04-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 11
around feedback and are
fantastic teachers who lead
with a positive approach.
Now that we have
established that guides
vary in their approaches,
I would like to address
how different their client
approaches can be.
For this purpose, I have
categorized guides into
three categories, the great,
the effective, and for me,
the “no thanks”.
THE GREAT
The first guide type, the
Great, is without question
my favorite. Though
their goal is to put you
on fish, they are more
concerned with providing
an experience and making
sure that their clients
have a great time. This is
the approach that makes
fishing fun and the type
of guide to fish with,
regardless of how “fishy”
they might be. I highly
recommend that you
seek this type of guide as I
guarantee that you will fish
with them again and again
and laugh every time. They
tend to be a lot of fun, laid
back, funny, and willing
to teach you little things
that allow you to become a
better fisherman. Rarely will
this guide correct you with
sharp criticism. They have
generally honed their skills
THE EFFECTIVE
The second type of guide,
the effective, tends to be
more intense and highly
competitive. This guide is
all about catching limits
and will put in a long day
to make this happen. I
feel that an angler can
learn a lot from this type
of guide, but often the
experience can be intense,
and the fisherman might
leave feeling inadequate
and exhausted. This is a
tough one because the
experience itself is not
necessarily laid back and
enjoyable, but the outcome
is often good, and you
learn new skills. I have not
entirely determined the
best approach to use with
this type of guide, but I
feel like you should give
them feedback on their
approach and define the
limits of your expectations.
It is a toss-up whether I
fish with this type of guide
more than once, but again,
they tend to be very good
fishermen, and much can
be learned while fishing
with them.
THE "NO THANKS..."
The third is the guide,
whom I call the “no thanks”,
who wants to put you on
fish and get you back to the
launch or dock as quickly
as possible. I tend to avoid
these types. As an example,
I recently had a guide in
Alaska who asked us to be
at the ramp at 3:45AM. No
big deal for me, but a bit
tough for my 17-year-old
son. I inquired about going
an hour later and the guide
responded by telling me
that he had six fish in the
freezer and would be happy
to give them to us if we
wanted to sleep in. Really?
Did he think that we were
only going out to fill the
freezer? Needless to say,
I will not be fishing with
this guide ever again. As
you can see from my story,
this guide has little interest
in the experience that he
or she provides, and I feel
that their approach is very
self-serving. Fishing with
this type of guide is why I
started writing!
With social media
prevalent, it is much easier
to find a guide today who
meets your requirements
and expectations. It is also
much easier to determine
client approval ratings
before you spend money
fishing with someone who
is only going to disappoint
you. This makes things
better, but it also does not
tell the story of who the
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