What 1 million trips reveal about US guided fishing
Anglers across the United States have now booked 1 million fishing trips through FishingBooker. That’s more than a decade of anglers heading out on the water with local captains – from inland lakes to coastal fisheries. This also gives us a chance to look at what those million trips can tell us about how people fish today…
Behind every booking is an angler making time for a day on the water and a captain sharing the local knowledge that makes a guided outing possible. Trip by trip, those excursions added up to a major milestone for our marketplace and $696.7 million in gross bookings across all completed trips!
So, what does a million trips actually look like? When do anglers go fishing? What do they target, how much does a guided trip cost, and where do they go? Here’s what we found out from the data since 2015:
Key Findings at a Glance
- Americans spend more money on fishing trips than ever before.
- But fishing trips haven’t kept up with inflation – the average trip cost has risen since 2015, but consumer prices in the US have risen much faster.
- July is the busiest month for fishing, with June, July, and August accounting for about half of all trips.
- Some states fish year-round, while others are much more seasonal.
- Hawaii, Louisiana, and Oklahoma have the most evenly distributed trips throughout the year.
- Delaware, Alaska, and Wyoming have the highest concentration of trips in a single month.
- Redfish is the most commonly targeted species in our data.
- Inshore fishing is the most popular type, and bottom fishing is the most common technique.
- Private trips account for 93.8% of completed US bookings.
A Million Completed Trips through Our Marketplace
One million trips is a big number, but it’s only one part of the bigger picture of fishing in America. The American Sportfishing Association and Outdoor Foundation’s Special Report on Fishing reports that 57 million Americans ages 6 and older went fishing in the last year. NOAA Fisheries, meanwhile, recorded more than 187 million saltwater fishing trips in 2019, and more than 204 million in 2023!* Of course, this includes unguided fishing trips as well.
FishingBooker’s million completed obviously trips represent a smaller slice of that much larger fishing community. These arenglers choosing to book a guided trip through an online marketplace. They include people fishing for the first time, families spending a day on the water, and experienced anglers looking for a local captain. Taken together, those trips give us a glance at what people are paying for, where they’re fishing, what they’re targeting, and how their choices have changed over time.
Let’s start with what anglers pay for a guided fishing trip.
*NOAA hasn’t published a comparable figure for 2020 or 2021.
What a Guided Trip Costs
Most trips fall in the $500–750 range, accounting for 38.4% of all completed trips. Another 32.1% cost less than $500, while 29.5% were $750 or more.
Share of all completed trips by gross booking-price bracket.
How Fishing Trip Prices Have Changed over the Years
The average price of a guided fishing trip has increased since 2015, but not nearly as much as overall consumer prices. The average trip value rose from $663 in 2015 to $749 in 2026 YTD – a 12.9% increase.
Actual average trip value vs. where the 2015 average of $663 would sit if it had tracked inflation. Annual-average CPI, compounded, rose by roughly 40% from 2015 to 2026 YTD, while the average trip value increased by only about 13% nominally. In 2015 dollars, that means the average trip is now roughly 20% cheaper in real terms. Hover over the chart for the inflation-adjusted value.
(2026 CPI is estimated at approximately 3.3%, as the BLS has not yet published the full-year annual average. Inflation source: U.S. Inflation Calculator.)
Put another way, a guided trip would need to cost roughly $925 today to have the same purchasing power as a $663 trip in 2015. The current average of $749 is about $175 below that level.
Where Guided Fishing Trips Cost the Most and Least
The average cost of a guided fishing trip varies widely across the country. Alaska had the highest all-time average booking value at $1,036, while Kentucky had the lowest at $353.
All-time average gross booking value for states with at least 25 completed trips.
The difference is substantial. The average booking value in Alaska was nearly three times that of Kentucky. State averages reflect a mix of factors, including the type and length of trips, fishing locations, target species, and local operating costs.
Private Trips Remain the Norm
Of all completed trips on FishingBooker, 93.8% were private, and 6.2% were shared. Private trips have accounted for the vast majority of bookings every year since 2015. The share of shared trips climbed to nearly 10% in 2017, dipped below 5% in 2020–2021, and recovered to nearly 7% in the past 12 months.
Share of completed bookings classified by package as private or shared, by year, since 2014 (2026 is partial).
What Anglers Target and What They Catch
Redfish (Red Drum) is the most frequently targeted species, followed by Speckled Trout and Flounder. When looking at actual reported catches, Redfish also leads, followed by Speckled Trout and Red Snapper.
Most Frequently Targeted vs. Caught Fish
These lists answer different questions. A target is what a fishing guide marks as a possible target for a package. A reported catch is a fish that anglers actually reported catching in their review.
Fishing Seasons Peak at Different Times across America
July accounts for the largest share of completed trips, at 20.8% of the full dataset. June follows at 17.0%, then August at 13.8%. Together, these 3 months account for 51.5% of all completed trips.
When Completed Trips Took Place
All-time share by calendar month. The dataset runs from 2014 through a partial September 2026.
America’s Fishing Season, State by State
The fishing season peaks at different times across the country. Most states reach their peak in July, while many central and western states is at its hottest in June. In the Northeast and Northwest, the season gets going generally later, peaking in August.
Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota are not shown because there weren’t enough bookings to identify a reliable seasonal pattern.
Most-Booked Fishing Types and Techniques
Inshore is the most common fishing type listed by captains, followed by nearshore and offshore. At the technique level, bottom fishing, light tackle, and trolling are all among the most common. Because these are package tags, a single trip can include multiple fishing types and techniques.
Fishing-type Tags
Share of all completed trips carrying each tag. About 58% of bookings have fishing-type tags and categories can overlap.
Technique Tags
Share of all completed trips carrying each tag. About 49% of bookings have technique tags and categories can overlap.
What a Million Trips Tell Us
A million fishing trips reveal just how differently Americans go fishing. While most trips fall between $500 and $750, peak fishing season moves across the country from the Gulf and central states to the Northeast and Northwest. Private trips are by far the most common choice, though shared trips continue to appeal to a smaller group of anglers.
Photo courtesy of Chums On The Water
Together, these patterns offer a 10-year snapshot of guided fishing in America, showing how the time of year, location, price, and type of trip can shape a day on the water. From the Gulf coast in the early summer to the Northeast and Northwest later in the season, there is no single way or time to fish.
What comes next?
Crossing one million trips is a milestone, not a finish line. As more anglers discover guided fishing online – and captains keep building their businesses around it – the story ahead is one of continued connection between people and the water.
A million trips means a million moments on the water. A family’s first catch, a captain’s slow season turned steady, a bucket-list day finally checked off… We started FishingBooker to make it easier for people to have those moments, and this milestone shows how far that idea has traveled. We’re just getting started.
— Vukan Simić, CEO, FishingBooker
Methodology and Sources
- Source and period: FishingBooker’s internal data for completed fishing trips in the USA – snapshot September 23, 2026. Booking records are assigned by trip date. Full years are 2015-2025; 2026 is incomplete.
- External participation context comes from the 2026 Special Report on Fishing by the American Sportfishing Association and Outdoor Foundation (2025 participation, ages 6 and older) and from NOAA Fisheries’ “Fisheries of the United States” reports (2019 and 2023 saltwater trip counts).
The concept and outline of this article were created by people engaged by FishingBooker. Artificial intelligence tools were used to flesh out and reformat information into a blog article. Before being published, this article was edited and fact-checked by FishingBooker staff.
The post The State of Guided Fishing in America for 2026 appeared first on FishingBooker Blog.
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