Paid-for Fishing

Paid-for Fishing

There are certain things a guy probably shouldn’t pay for, but I guess I’ve decided that it’s OK to hire a fishing guide.   A quick inventory of my paid-for fishing history indicates about 3 weeks on the water, or approximately 0.1% of my life.  I apologize to my family for the expense incurred for the couple of dozen trips I’ve booked, but I have to admit that this 0.1% looms large for me.  In addition to my personal expense account, this time is overly represented in my photo history, memories, and impact on my fishing.

Let me also say that my primary goal for any day I’ve booked is to learn something, so that I’m better prepared to take on the fishery (or some parallel situation) by myself.  So while I’m enjoying the moment, you can be certain that I’m considering future trips and applications at the same time.  My other goal is for my guide to have the best day of his season.  This would indicate that the fishing was pretty good, but as importantly that we clicked as a team, I was prepared for the trip, and I did as much of the fishing as possible.  I also expect that certain fishing opportunities are revealed for the subset of customers that are ready for them, and I wouldn’t want to miss out on those. 

I’ve booked guides for Florida bass, White River (Arkansas) trout, inland stripers, salt-water stripers, blue-water fishing in Florida, and for simple pond fishing.  We’ve always caught fish, and I’ve always gotten something out of the day, but the fishing has rarely been fantastic.  After all, fishing results always average out; it can’t be great every day.  But along the way, I have collected personal bests for bluegills, warmouth sunfish, stripers, sailfish, kingfish, mahi, various snappers and Jack Crevalle.  I’ve also gone eyeball-to-eyeball with a fantastically large brown trout, whipped an 8-foot alligator on bass gear, and been keyed into some fisheries for even better fishing by myself, later.  I also know I’ve only gotten a taste of certain fisheries, and I hope to return to these again.  So the stripers and blue-water fish had best watch out; it’s only a matter of my time and money.  But overall, I’ve been exposed to new species, techniques and tackle, and I feel confident that I’ve gotten what I’ve paid for.

Of course, I’ve worked for that value.  I’ve tried to take care in selecting guides (thank you, Internet and e-mail!), I’ve thought about what I want out of the trip and have conveyed this to the guide; and I’ve learned as much as possible (prior to the trip) about how we’re likely to fish.  Usually when I step on the boat, the actual fishing is somewhat familiar.  Whether it’s my first time free–lining baits for yellowtails, trolling chuggers for mahi, or down-lining for stripers, I’ve been ready to step right into the fishing and produce/enjoy the experience right away.  My preparations before the trips more than paid for themselves in terms of each day’s experience.

A couple of times, plans and/or guides have changed at the last minute based on weather, schedules, etc.  While these trips have been fun, productive and exciting, I can’t say that I’ve appreciated them as much.  So I may have participated in an epic catch of mutton snappers off The Keys, and we did troll up six sails on frozen ballyhoo in 10-foot seas; but I can’t really brag about these trips or extrapolate on them because I was as much spectator as participant.  And other than not losing too many fish, I wasn’t much of a contributor to these trips. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying that these trips haven’t had the impact of some others, simply because my lack of preparation for these particular situations reduced the intensity of my participation in the entire experience.

One aspect of my guides’ collective approach to the day’s fishing that I’ve noticed is simplicity.  Most basically have had one proven system/approach for the day, and many have relied on high quality, fresh bait.  Some of the funnest days have incorporated the food chain; whether it’s been sabiki-mackerel-striper, waxie-sculpin-brown, or shrimp-runner-kingfish, making bait, and then converting that bait into the day’s quarry, is both fun and satisfying.  The simplicity of the offered approach shortens the client’s learning curve and probably results in better catches.  It also relieves the boat from carrying lots of extra gear; less stuff equals more space and greater comfort and success.

Hopefully I’m learning these lessons.  My own fishing here in Michigan rarely utilizes bait and I always have four back-up plans and the gear to support them.   In practice, I’m a pretty versatile, multi-species fisherman, but I’m not a master of any given technique.  I suspect mastery will require me to purge Numenon of all the extraneous gear and focus on the task at hand.  This may or may not happen; I’m trying to have fun, and I have access to many quality fisheries.  Many of these opportunities are open only briefly, and I’ve gotten into the productive habit of “gettin’ while the gettin’s good!”  So the gear is in continual rotation, and I may pound a species for a trip or two, and then not revisit them for quite a while.

I suspect that one should generally do what the guide says.  He does, after all, want you to catch fish.  He can also help with some bad habits you might have developed, so take advantage of his advice, learn and improve!  Take advantage of the guide’s patience to ask questions and to instill confidence that the bites will come.  Think about how you’ll utilize the knowledge/techniques you’re using in your own fishing, and if you have an idea about how your own techniques would work, talk about these.  I’m always trying to cross-reference fisheries and applicable techniques, and the most common response I get from guides regarding techniques is something along the lines of…”Should work.  Don’t see why not.  We just don’t do that around here.”  But if it’s fun, I think it should be on the list of techniques employed.

So I will kite-fish for stripers!  It will probably be a lot of extra work, and it probably won’t result in extra fish, but I imagine that the strikes might be pretty epic.  I also think that the stripers will have a hard time ignoring a mackerel or pogie pinned to the surface in just the right setting.  On a more mundane level, I expect I’ll incorporate planer boards and down-riggers into my saltwater striper fishing; not really ground-breaking stuff, but I just don’t see folks utilizing these tools in the waters I fish.  I may find out why when I try; but I may cash in on what the locals are missing.

I’d also like to thank one guide for the concept of a “Jewish Christmas”.  During a lull in the kingfish bite he told the story of his best ever day guiding.  As I remember it, his client took multiple sails, a wahoo, and a blue marlin.  It was Christmas Day, but not a holiday for his Jewish client.  I take the concept as kind of like an elevated Busman’s Holiday, but I’m always looking for that best, most memorable experience. I wish every day was my Jewish Christmas.  Anyway, can I recommend that you fish when you can, enjoy the bounty provided by whatever force you choose to believe in, and treat every fishing day like it’s a holiday?