There are ways to narrow it down and plan the best fishing trip possible. If there are more than just two going, (usually there are) it is best to ask all participants what the individual expectations are. Some expectations to take into consideration are, how many fish does each person want to catch to be content, what kind of fish do people want to catch, are you looking for trophy fish or consistent action, how do you want to catch the fish, and how much money does each person want to spend?

That is a lot of information to gather but a group of people can come to agreement but when it comes to fishing, the answers to these questions can vary greatly. Deep sea fishing trip would probably satsify the trophy and quantity as based on the amount of time fishing on these trips, usually both happen to the group. It however would not satisfy one that ones to troll for fish in a stream with a net.

Now to the expense, if you are with a group that is happy camping out sleeping in tents and cooking outside, you can fish on a budget and will also probably wind up lake fishing. If your group has more money and wants to stay more upscale than there is a better chance of catching the trophy fish. The type of fish you want to catch also can be taken into account. If it is a rare fish in Alaska such as a char, then it will be a little more costly trip.

An idea could be to take a survey and see what others expectations are. You can either agree unanimously or agree to go with the majority as sometimes  you can not please everyone. If the majority have met expectations the complaining will be minimal and the minority vote might actually have a good time. How can they not? They will be fishing.