Do you charge your fishing buddies for gas ?

[FISHBANDIT]

I have never taken money from my fishing buddies for gas, but if I did what would be fair for four or five hours on my 2052 Trophy. I always figured i would be out fishing with or without them so I never ask for gas money, but as the price of gas goes up, im thinking differently. Just wondering what some of you guys do?

[Silver Fox]

Hell yeah I do! And I insist on paying when I'm on their boat. I do this: Every hour trolled is 1 gallon and every mile traveled (running) is 1 gallon.

So if I run 4 miles to start fishing and run 6 miles back to the creek, thats 10 miles/10 gallons. We also fished 6 hours- 6 more gallons. Total is 16 gallons @ $5/gal = $80 split between the # of guys on the boat including myself. You may drop the gallons used due to your boat using less. Hope this helps and someday this century I'll be back out there.

[ray koziatek]

......whenever we take a trip to the hudson or erie its nice to get 1/2 for road gas...I never take money if im taking someone on a "Bucket List" trip....

I also take many people who cant really afford it but at least they offer.........

And if they can afford to kick in we usually split it pretty even.......

Now if i could find some friends willin to pay for my time and materials for new floor,and cielings ,radio,lures, Line,rods,reels,downriggers,top.kicker,regerstation,trailer,oil,points,plugs,filters,and everything i need to do to keep a 25 yr old tin can floatin..that wouild be cool .........................

[HAMMER]

At over 6 bucks a gallon hell ya

[skipper19]

I never ask for money from anyone to help with gas on my boat. I have had people who never went out before and I never even knew them, but they offered to help with gas or trade with something I could do or use from them. Those folks who offer are aware of the expense but don't know the cost or efficiency of the boat and if they ask I will usually say what the boat uses for trolling on a particular trip, some are long runs and some are not, so I am honest about the use of gas for the day. They usualy will offer something in line with the usage.....and if they do...they are considered friends. If they are really good friends they will always offer and in some cases I have friends that I know can't afford much and they will offer something but I will say It's just better to have them along for the fun and I was going out anyway.

Mark

[ Post made via Android ]

[TyeeTanic]

I don't ask for gas money but everyone still pitches in one way or another. Some guys bring lunch and others will offer gas money.

However no one ever offers to stick around and clean up the boat!

[Blind Squirrel]

I didn't start accepting any money from anyone until last year,many have offered before that but I felt that they were a guest.I do have one person that I take out that the only thing he needs to bring is some of his wife's chicken salad sandwiches

[Has Been]

If these guys are your friends , you shouldn't have to ask, they should offer. You should know the ones who are tightwads.

I never asked , but that was before gas was this much.If it's a first timer or relative , you should pay. For a Derby, or trip , we would each put 100 bucks or so into a "kitty", one guy was in charge of, and pay for expenses out of that.

[fishless]

I'm with Has been on this one. We have a cup in the truck that we pitch money in before we pull out. At the least they buy a plug or spoon for the boat.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Yankee Troller]

If these guys are your friends , you shouldn't have to ask, they should offer. You should know the ones who are tightwads.

I never asked , but that was before gas was this much.If it's a first timer or relative , you should pay. For a Derby, or trip , we would each put 100 bucks or so into a "kitty", one guy was in charge of, and pay for expenses out of that.

Agree with Has Been

[tcon]

I don't ask on my boat but it costs about $8.00 to troll for 8 hrs and I always offer if I go on someone elses no matter what the circumstances.

Tom

[fishless]

Tom... you have a floating Toyota Prius or what? Lol

[ Post made via Android ]

[slow rollin]

I have hade one friend give me gas money one time and i appreciated it. I have one buddie who gets on my boat every time and says i cant believe how sweet that merc 9.9 is! it still burns gas and it wasnt cheap! This guys tighter than bark on a tree! When i trailer to fair haven fron cayuga its $80 just to get the boat there. I wish more guys offered it would be nice but hey im goin fishing either way. and im bringing my friends no matter how cheap they are!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Chas0218]

My buddies and I don't offer one another mostly because we trade up on trips. Although I use a lot more gas I don't really expect them to shell out any money. Last week I took a bunch of the same guys out and each one threw me $20. It was a nice gesture on their part but if they really knew how much I spent they would have had a stroke. Running 8 hours at 1 gallon/hr plus the 16 mile round trip run at 2 miles/gallon I blew through 16 gallons of gas and that didn't include trailering to the launch which was another 4 gallons of gas meaning a grad total of $80 to cover my costs. And I won't even talk about the oil burned...Hopefully that 8 gallons for trolling becomes 2 with my kicker.

Either way we had fun. Hopefully this weekend they return the favor seeing how I am housing them for the weekend.

