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By BRENT FRAZEE

I remember an old fisherman who obviously would have flunked Dale Carnegie’s course, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

To put it simply, he was obnoxious. He would show up at the marina and boast to anyone who would listen. He bragged about any and every thing.

“I can catch a 5-pound bass on this lake any time I go out,” he said.

When someone would come in, excited about catching his personal best bass, he would deflate them by saying, “There are a lot bigger fish in here.”

He would constantly argue with others about the best lures or patterns to use. And he ridiculed others when they came in and admitted they had only caught a few fish that day.

WHY NOT GO PRO?

It was all I could do to keep from laughing when a few brave souls got sick of his boasting and said, “If you’re that good, why don’t you go pro?”

He had an excuse, of course. “I’m just too busy with my job to spend all that time on the road.” golden rules about winning friends and influencing others. “What does that have to do with fishing?” you might ask.

It got to the point where people, myself included, would avoid him when he would come in.

In a way, though, he taught me an important lesson. Nobody likes a braggart. In fishing, it’s put up or shut up.

A pro I once interviewed told me an amusing story about a fellow competitor who would always brag about catching the heck out of bass during practice and how he was a lock to win the tournament. Curiously, that guy would never catch fish once it counted, and he finished far down the list in the final standings.

Don’t be that guy.

But examining his list of 30 principles could help you become a better angler by making friends and getting help rather than disdain from others.

A few of his suggestions struck home for me:

• Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.

• Become genuinely interested in other people.

• Be a good listener; encourage others to talk about themselves.

• Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

• Know that the only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

• Praise

• Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

What Top Guides Do

Some of the best guides I have met indirectly followed these suggestions.

They praise others and make a big deal over the success of their clients. They make them feel important.

They are good listeners. They want to learn more about the person at the other end of the boat.

They always let their clients take the first cast at good-looking spots, and often don’t fish at all when the bass or crappies

Conversely, I’ve seen guides who act selfishly, like their goal is to catch fish themselves rather than put their clients first. They communicate little with the novice fishermen in the boat, figuring they could learn by following the guides’ example.

They end up catching many fish, hitting most of the best spots themselves. Their clients don’t fare as well and leave frustrated.

I remember one guide who likened guiding to babysitting. “What a terrible attitude,” I thought.

He’s not in business anymore.

I try to remember these things when I take others out on the lake I live on. I get to fish whenever I want; they get to fish on this private lake only when invited. My goal isn’t to show off and catch as many bass or crappies as I can. My goal is for them to have one of the best trips of their lives. It doesn’t always work out that way, of course. But I would much rather see them catch a big bass than do it myself.

Brent Frazee is an award-winning writer and photographer from Parkville, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City. He spent 36 years as the outdoors editor of The Kansas City Star before retiring in 2016. He continues to freelance for magazines, websites and newspapers.

I go back to Carnegie’s