SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ICE FISHING GUIDE?

from Ice Team January 2021 Edition

THE NOT SO FAMOUS ICE FISHING SPECIES

By: Tim Moore

For most of my childhood, my dream was to be a professional hunting and fishing guide. My dad loved to fish, and fishing had been in my family for more than five generations before that. I grew up watching shows like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (I’m dating myself) and a host of fishing shows, and fishing with my dad every weekend and many week nights. I dreamed of one day guiding people for a living. As I got older, my passion for fishing grew and I began to spend more time dreaming about the guide life. Eventually, through lots of work and a ton of help, I opened a guide service. Now, fifteen years later, I spend a lot of my time dispelling some of the many myths associated with being a full-time guide.

IT MUST BE NICE TO FISH WHENEVER YOU WANT

If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone tell me how lucky I am that I get to fish every day, I’d be loaded with nickels. Honestly though, I thought the same thing at one point. Part of the reason I wanted to be a guide is because I thought it would enable me to fish every day. I discovered the problem with that theory is that in order to be a full-time guide, I would need to run trips at least five days a week. Under most circumstances, you can’t guide and fish at the same time. Most clients wouldn’t put up with it. If the fishing is good, you’re too busy unhooking fish and resetting lines to fish. If the fishing is bad, you’re too busy trying new areas, lures, or techniques to fish.

If you’re guiding five days a week for a number of years, by the time you get a day off you’re too tired or have too much maintenance work to do to fish. If you’re as busy as you need to be, you can forget about fishing with your friends on the weekends, because weekend days are always the first to book. What about family events, weddings, or traveling? At the end of the day, I’m self-employed, which means if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. I have lost track of all the fun things I have had to pass up because I had already taken a deposit on a trip for that day. Nothing gets to me more than being on the ice with clients and seeing a group of my friends ride by on snowmobiles on their way to head out fishing together for the day. I love what I do and really enjoy all the cool people I get to help, but after a while I miss my friends. Not only would it be wrong to cancel because something else came up, in this age of technology and social media, word of an undependable guide travels faster than ever. Nothing will get you a bad review faster than canceling on a paying client for no good reason.

HOW HARD CAN IT BE?

One common misconception is that any good angler can be a good fishing guide. There’s a lot more to it than just being a good angler. In fact, some days being a good angler has nothing to do with being a good guide. I have found that being good with people and being a good teacher are often the most important aspects of my job. Being able to meet clients on their level, carry on an engaging conversation, explain things in a way the everyone

ONE COMMON MISCONCEPTION IS THAT ANY GOOD ANGLER CAN BE A GOOD FISHING GUIDE. THERE’S A LOT MORE TO IT THAN JUST BEING A GOOD ANGLER. IN FACT, SOME DAYS BEING A GOOD ANGLER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING A GOOD GUIDE.

can understand without talking down to people, keep spirits high when the bite is tough and not get frustrated, make sure everyone is comfortable and safe. Oh yeah, and putting your clients on fish. These are just some of the things I had to learn over the years. There is a lot that goes into a successful guided trip beyond just catching fish. Most days, fishing is the easy part. Being able to anticipate the needs of my clients is some days harder than others. To be successful, you need to be a good angler and you need to be good with people. At the end of the day, guiding is a customer service job and we all know how much bad customer service can impact an experience.

IT’S ONLY FISHING. WHY ARE YOU SO TIRED?

Listen to any full-time ice fishing guide long enough and you’ll eventually hear most of them make reference to the “guide grind.” Being an ice fishing Guide is a grind. The days are long, often beginning when it’s dark, and ending when it’s dark, and it’s cold. Anything that is hard when it’s warm out is even harder when it’s cold. I often tell my clients that they could literally just stand still on the ice all day and they’d be tired at the end of the day, just from trying to stay warm.

The average human burns 2000 calories a day under normal circumstances. Being outside on a frozen lake is considered extreme to most “normal” people. Under extreme cold circumstances, you can increase the number of calories burned to around 4000 per day! I wear clothing from Ice Armor by Clam. I wear a base layer, a good two-layer sock system, and have the Rise and Ascent Suits, so I stay warm, but my body is still working to keep my head, feet, and hands warm, plus I’m actively taking care of clients, drilling holes, moving gear, etc. My normal days is twelve hours long, with eight of those hours spent on the ice. By the time I get home at the end of the day of “just fishing” I’m exhausted. After I sting fiver or so days like that together I’m usually cross-eyed I’m so tired. ` Requires ½" drill chuck (see web site for recommended drills) ` Foam float prevents the drill from sinking ` Thermal wrap on light weight aluminum shaft ` Durable composite flighting ` Drill through 36" of ice without extension (12" and 18" extensions available) ` Durable tool steel chipper blades ` Large center point for safer drilling of old holes ` Three sizes available:

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Yes, there is good news. It’s easy to sound dull, discouraging, or ungrateful when clarifying to someone that guiding isn’t as easy as they think. At the end of the day, it’s still a job, and it’s a tough one, but it has many more pros than cons. I may not be able to fish as much as I used to, but I’m on the ice almost every day. I’ve seen more amazing sunrises than I can count, I’ve helped make memories for countless people that will last a lifetime, I have been personally responsible for numerous personal best catches, I’ve had the good fortune of spending days on the ice with some amazing and inspiring people, I’ve made lasting friendships, my work as a guide has introduced me to some of the best people I’ve ever known, and I get to use the best gear on the market. All the work and grinding it out aside, I have the best job on the planet. I’m still trying to figure out how to make being an ice fishing guide easy. Until then, there’s nothing I’d rather be this tired from.

Tim Moore is a full-time professional fishing guide from New Hampshire. He owns and operates Tim Moore Outdoors, LLC. He is a member of the Clam Outdoors and Ice Team pro staff. Visit www.TimMooreOutdoors.com for more information.

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