Montana Troutaholic Outfitters is born!
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Today was a big day for me. I took the Montana Outfitters exam and PASSED!!!!!! 😀 So today is the day that Montana Troutaholic Outfitters is born! The test was pretty tough and I used almost all of the 4 hours they allowed to take the thing. But I passed and damn does it ever feel good to have that all behind me!
Feeling pretty happy about it all and just wanted to share it with all of the good people hear on the I.A.!
Joel
Joel, inform me a bit on the Outfitters exam. What kind of topics did you study and what is involved in the actual exam (written, oral, etc). Â Do you have to pass the exam to be an outfitter vs a guide? Â I’ll show my ignorance and ask the question – what exactly is an outfitter and what benefits are there in becoming one? Â I have always assumed that the benefits are more related to one’s business model but I really am interested to know if there are tax benefits or can you then subcontract guides or get deals on equipment.
They need one of those here, they could start by asking “what are the 5 species of salmon found in Alaska” I bet half the new guides would include steelhead…
Nice job. Â To celebrate, I will head up there and let you row me around. Â Cool?
That’s cool Hippie Man. I will row you down the river and you can row us back up! 😉
All right Neal let me see if I can answer your questions and have them make sense. The test was multiple choice and there were two parts to it. The first part was 50 questions and dealt with the general outfitting rule and regulations and the laws that pertain to outfitters in the state of Montana. The second part of the test was on laws dealing with fishing.
The difference between a guide and an outfitter? Guides work for outfitters. Montana defines a guide as a person who is employed by or who has contracted independently with a licensed outfitter and who accompanies a participant during outdoor recreational activities that are directly related to activities for which the outfitter is licensed.
An outfitter is any person, except a person providing services on real property that the person owns for the primary pursuit of bona fide africultural interests, who for consideration provides any saddle or pack animal; facilities; camping equipment; vehicle, watercraft, or ther conveyance; or personal service for any person to hunt, trap, capture, take, kill, or pursue any game, including fish, and who accompanies that person, either part or all of the way, on an expedition for any of these purposes or supervises a licensed guide or professional guide in accompanying that person.
So basically if you want to be a guide you have to have the blessing of an outfitter and than that outfitter is responsible for that guide and how he or she conducts their business. The outfitter also gets a cut out of every trip that guide does for him. (A booking fee if you will) The whole reason I became an outfitter is so I could be the outfitter of record for Rock Creek Cattle Company. This gives me more control over who will be guiding for us. I also plan on having a small business on the side. I have a couple of really good guides that want to work for me and I would be a fool not to utilize their talents. I plan on keeping this end of things very small as I have plenty on my plate as it is.
As for the kind of question they ask on the test go, in the general outfitting part of the test it was a lot of law. This is an example of a typical question on the test. “Investigations and arrests for violations of any hunting or fishing law may be made by”? And then there would be four very similar answers to choose from.
The fishing side of the test involved a lot of questions on boating laws, stream side access law, what do when with the entrails when you clean a fish (which by the way is different when you are on shore or in a boat) how many fish you can catch in a certain area, and various other questions related to fishing practices. I breezed through that part of the test and scored a 96 on it. The general outfitting part kicked my butt and probably took me 3 1/2 hours to complete. I scored well on it too (92) but too be honest as I was waiting for my scores I was really wondering if I passed or not!
Andrew, they did give us a couple of books to study. The one book, Montana fish wildlife and parks Statutes, was extremely boring and very hard to get through. The other, Statutes and Rules Relating to Outfitters, was a little more interesting as it dealt with more of the things that will affect me as an outfitter.
As far as other study material go we were encouraged to pick up the 2008 fishing regulations and the Montana access guide.
Congratulations brother.
Ron…you mean you and I are twins separated at birth…and Joel is our brother!
A virtual Fat Tire on me Doode. Way to go!
What waters will you fish in case I’m in the area which is usually every summer? I plan to be in Kalispel and Missoula next summer.
Congradulations Joel!!
However, now that you are an “outfitter” stay off of my section of river, it was bad enough having a “guide” there all of the time. ;D
On second thought, come all that you want, I need someone to take my picture.
What waters will you fish in case I’m in the area which is usually every summer? I plan to be in Kalispel and Missoula next summer.
Drifter, on my outfitters plan right now I have the Clark Fork, the Blackfoot, the Bitteroot, the North Fork of the Blackfoot, the little Blackfoot, the Missouri, Rock Creek, Rock Creek Lake, and Flint Creek.
If you come through Missoula be sure to call and we will at the very least meet up for a beer.
Clint, you keep catching those toads and I will keep taking your picture! 😉
Joel
You’re welcome Neal! Believe me I have learned much along this journey but still have a lot to learn. Let me see if I can find the right words to answer this next question of yours. (Zach or anyone else feel free to jump in here if you know better than I do) To become an “Orvis endorsed” lodge or outfitter you have to meet a certain standard that Orvis has put forth. By doing so Orvis gives you their endorsement and in return they put you in there adverticing and such encouraging loyal Orvis customers to use you for your services.
Know I think as a whole the fly fishing industry wants all good guides and outfitters using their products because they know that if you do than your clients will also want to use it because the outfitter and the guide are the so called experts and people tend to want the best. For instance I have been asked to be on the Montana Fly Company pro staff. For accepting this invitation I get dozens of free flies and different tools and stuff that Montana Fly Co. makes. In return I give them feed back on their products.
I think there are as many kick backs out there as you are willing to ask for. I choose to build a good relationship with the companies I think do a great job and go from there.
Nothing can do more for an outfitter than positive feedback from his customers! If you get that positve buzz because you worked hard to give someone a great experience than good things are going to happen.
Joel
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