Does anyone know what the requirements are to be a properly licensed guide here in SC. Does anyone know the answer, or know where the answer can be found in writing?
Bryan you can get all the requirements and certification through the Coast Gaurd. They handle all Captains licenses. They are some scholls you can go to also like Sea School.
If you are going to get your license use Sea School. I went through them to get my license to run offshore Charter boats and they made things easy. I have heard that the CG classes are the hardest. The other thing that you need to look into is Insurance, because now your boat is a business. You dont want someone getting hurt and coming after you. I do know a guide down in Flordia that makes all his clients sign a wavier stating pretty much that they are on a boat around water and slipping is possible, and that they are fishing and hooks are sharp, and he isnt responsible. Good luck if you are looking into the guide thing....
Technically, there is no license required to be a guide in SC. Here is the catch: If you plan to operate a boat for hire to take people fishing, sightseeing, diving, etc. you are required to be a Coast Guard certified captain. In other words, you can be a guide and walk up and down the river bank all day and never be required to have a license. You can also guide someone on where to fish on a boat that has a licensed captain that you or they have hired to take you out on the water. You can not legally be hired to guide and carry passengers on a boat that you operate without a captains license on waters that the US Coast Guard has jurisdiction over. Here it is in the US Code: http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/46C87.txt http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/46C89.txt
Just for giggles, here is a map of navigable waterways in SC. http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/water/docs/navweb.pdf Pretty much everything except Lake Monitcello is included.
Thanks fellows! It's not me who's interested in becoming a guide. It's another fellow who I know. He's an excellent, well rounded fisherman and world class on the crappies. He recently retired and is interested in becoming a guide. When trying to figure out what all is required we kept running into roadblocks. Of course I decided to post this question on the BOC because it never fails. I always seem to get the info I'm looking for whenever I post a question on this site. Just another one of many good reasons to be a member here. Thanks again!
On a related question - I seem to remember reading a while back (in newspaper article?) that if you take someone fishing on your boat and they bring lunch or pay for gas, then they can technically be considered to have paid for the trip and you can be charged with operating without a captain's license! Has anyone else heard this? Is there any truth to it?
I think that would be just sharing expenses. I don't thing the authorities would look at that as paying for servvices. Jim
"...if you take someone fishing on your boat and they bring lunch or pay for gas, then they can technically be considered to have paid for the trip and you can be charged with operating without a captain's license..." Totally 100% FALSE. You are not being hired. Plain and simple.
