Fishing is one of the most enjoyable hobbies out there (it’s my favorite), but every trip has a real cost behind it. I’m not saying that all fishing is expensive, but it can be. When you compare running your own boat that is fully paid off (emphasis on “fully paid off”) to hiring a guide or charter, the cost per fish changes dramatically. This breakdown walks through the differences for inshore fishing, offshore reef fishing, and full day trolling, with an emphasis on how cheap a trip becomes when you already own your boat.

This post also includes the impact of bait costs, fuel, maintenance, and how boat payments and insurance change the true cost of fishing.

Let us get into calculating the fishing trip costs per fish.

What Cheap and Expensive Mean

I want to define what it is to have a “cheap” and “expensive” fishing trip. In this post, cheap means you are fishing from your own boat that is fully paid off. Your only expenses are fuel, bait, ice, and general maintenance. This is by far the most affordable way to fish.

Expensive means hiring a guide or charter. You are paying for expertise, fuel, bait, tackle, licensing, boat operation, fish cleaning, and the convenience of someone doing all the work for you. This also means that you are using their boat and not your own. There are guides out there that you can hire to come on your boat and basically run your vessel for you. We are not including the. Sorry guys :(.

These calcs are based on the upper range that I provide. The more fish, the less money per fish that the trip costs. Makes sense? Good. Now let’s get into calculating cost per fish.

Inshore Fishing

Fishing for reds, snook, trout, mangrove snapper

Cost for Your Own Boat

Fuel typically runs 20 to 40 dollars for a very small boat. Maybe closer to 100 for a bigger boat.
Bait usually costs 10 to 20 dollars
Ice often costs 5 to 10 dollars
Maintenance averaged per trip is around 10 to 20 dollars

Total cost for an inshore trip from your own boat ranges from 45 to 90 dollars (small boat) larger boat could be closer to 150
Typical catch is 3 to 8 fish
The cost per fish (assume 8 fish) is about 6 to 20 dollars. Pretty reasonable.

Cost for an Inshore Guide

A half day typically costs 400 to 600 dollars
A full day typically costs 600 to 900 dollars
Most anglers catch 5 to 10 fish on guided trips
The cost per fish usually lands between 40 to 90 dollars

Offshore Reef Fishing

Fishing for snapper, grouper, kingfish

Cost for Your Own Boat

Fuel for a reef trip commonly ranges from 70 to 150 dollars
Bait generally costs 15 to 25 dollars (if you buy) much less using a sabiki rig to catch bait.
Ice typically runs 10 to 20 dollars
Maintenance allocation is usually 20 to 30 dollars

Total cost for an offshore reef trip from your own boat ranges from 115 to 225 dollars
Average catch is 6 to 15 fish
The cost per fish (assuming 15 fish) is about 8 to 25 dollars

Cost for an Offshore Reef Charter

Private reef charters usually run 800 to 1400 dollars for a half day or extended half
Typical catch numbers are 8 to 20 fish
The cost per fish (assuming 20 fish) on a private charter often falls between 40 to 70 dollars.

Full Day Offshore Trolling

Trolling for mahi, tuna, kingfish, wahoo, sailfish

Cost for Your Own Boat

Fuel for a full day troll frequently ranges from 150 to 300 dollars
Lures or bait typically cost 20 to 50 dollars
Ice usually costs 10 to 20 dollars
Maintenance allocation is around 25 to 40 dollars

Total cost for a full day trolling trip from your own boat ranges from 205 to 410 dollars
Average catch often ranges from 3 to 6 fish depending on season
The cost per fish (assuming 6 fish) usually falls between 35 to 70 dollars

Cost for a Full Day Trolling Charter

Most full day trolling charters cost 1200 to 1900 dollars
Catch numbers generally fall between 3 to 8 fish
The cost per fish (assuming 8 fish) usually ranges from 150 to 250 dollars or more

If Your Boat Is Not Paid Off

Now I understand that not everyone has a paid off boat. We do need to consider this if we are looking to see the true costs of each fish when taking out your own boat. So let us incorporate these values.

Boat payment typically adds 200 to 300 dollars per month
Insurance commonly adds 40 to 80 dollars per month

If you fish four times per month, divide these added costs by four
This results in an additional 60 to 95 dollars per trip
If you fish twice per month, the added cost becomes 120 to 190 dollars per trip

Even with payments, your own boat is often still cheaper than hiring a guide, especially offshore, but the gap becomes smaller.

I have put all of the values into an easy table to compare prices. All in all, having your own boat significantly reduces the price of each trip, which reduces the cost per fish. However, the one really good thing about getting a guide to help is you know that they are extremely proficient in fishing and will do quite a bit to ensure you catch fish.

Cost Summary Table

Trip Type	Scenario	Total Trip Cost (USD)	Typical Fish Caught	Estimated Cost per Fish (USD)
Inshore	Your Own Boat	45 to 90	3 to 8	6 to 20
Inshore	Guide	400 to 900	5 to 10	40 to 90
Offshore Reef	Your Own Boat	115 to 225	6 to 15	8 to 25
Offshore Reef	Charter	800 to 1400	8 to 20	40 to 70
Full Day Trolling	Your Own Boat	205 to 410	3 to 6	35 to 70
Full Day Trolling	Charter	1200 to 1900	3 to 8	150 to 250
Your Boat with Payments	Inshore	105 to 185	3 to 8	13 to 45
Your Boat with Payments	Offshore Reef	175 to 315	6 to 15	12 to 52
Your Boat with Payments	Full Day Trolling	265 to 505	3 to 6	45 to 165