Introducing the 2nd Pro-Guide at South Devon Bass Guide Ltd
As you may recall, at the start of my current guiding season back in early-April I released a post titled: South Devon Bass Guide Ltd – A New Era Begins… Within this post, as well as describing how I’d segregated my personal and professional enterprises and my professional guiding business into two separate websites and entities, I also covered how I would be expanding and developing my newly incorporated business as a whole…
In addition to the ‘Inshore – Boat Bass Lure Fishing’ that we will be filming some promotional videos for later this summer (watch this space!) I also revealed how I’d been meticulously training a 2nd Guide called Joe. Well, with a handful of guided sessions now under his belt, and having recently placed a client onto a splendid 5lb bass, I thought that now would be a good time to introduce him properly, and to explain his levels of expertise, what he’ll be doing, my continued involvement, and his availability for the remainder of 2024 and what the plan is for 2025 and beyond.
Introduction
I first met Joe back in April 2021, when he partook in a guided session with his fishing companion, whereby I was instantly impressed with his overall ability and the methodical approach to his own bass lure fishing. Therefore, having subsequently guided him on two further occasions, including on one of my 3 Day Packages, I invited Joe to start fishing with me just over two years ago now.
It goes without saying that within that period we have enjoyed some wonderful sessions, and have caught a great deal of bass together. Indeed, many of the more recent photographs of my bass have been taken by Joe, which is testament not only to his photographic skills, but also his fellowship in the sense that he has been more than happy to lay down his rod, and run over to capture an image when he could have easily have carried on fishing himself.
This is a characteristic that told me a lot about his personality. He isn’t fishing for the glory, and is just as happy, if not more so, to witness someone else catch a magnificent bass than he is himself. Clearly, this is an attribute that you must naturally possess as angling guide, with an even greater level of satisfaction coming from assisting someone else, through your own expertise and knowhow to catch and release the UK’s most mesmerising and sporting species in my humble opinion – all of which he has recently achieved in the course of his own guided sessions as you’ll read below…
Joe has of course landed some corkers himself, one of the highlights being a chunky 60cm/5lb+ bass that he landed whilst fishing with me during one bitter February night – a milestone that I haven’t personally achieved as yet, with my largest in the month of February being 57cm.
Background
But all the while Joe has been my fishing companion, I’ve had it in the back of my mind that if and when I were to ‘grow’ the business and, in time, gradually take a step back from it eventually, that South Devon Bass Guide Ltd would endure. The only way this was going to be possible was if I met someone who fitted the mould perfectly, who was as passionate about fishing and teaching others as I am, and who possesses the all-important rod handling and bass catching abilities, not to mention the levels of trust that are clearly involved here.
Currently, Joe is a serving, full-time member of the Armed Forces (as I was for 22 years prior to conceiving the business and taking the pro-guide plunge), with his role as a qualified instructor over the past four years clearly of huge benefit to the business, and something that, in conjunction with being an exceptionally talented angler, will undoubtedly stand him in good stead for the role ahead.
Of note, is that Joe has access to the 400+ proven venues that I have accumulated over the 33 years that I have personally been lure fishing for bass, and the 7 years in which I’ve operated as a full-time professional guide – a period that has seen my clients land twelve 70cm+ bass, including two of 73cm.
Furthermore, we have enjoyed success in both daylight and darkness, whilst utilising lures types that range from weightless soft plastics to needlefish, hard diving minnows, metals, and our favourite – the surface lures. Moreover, these catches have been realised from a broad spectrum of locations, that are as diverse as they are beautiful and that encompass far-inland inlets to remote, rugged and imposing headlands – all of which are rarely, if ever fished by anybody else.
My Availability and Role
I am booked to my personal capacity for 2024 and am already booked to 90% of my capacity for 2025 – including the 3 Day Packages, 1-2-1 Sessions, and Guiding Days (so please do get in touch via southdevonbassguide@yahoo.com if you’d like to enquire about or to book a session).
Going forward, I will be continuing as the primary full-time guide alongside Joe, with all of the initial customer interface (emails and payments) also being completed by me. What’s more, I will continue to plan both mine and Joe’s guided sessions based on the wind, weather, tides and current ‘form book’, and just as importantly, what the client(s) wish to learn from the session(s) with Joe administering the sessions based on a proven template that I have formulated and perfected over the past seven years.
The current business plan then is for Joe to facilitate sessions over selected weekends only in 2024 and into 2025 as you’ll read below. Thereafter, I and we foresee an opportunity where he will be operating as a full-time guide from August 2025 whereby, he and I will be conducting professionally guided sessions from both the shore and a 6m boat/vessel.
There will more on the extremely exciting fishing potential in regard to the latter once we have accumulated the requisite promotional material this summer/autumn ready to promote and promulgate over the late-autumn and winter period – the availability and prices of which will be published in due course.
Joe’s 2024 Availability
My 2nd Guide Joe is able complete One, Two and Three Person Guided/Tutored Bass Lure Fishing Sessions for South Devon Bass Guide Ltd (and a 3 Day Package in late-July that is already fully booked!) over selected weekends only during the summer, autumn, and early-winter period of 2024, with his remaining availability being the following dates:
- August – Fully Booked
- September – Fully Booked
- October – 12th, 13th and 20th
- November – 3rd, 23rd, 24th and 30th
- December – 1st, 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th and 20th
- January dates are TBC – but yes, the plan is that he’ll guide into late-December and January, as Joe and I routinely catch good-sized bass in the winter months.
Prices for my 2nd Guide Joe are:
- One Person ‘1-2-1’ Session – £170
- Two Person Session – £250
- Three Person Session £300
Gift Vouchers
My South Devon Bass Guide Ltd Vouchers not only make an excellent gift, but they also provide the flexibility for the recipient to arrange their guided session, and therefore redeem the voucher, at a date that suits them during the stipulated calendar year.
Joe will be completing these ‘Vouchered Sessions’ and as you are effectively paying ‘up front’ for the session (rather than paying a deposit and arranging one of my/our specified guiding dates) I/we are able to offer our customers a 10% discount on the standard price of a One-to-One or Two Person, 8 Hour Guided/Tutored session, lure fishing for bass along and from the truly majestic south Devon coastline.
The price of a Gift Voucher is:
- One-to-One 8 Hour Voucher – £150
- Two Person 8 Hour Voucher – £225
Joe’s most recent session
The feedback I’d received from the four sets of clients that Joe had guided prior to his most recent session had all been absolutely brilliant – as I knew it would be I must add. Indeed, two out of the four have already booked his services since, with the other two just waiting for confirmation from their spouses in regard to when they are allowed to go fishing again in 2025!
A very positive start then, which is why I was delighted to see the photograph appear on my phone of one of my previous 3 Day Package clients (Chris) grinning with the beautiful 5lb bass above and below – all courtesy of the collaborative decisions Joe and I had made the previous evening in regards to mark selection, and his ability to convey the information, tactics, and techniques to the clients on the day.
What’s more, if the ‘blimmin’ split ring hadn’t straightened out (see above) on what Joe estimated to be an ‘easy 70cm+’ bass that they’d hooked and unfortunately lost that evening we’d be celebrating his first client ‘Fish-of-a-Lifetime’ too… It’ll come I have no doubt!
To enquire or to book a session with my 2nd Guide Joe, please complete the Contact Form below. Alternatively, you can email me/us directly at: southdevonbassguide@yahoo.com.
Thanks for reading.
Marc Cowling
South Devon Bass Guide Ltd
South Devon Bass Guide Ltd 