from saltwater charter trips, though some guides also own charter licenses and provide saltwater fishing opportunities.