They say that in business 20% of your customers make up 80% of your business, or something like that, and I've found that in the guide world that holds true as well. After 30 years of rowing driftboats, and 12 years now as a full time salmon and steelhead guide, I've developed some very close friendships with some of the people I've had the chance to fish, and though we may only see each other once a year, we seem to pick up right where we left off the year before.
Those people are like Drew and his Father Mark. Drew is one of those who is obsessed with fishing. I first fished with Drew and Mark 2 years ago when Mark booked a trip for Drew for his birthday that comes every year in October. Our first year together was a horribly slow coho year and the only fish caught were two late summer run steelhead that Drew caught pitching a Blue Fox spinner into riffles, what I noticed that day was that Drew was just one of those fishy people, he had it and had it bad. Well I fished with Drew and Mark again yesterday, this was our third year of fishing together centered around Drew being another year older. This year has been a great coho year, Drew and his Father mark took turns hooking and fighting fish, even managing to put some of those fish in the box. While we spent the day catching coho, life seemed to have picked up right where we left off from last year, Drew updated me on his out of control retriever that loves to eat off the counter, it was almost as if no time had passed at all, even though a year had passed.
While I love to end the day with a fish box full of fish, it's these friendships that have become the most rewarding, my attorney friends in Montana who a year ago one of them become a father to twins, I could go on forever with just such people who have not only fished with me but have enriched my life, and through things like social media we're able to stay updated with each other.
Being a fishing guide has been rewarding in ways I definately didnt expect, and to those of you who keep fishing with me I cant thank you enough, my dream job would not be what it is without you......
