This gig has changed me in a lot of ways. Many of them for the better. One of the things it has helped me find about myself is this high energy I have. I don’t like to sit still and most things bore me. It is both a blessing and a curse.

I chased adrenaline before guiding fishing but found it still wasn’t enough. The mountain top is only so much of a trophy. Most things weren’t fast enough. Being younger I wanted things quicker. Skiing helped but is only a few months of the year and requires just as much if not more logisitics and gear to do right.

Fly fishing and guiding it gives me all the things I need to satiate the adrenaline junkie in me. Gives an outlet for the energy. It has all these pieces and parts that work together. It keeps the brain constantly stimulated. Guiding has the added physical challenge of rowing a boat and working the brain for two anglers. I find its one of the only things that will actually tire me out. Both physically and mentally.

Its also one of the only things that gets me out of bed some days. After all these years and all the days it still calls to me, has that effect on me. Of all the things I have tried and done, fly fishing is the only one that has stuck. It makes sense to me. I feel the river, the life, the rythym. It didn’t come naturally. I developed it, constantly fine tuning it. It took time and work. While some around me thought it was a waste of time, or that I was just fishing…its never just fishing. Some may never really understand.

All that time and work ‘fishing’ has paid off though. I am busier than I ever have been business wise. There is constant growth on that side. To a point where its surprising and almost overwhelming…a place I haven’t been with the business for a few years.

On the fishing side of things. The challenge is still there. But I find my personal angling skills have improved the past two seasons. I land more fish. I play them better, and I have been privileged to have landed some of the bigger fish I get into. I also find success in really challenging situations, tight drift lines, crazy presentations, picky fish.

Guiding its always changing and challenging. I miss that part of the work and am looking forward to what the season brings. Adding new things, new methods, and getting onto other bodies of water with clients is in the mix this season for clients. That and chasin trout like we do here on the Yak. Its only 2 weeks out from my start of the ‘guide season’. Having that outlet for my energy can’t come quick enough.

Fishing 3-6 days a week. Tying for the upcoming hatches, rowing the boat and getting the body back into it. Feeling the river, getting back into that rythym. Giving the mind and body something to do and work on. The boredom goes back to minimal levels. The days blur into fish, and people, and the river.

See ya riverside anglers

Tamarack