The last post I wrote was about keeping your truck clean. It was a huge coincidence that I had just cleaned it out and had my boat worked on before bringing it back up to Wolf Creek that I got a random call from Trevor Madden to help him out. I was in the area and had all my gear ready so I took the trip. One boat soon turned into two so with Trevor being out of the area, I told him I'd find a second guide. It turns out, finding a guide in March who has all his stuff together is a little tougher than I thought.
I started calling folks at around 11am on Friday to do the trip on Saturday. One guide was already working and another was waiting on confirmation from an outfitter that never came and a lot of guys I will be using were still in their winter gigs but quite a few guys didn't have their shit together yet so with a little help from Mitch Kowalski, the day went to Stephen Caldwell.
I was about 15 guides deep before getting a call from Mitch about a couple houses we were going to be looking at in Helena. That was the original plan for the weekend but if the chance to make a few bucks this early in the season comes up, you've gotta take it. I told him I was having a tough time finding a second so he made a call and a few minutes later, the day was booked. That's how it should work and as much as I feel like the Canyon has turned into a bunch of high school clicks, I definitely appreciate the relationships with the local outfitters like Mitch and Trevor and all the other guys that aren't so threatened that they are willing to work with each other to provide the best experience possible for their clients. I know Janet Bjornson and her kids had a great time yesterday regardless of the fishing and the weather because, with a little help, I was able to find a quality guide at the last minute.
(As a little reminder to those guys wanting days; get your license and your shit together. You never know when a random trip will come up.)
Janet and her boys decided on Thursday that they might want to take a fishing trip on the Mo so they loaded up the truck and headed down from Alberta. It kind of reminded me of my mom when I was a kid. She used to take my older brother and I out fishing when my dad was working. Granted, we were just heading a half mile to the little neighborhood lake but it's all relative. I think she felt bad because we had just moved up to Minnesota from Iowa and my dad was so busy, he never had the time so she was doing her best to fill the void for us. I'm not sure if she realizes I still remember that but I do.
The weather started out beautifully but with a front moving through, things got a little funky and I think that had an affect on the fish. We did get a nice little brown right out of the gates and I thought it was going to be good but the wind picked up to about 30mph and the conditions got tough. We got a few before lunch and the afternoon was a little better but not great by any stretch. The crew were die-hards though and absolutely made the best of it. Everyone caught a few fish, had a few laughs and learned a lot so I'd say it was a success and I definitely feel blessed for the opportunity to meet a great family and put another quality guide on the roster.
As for the guys I want to work with; the measure of a guide doesn't come from stroking fish when conditions are perfect and fish are happy. It comes from making the most out of tough days when the wind in hollowing and fish hard to come by and when I ask a client how their day went, they don't need to brag about the number of fish they caught but the amount of fun they had.
Keep 'em where they live, Caldwell.
No comments:
Post a Comment