Trip Planning

How Fly Fishing Gift Certificates Work (Bowman, 2026)

Daniel Bowman Updated October 2, 2026 10 min read

How do Bowman fly fishing gift certificates work?

A Bowman certificate works like a gift card for a guided day: it carries a dollar value, not a fixed trip, and the person you give it to decides how to use it. Bowman sets out the process in three steps.

1. You name a value. Choose a suggested figure from the form, or type in your own.
2. You pay a link. Within a day of your request, a secure checkout link lands in your inbox. Paying it is the purchase, and the moment it clears, Bowman emails the certificate, with its own redemption code, straight to the person you named.
3. The recipient books. By phone or email, they quote the code and choose a trip and a date, and Bowman takes it from there.

Four facts cover most questions:

• It never expires. The recipient can wait for the right season.
• It works on any trip except one. Private water, floats, striper trips, corporate outings and hosted travel all qualify. The Dragonfly beat on the Soque does not, because of its higher access cost.
• It's emailed once it's paid, so there is nothing to ship.
• Gear is included on the trip itself, so the recipient needs nothing but a license.

What can a gift certificate be used for?

The value applies toward any trip Bowman offers, with the one Dragonfly exception. In practice that means:

• Private-water wade trips on the Etowah or the Soque, the classic North Georgia trout day.
• Drift boat floats on the Toccoa below Blue Ridge Dam, priced per boat for one or two anglers.
• Striper floats on the Chattahoochee, with fly or conventional tackle.
• Corporate and group outings, toward a larger booking.
• Hosted travel, the small-group destination trips Bowman leads; see hosted fly fishing trips for what's scheduled.

If the recipient isn't sure which trip suits them, what to expect on a first guided trip and the North Georgia rivers guide are good places to start.

How much should a gift certificate be?

Bowman's form offers suggested amounts that match its most popular trips, plus a custom option:

Two anglers on a wade trip cost $550 for a half day or $725 for a full day, so type either figure into the custom box. Four or more people move to per-head group rates, $190 for a half day and $260 for a full day. The rates page has the whole list.

Set amount or custom amount?

The four suggested amounts each match one trip for one angler, or one boat on a float. They're the right pick when you already know what the day should be: $400 for a half-day wade, $550 for a full-day wade, $425 for a half-day float, $575 for a full-day float.

Choose a custom amount when the gift doesn't fit one of those:

• Two people on a wade trip, at $550 for a half day or $725 for a full day.
• Three people, at $675 for a half day or $900 for a full day.
• Part of something bigger, such as a share of a group outing or a hosted trip, where the recipient adds the rest.
• A round number you have in mind, knowing the recipient covers any gap when they book.

The tip and the license sit outside the certificate either way, so there's no need to round up for them.

How do you buy one?

Start on the gift certificates page. The form asks for your name, email and phone, the amount, the recipient's name and email, and an optional personal message.

What happens next:

1. You send the request. Nothing is charged yet.
2. Bowman emails a payment link within 24 hours. The link is secure.
3. You pay the link. That is the purchase.
4. The certificate goes to the recipient by email, personalized, with a unique code.

Because there is a step between the request and the certificate, don't leave it to the last evening. A few days of cushion before a birthday or a holiday covers the 24-hour window and the time it takes you to pay.

What the request form asks for

The form on the gift page is short. It wants your own name, email and phone number, so Bowman can send the payment link and reach you with a question. It asks for the amount, offered as $400 (half-day trip), $550 (full-day trip), $425 (float), $575 (full-day float) or a custom figure. It needs the recipient's name and email, because the certificate goes straight to them. There is also a box for an optional personal message, which is worth filling in; it travels with the certificate.

Double-check the recipient's email address carefully before you send the request. The certificate and its code arrive there, so a typo means a delay while it gets sorted out.

From request to river: a timeline

Here is how the pieces line up, using a birthday as the example:

• About a week before the birthday: you send the request.
• Within 24 hours: a secure payment link arrives in your inbox.
• When you pay it: Bowman emails the personalized certificate, with its code, to the recipient. If you want something to hand over in person, write the occasion and the amount in a card and tell them the certificate is waiting in their inbox.
• Whenever they're ready: the recipient calls or emails Bowman with the code and picks a trip and a date. The certificate has no expiry, so this can be the next week or the next season.
• A day or two before the trip: they buy a Georgia fishing license with the trout license online, and the guide sends directions and a meeting time.
• The trip: the certificate value has already been applied, and all the gear is waiting at the river.

