You probably think being able to fish every day and get paid to do so is a great job, well you are right. Getting started is the hardest part, first you have to have customers that want to pay you to take them fishing. Well I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, first you have to ask yourself just what does it take to make a guide good enough that people will want to pay him.
A good guide is not just a good angler that knows a lot about a specific lake or any particular body of water. As a guide you have to produce fish for your customers and this is not always easy. I have been guiding anglers from all over the country for many years and many of them come to fish with me every year so I have a lot of knowledge about what they want out of their trip. Some just want to fish for the biggest bass in the lake and some want to just go fishing and have fun. Getting to know them and their skill level is one of the things I need to know in advance of actually taking them fishing so I can prepare for their trip. Can they handle my tackle, are they just learning to fish, are they fishing with their kids and how old are they. These are just a few of the things I need to know if I’m fishing with someone for the first time.
To be a fishing guide, fishing has to be in your DNA and you really have to love to fish and really enjoy seeing other people get excited about their fishing trip. Usually the best fisherman on a body of water is the one person who would make the worst guide. It is usually not about the catching that makes for a good trip, it’s about the adventure. The catching is just a bonus, seeing the sun rise and all the different types of wildlife on the lake is all part of the adventure. But don’t get me wrong you still have to catch fish.
As a Lake Okeechobee fishing guide, I’m always looking for the easiest fish to catch. Most anglers don’t want to hold a flipping stick and punch 2oz. sinkers through the heaviest mats all day long. Again this goes back to knowing the skill level and what the customer wants to do. Some might want to fish the way the pros do, some might want to learn a new technique or presentation, and some may have never fished a day in their life. Most of my customers just want to have fun and enjoy the adventure that I can give them.
As a guide if you are not a people person, an entertainer, and not willing to do your home work and find out all you can about the people that want to pay you to take them fishing, then you need to look for another job. If you ever hear a fishing guide complain about anything that involves fishing, being a guide is not in their blood.
One thing all good guides have in common is their love of fishing. They treat every day as another adventure, and it’s the not knowing what the lake is going to give up on any given day that keeps them excited about being a guide. Being able to take people of all skill levels fishing and seeing their excitement upon catching a fish, and stopping the boat to watch the sun come up over the best fishing lake in the world is what makes a fishing guide know he has the best job in the world.
But what I think is the best thing about being a guide is the friendships you make with your customers. After you have been a guide as long as I have you end up fishing with a lot of old friends year after year. My Dentist, Mr. Blair Snook, once told me that his customers pay good money to see him and they hate the trip to his office, while my customers pay to fish with me and can’t wait to get there. I guess that puts everything in perspective.
Well the bottom line is that being a fishing guide is the best job in the world but it is not for everybody. To this day after 30-plus years guiding, I still can’t wait to get out on the lake every morning to see just what the lake is going to give us today, I guess it’s in my DNA.
