I guided two long time friends/ guests on the Missouri River Thursday and Friday. The fishing was outstanding and the drive over and back to the Mo is always fun with these guys. We talk a lot about dogs, guns, fishing of course, war history, geology, and not running over or hopefully not hitting deer, there are a lot of them! A great 2 days, we had a blast
My good friend Patch and his dad were also over there fishing. Patch and I had a couple of evening drinks at the bar and hung out with some of the local guides who make Craig MT their residence. Its easy to blow off some steam after a real good day on the water and a long Spring run. I guided about 20 days in the last month and Patch and I had to throw down a couple.
Stories started getting deep and fish were getting bigger and as the night rolled I’m sure I embellished some and maybe got a little out of hand with my stories of past clients, old outfitters, or my opinions. One thing led to another and I found myself arguing a little with a younger, real fishy guy who I have always thought of as a friend in the guide community. Nothing major just a couple of guys who work on the water and share different opinions at times and maybe had one or 2 too many adult beverages.
There is some ego in the guiding community. When I raced moto cross winners and losers were easily decided by who got trophies and who didn’t. You could leave it all on the track and everyone knew who was fast, who was getting faster, who used to be fast and whose skills were declining. It’s hard to compare racing motorcycles to guiding but most guides are competitive as hell and there are no trophies for fishing guides at the end of the day after they just killed it.
Like I told my good friend Patch, next time after I’ve had a beer or 2 and someone starts in about something I disagree with, I’m going to say “hey man time for me to check out” and I’ll head out, “it’s a long season and I’ll see you on the river. Peace”!