Chas

[slow rollin]

I must add the only time i got pissed was when me and two friends got done fishing on my rig we went to the legeion for a few drinks and the cheap skates dident even buy me a drink. so after an hour i decided to buy them a drink . at least that way i was consistant.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Dance the Tides]

I don't own a Lake O boat, but I fish Lake O at least once or twice a week often more, with regular fishing buddies. We come to an agreement every year as to what it takes. I own a (smaller)boat or three and I am aware of what goes into a fishing boat. I know that what I kick in is more than simply the cost of gas, but I have no issue with that. That new auto pilot? The new Berts tracks? And all off that other stuff that I benefit from without having to buy a sea worthy boat all costs money. If I do something stupid and lose a Dipsey, I replace it. When tourney time comes, we split equally, both costs and winnings. In a good year it all comes out in the wash and we may fish for free! Big Lake fishing is great fun, but it is not cheap.

Paul

[BSmaster]

When I go out on my friends boat on the big lake I give him $50 for gas. He never asks for it and I had to ask his brother for an idea how much money he spent on gas for each trip. Its polite to offer. I would give him more if he needed more.

When I drive guys up to the tribs for salmon/trout pinning, I never ask for money and they always chip in or buy me lunch or something and I never ask them. Its polite. I appreciate it and if they didn't chip in I wouldn't feel slighted in any way. I give gas money to them when they drive. Its the way it should be.

The take a kid fishing or bucket list or down on your luck trip etc. This is always a noble thing to do as well. Like I said, nobody asks, its is just the polite thing to do. We all view it a little differently perhaps, but it is still about respect and appreciation.

I imagine with GA$ where it is, this will be a bigger issue/topic of conversation as summer pushes on. for me, I started taking my 8ft bass hound versus my 16ft smokercraft Deep-V because it was just me and I already discovered how much money I could save by not taking my bigger boat to lakes/rivers. 8ft doesn't work on everybody of water, but it does work on a lot more than you think, and it is way cheaper to use. I think guys are using Yaks more too, for same reason. But this also goes to explain why you should offer your buddy gas money when he takes you out onto the lake in his nice rig for a day of fishing.

[Misty IV]

I don't have to ask - they offer it without me saying a thing. There are a few guys who want to come out with us this year who have never been trolling. They're creek & pond fishermen. I've already told them the cost of a license and the cost to enter the derbies, tournaments, etc. They've offered to chip-in. Hope they do it without me having to ask. Just seems the right thing to do when on someone else's boat, especially with the cost of fuel these days. My crew and I split the food costs, as well.

[bandrus1]

I have 0 problem asking people I take.... I am 28 and have put about 20K into my boat and fishing gear in the last year..... it aint a charity

[hawkeye625]

Took alot of different buddies out last year and the ones that helped out are going back this year. "Helping out" can come in different forms, gas money, paying for the hotel, food, maybe a lure or two, help replacing the floor of the boat...etc, etc. I usually tell them up front what the trip normally costs as far as license, gas, hotel derby pass maybe beer...and we divy it up between us.

Everyone that owns a boat knows you have a pile of money tied up in rods, tackle, electronics, upkeep....and I don't expect anyone to pay for that stuff, but when a guy doesn't offer to help out..they move down on my call list for the next trip.

Don't know if it's true or not, but I had a guy come up to me at the gas dock at Olcott last year when one of my buddies was paying for the gas and asked me if I was a licensed charter captain? 19.5 ft boat really? He told me I needed to be licensed if I took money for gas? So now I let them pay for truck fuel, tolls, hotel and food and I put gas in the boat.

Heck, I couldn't afford to fish 2 days if I had to pay for everything.

[tcon]

Tom... you have a floating Toyota Prius or what? Lol

[ Post made via Android ]

no its a 9.9 mariner I go thru about 2 gallons wide open to where i'm gonna start trolling, troll for 6 or 7 hours and wide open back to the launch.... top speed at the moment is 6.8 mph but I'm thinkin thats gonna change after L&M gets done with it

Tom

[tcon]

My buddies and I don't offer one another mostly because we trade up on trips. Although I use a lot more gas I don't really expect them to shell out any money. Last week I took a bunch of the same guys out and each one threw me $20. It was a nice gesture on their part but if they really knew how much I spent they would have had a stroke. Running 8 hours at 1 gallon/hr plus the 16 mile round trip run at 2 miles/gallon I blew through 16 gallons of gas and that didn't include trailering to the launch which was another 4 gallons of gas meaning a grad total of $80 to cover my costs. And I won't even talk about the oil burned...Hopefully that 8 gallons for trolling becomes 2 with my kicker.

Either way we had fun. Hopefully this weekend they return the favor seeing how I am housing them for the weekend.

Chas

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Do any of them belong to LOU maybe they'll read your response ^^^^^^^^^^^

Tom

[Big Water]

I'm very fortunate that I have good freinds and they always offer to pitch in or buy tackle, gas or pay for hotel rooms. A couple of times a year I might take some money or let them put gas in, but I don't expect it and am thankful that they are appreciative, decent people.

[ReelPower]

Splitting the gas/dockage/ice bill is standard for my crew...buddies know we wouldn't be out there without the thousands of dollars and hundreds of man-hours I have into the boat and gear, so sharing the necessary trip expenses isn't too much to ask.

[TyeeTanic]

I don't ask on my boat but it costs about $8.00 to troll for 8 hrs and I always offer if I go on someone elses no matter what the circumstances.

Tom

Huh? What are you boating in, a canoo fitted with a radio control airplane engine?