So, You Want to Be An Ice Fishing Guide?

PHOTO: Tim says if the scenery doesn’t make the job worth it, the people sure do.

By Tim Moore
Contributing Writer

For most of my childhood, my dream was to be a professional hunting and fishing guide. My dad loved to fish, and fishing had been in my family for more than five generations before that. I grew up watching shows like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (I’m dating myself) and a host of fishing shows, and fishing with my dad every weekend and many weekday evenings. I dreamed of one day guiding people for a living. As I got older, my passion for fishing grew and I began to spend more time dreaming about the guide life. Eventually, through lots of work and a ton of help, I opened a guide service. Now, fifteen years later, I spend a lot of my time dispelling some of the many myths associated with being a full-time guide.

It Must Be Nice To Fish Whenever You Want
If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone tell me how lucky I am that I get to fish every day, I’d be loaded with nickels. Honestly though, I thought the same thing at one point. Part of the reason I wanted to be a guide is because I thought it would enable me to fish every day. The problem is, in order to be a full-time guide, I need to run trips at least five days a week.
If you’re guiding five days a week for a number of years, by the time you get a day off you have too much maintenance work to do to fish. If you’re as busy as you need to be, you can also forget about fishing with your friends on the weekends, because weekend days are always the first to book. At the end of the day, I’m self-employed, which means if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. I have lost track of all the fun things I have had to pass up because I had already taken a deposit on a trip for that day.

How Hard Can It Be?
One common misconception is that any good angler can be a good fishing guide. There’s a lot more to it than just being a good angler. In fact, some days being a good angler has nothing to do with being a good guide. I have found that being good with people and being a good teacher are often the most important aspects of my job. Being able to meet clients on their level, carry on an engaging conversation, explain things in a way the everyone can understand without talking down to people, keep spirits high when the bite is tough and not get frustrated, make sure everyone is comfortable and safe. Oh yeah, and putting your clients on fish. There is a lot that goes into a successful guided trip beyond just catching fish. To be successful, you need to be a good angler and you need to be good with people.

It’s Only Fishing. Why Are You So Tired?
Being an ice fishing Guide is a grind. The days are long, often beginning when it’s dark, and ending when it’s dark, and it’s cold. You could literally just stand still on the ice all day and they’d be tired at the end of the day. The average human burns 2000 calories a day under normal circumstances. You can increase the number of calories burned to around 4000 per day on the ice! Even though I am dressed warm, my body is still working to keep my head, feet, and hands warm, plus I’m burning calories taking care of clients, drilling holes, moving gear, etc. My normal days is twelve hours long, with eight of those hours spent on the ice. By the time I get home at the end of the day of “just fishing” I’m exhausted. After I string five or so days like that together I’m usually cross-eyed I’m so tired.

The Good News
Yes, there is good news. It’s easy to sound dull, discouraging, or ungrateful when clarifying to someone that guiding isn’t as easy as they think. At the end of the day, it’s still a job, and it’s a tough one, but it has many more pros than cons. I may not be able to fish as much as I used to, but I’m on the ice almost every day. I’ve seen more amazing sunrises than I can count, I’ve helped make memories for countless people that will last a lifetime, I have been personally responsible for numerous personal best catches, I’ve had the good fortune of spending days on the ice with some amazing and inspiring people, I’ve made lasting friendships, my work as a guide has introduced me to some of the best people I’ve ever known, and I get to use the best gear on the market. All the work and grinding it out aside, I have the best job on the planet. I’m still trying to figure out how to make being an ice fishing guide easy. Until then, there’s nothing I’d rather be this tired from.