So you want to be a fishing guide? Part 1

  This is part one of who knows how many posts on the dark side of the guided fishing world. Not to be meant as a discouraging ramble, more to show the side most don't think about. Or know. If I had a dime for every time someone says how much fun it must be to be a guide I would be retired now hiring guides to take me fishing. Before you ever even get on the water with a client there is so much to be done. I'm not talking about the pre- fishing prep either. How did that person even get to this point of having a trip scheduled? There are countless hours of "behind the scenes" work. One of the hardest is self marketing. This is where you spend countless hours and even more money "pimping" yourself out. Trade shows and fishing expos are where a lot of long hours are spent in the off season. Here you stick your face in the crowd and shake alot of hands, answer alot of questions and try to convince someone that choosing a trip with you will time and money well spent. For me this is not always a bad thing. I really enjoy talking and sharing with people the fishing they can experience from a kayak. Plus these events are always a chance to catch up with friends and check out some cool fishing stuff. All of this is a shot in the dark that you will make at least enough money to break even or even better make a profit from that show.....

New stuff!

  Being in the kayak world I see a lot of new stuff come and go. Recently I was given a new light to try and write an article on for the Sportsman magazine.The Carbon Pro by Yak Attack left nothing on the the table in the design department. On of the nicest features is that the whole light brakes down and fits conveniently in the storage bag that doubles as a visible flag. With it's 360 degree led lights made by Tek-Tite your visibilty will be seen by others for optimum safety at night.If you are in need of a light or would like to upgrade you owe it to yourself to check with your local kayak store or visit WWW.Yakattack.org

Last weekend.

One of my new addictions is trout fishing on the fly. Fly fishing in its self is one of my personal frustrations. Mostly on my own part because I just do not use the whipping stick enough. Another reason is the fact to get to any good trout fishing waters is a good three hour drive from the beach. Last weekend Cory and myself had the opportunity to attend the South Holston Fly fishing Festival. Ruthless Fishing along with Mountain Sports Ltd were there to share the experience of kayak fishing. Of course we took this as a chance to get some fishing in for ourselves. I don't know what it is about the river that just puts you at ease, but I think that is what draws me back... The River. Again the "river" reared its ugly head and denied me of any trout on the fly. I was able to catch some on spinning tackle with some suspending twitch lures. Ironically enough all of my fish were caught on my Daiwa Coastal saltwater set up. Go figure. Guess the fish gods are telling me something.Saltwater is more in my blood than I thought. Not to be denied, Cory was able to pull a couple of nice fish out of the 40 degree river on the fly. Proving that my personal frustration is still on going....

Getting started

Somehow I wanted to keep track of this crazy life I'm living. Between having a real "job" and a part time guiding job working for Ruthless Kayak Fishing charters, I wanted to be able to make sense of this and share some of my experiences. Not sure if I will ever make sense of it. Thats probably why I keep doing it. Fishing that is. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. The journey so far has been full of ups and downs and will continue I'm sure.

Sharing is one of the things I like most about fishing. If I can help someone not make the same mistakes I've made. Or give someone that extra something they were missing to make fishing more enjoyable. That is rewarding to me. When it stops being fun, challenging its time to play golf or start another hobby. So besides for sharing my own journey on this blog, I hope that I will be able to help someone enjoy fishing more.