“You guides show up late for work, grumble about being hung-over, take your guys fishing, and have fun all day every day. When are you going to get a real job”? I hear it all the time. I usually just shrug and say “someday maybe I’ll head back into the corporate world”.
When I started guiding fisherman I was real green, I knew how to catch fish personally but I was a rookie on the oars, and needed to learn more about bugs, different river sections, and how to teach people to have success fishing. I failed miserably with some outfitters, but others saw some potential in me and helped me out. My biggest asset was that I wanted to be a fly fishing guide and I had the hunger to get better. It took me a few years but through hard work and experience I have become a competent guide.
I was competitive as a young man. I raced moto cross for 20 years. I got my ass kicked the 1st few years but I wouldn’t settle for mediocrity and through hard work, perseverance, and after recovering from broken bones, I eventually got faster and won a lot of races. I played football for six years, and noticed how hard work there was beneficial.
I also started to think that elk might be mythological creatures like unicorns only catching glimpses of them as they eluded me in the timber. But being self taught, and finding out hungry hunters hunt harder, I learned and 20 elk in the freezer later, my bow and my rifle have been better put to use.
My point is being a competent fly fishing guide is not an accident. To be good at anything for a long period of time takes hard work.
I love my job but it has its challenges. When I’m rowing a boat 40 days in a row in bitter Spring cold and snow, and 100 degree summer heat I still try to have a smile on my face at the end of those days. When I’m in the daily grind of driving, back rowing, tying, cooking, portaging, searching for that one rising trout, I still work as hard as I can to make my clients vacation the trip they hoped for.
Definition of a Professional Guide– From Orvis
A Professional Guide is a professional at all times; they are mentally alert and physically prepared for a strenuous day of guiding. Their self-confidence can be observed but not heard; they are totally prepared for the day and ready to accept its challenges—good or bad. Their appearance and dress show pride in themselves and the operation they represent. They immediately become a teacher to their clients and the client readily accepts their leadership.