The only tight step is the first one. Leave room for the 24-hour link and for paying it, and the rest takes care of itself.

What the recipient receives

The certificate arrives by email, addressed to the person you named. It's personalized, it carries a unique redemption code, and it includes the message you wrote on the form, if you wrote one. The recipient books by calling or emailing Bowman with that code, so they should keep the email somewhere they'll find it next season.

On the day, a card that names the trip and the amount gives them something to open, and the certificate itself is already in their inbox.

Questions to settle before you buy

A minute of thought makes the amount easy to pick:

1. Is the recipient new to fly fishing, or experienced? A beginner does well on a half day; an experienced angler often wants the full day.
2. Will they go alone or with someone? That decides between a one-angler amount and a custom amount for two or three.
3. Would they rather wade or sit in a boat? Anyone who doesn't want to stand in a river is better served by a float.
4. When are they likely to go? The Soque is closed to Bowman trips from June 10 to September 20, while the Toccoa float fishes through the summer. The certificate never expires, so timing only matters for which trip they choose.
5. Do they live in Georgia? A visitor buys a one-day license; a resident usually has, or buys, an annual one.

How does the recipient redeem it?

Using it takes one call or one email. The holder quotes the code printed on the certificate, says which trip and which date they want, and Bowman credits the value to that booking. Pick something pricier than the certificate and the holder covers the gap at booking.

No clock runs on it. A holder can hold out for a peak season, such as spring or fall on the Soque, or for a free weekend next year.

The license is the holder's job, not Bowman's. Georgia requires one for every angler 16 and up, together with the state's trout license, sold online by Go Outdoors Georgia: $25 covers a resident for twelve months, and $20 covers an out-of-state visitor for one day. Younger kids need nothing.

Can you give a trip for two, or for a group?

Yes; the amount decides it. Type a two-angler price into the custom box, or pick a float, which seats one or two in the same boat. Bigger parties of four or more fall under per-head group pricing and are usually simpler to arrange as a normal group booking. Whoever holds the certificate chooses their companions.

A worked example

Say you want to give your father and your brother a morning on the river together for Father's Day.

1. The amount. Two anglers on a half-day wade trip is $550, so you choose a custom amount of $550.
2. The request. About ten days before Father's Day, you fill in the form with your father as the recipient and a short note saying the trip is for both of them.
3. The link. The next day, a payment link arrives. You pay it, and your father receives the certificate and its code by email.
4. The tip. You put $85 in the card, about 15% of $550, so the guide is covered too.
5. The booking. In September, your father emails Bowman with the code and picks a Saturday in October on the Etowah.
6. The licenses. Both of them live in Georgia, so each buys the annual fishing and trout licenses for $25 before the trip.

The day itself costs them nothing beyond the licenses, since the trip, the gear and the tip were all part of your gift. Because the certificate never expired, they waited for fall, when the fishing was better, without any deadline.

Situations that come up, and what to do

The recipient wants the Dragonfly. Certificates can't be used on the Dragonfly beat on the upper Soque, because its access costs more. They can book it as a regular trip, or use the certificate on the standard Soque water instead.

The recipient lives out of state. The certificate still works on any visit to North Georgia. They'll need a visitor's license, $10 for one day plus $10 for the one-day trout license.

They choose the Tuckasegee. That river is in North Carolina, so the Georgia license doesn't apply. They'll need a North Carolina inland fishing license, which covers the state's public trout water.

They want to bring someone. Fine. They book a trip for two and pay the difference above the certificate.

You want to split the gift with family. Agree on one total, have one person send the request, and settle up among yourselves. That keeps it to one certificate and one code.

The forecast looks wet. Bowman fishes in rain and only calls a trip off for real danger, such as lightning, a flood or extreme cold, so a gray day still counts.

What sits outside the certificate

The certificate pays for the trip: the guide, the private water and the gear. Three costs stay with the recipient:

• The license, bought online before the day.
• A tip for the guide, which is customary. Fifteen to 20% of the trip price is the usual range, so a $400 half day suggests $60 to $80. If you want the gift to be complete, tuck that amount into the card.
• Travel, whether that's gas from Atlanta or a flight in.

Daniel Bowman

Owner & Head Guide · Bowman Fly Fishing

Daniel has guided fly fishing trips in North Georgia for more than 10 years. He runs Bowman Fly Fishing with a team of 10 guides on the Toccoa, Soque, Etowah, Noontootla, and Tuckasegee — including private water access most anglers never get to fish.