A guide can be the margin of success and
sometimes failure of your success when you fish new waters. Especially in
Muskie fishing. Why invest in a Muskie fishing trip laying out all that
money on a once in a lifetime trip and when you get to the fishing waters
you wouldn't know where the Muskie fishing is from good to better. Some
guides just guide for money and couldn't care less if you caught a Muskie or
not.
The first time I fished the Florida Keys it was
with the sole purpose of catching a tarpon on a fly rod. Arriving at
Marathon Key, I went to the first local tackle store and inquired on who was
the best tarpon guide in the area. Stu Abt was the name given by the store
owner and a customer who was buying a bucket of live shrimp.
I hired Stu for the next 3 days. He took one
look my outfit and said; "you are trout fly rod fisherman." So I apologized
for the inadequate equipment and told him this was a different kind of
guiding in that he would have to catch the first tarpon. My theory was by
watching him I could learn better than stumbling from one mistake to
another.
After four hours of stalking the flats watching
in all directions for feeding tarpon, Stu poled the boat to within casting
distance in the line of travel he figured the tarpon would take. He was
right; this tarpon came right toward the boat. His knowledge of the tarpon
paid off. He was a super guide.
He hooked the tarpon and within fifteen minutes
the tarpon unhooked and the fight was over. In tarpon fishing, he said you
can expect to land one in six that you hook because of the bony mouth and he
showed me how to super sharpen a hook to cut this loss down. I think it was
with Stu that I first learned the importance of an extra sharp hook.
Soon, Stu had landed a 67 pound tarpon and it
was my turn. Being a fairly good fresh water fly rod fisherman, I felt like
this was my first day in school many years ago. The fly rod had more
backbone than my limber buggy whip and the extra foot in length made me
start fly rodding all over again.
The first tarpon sighted was a good six footer
and he seemed to be making a fool of me as he circled the boat and I made
four casts and never in the right place. He took off and I looked at Stu, he
just said better luck next time.
Finally, I hooked my first tarpon the second
day. It was an 82 pound fish and fought like a demon. After the tarpon was
boated, tagged released, I was a tired as the tarpon because he atayed near
the boat for 10 minutes before taking off. I was really hooked with fly rod
fishing for tarpon.
Stu Abt today holds the fly rod world record
tarpon, a 162½ pounder. He started setting the fly rod world records back in
the 50’s and has held 8 different world record fly rod catches in addition
to the present world record tarpon.
Three years later fishing the very same waters,
Stu taught me to fly rod for big tarpon. I took a l23½ pounder which I still
haven't topped. I mention this to show the value of a good guide. He could
have taken me. out fishing and let me waste three days trying to catch a
tarpon. Instead he chose to teach me when. I suggested he catch the first
tarpon.
We always made it a habit when fishing new
waters to hire the best guides in area and I would fish with my guide and
Bets would fish with her guide. This really paid off and Bets and I would
make bets of $5.00 on which boat caught the biggest Muskie. This was a come
on to get the guides interested in our fishing rather than just piloting the
boat for the day. We found by having the guide fish along with you, you got
to fish the better waters. After all, he wanted to catch fish if you had him
fish with you.
When
I guided, I preferred individual guide parties and could give a better
accounting of fishing waters because I had the rod in my hand and could tell
where the lures were at all times. Trolling has a greater margin of success
if you are holding the rod. You know where your lure is and how well it is
performing. This way you can better regulate the speed of the boat to match
lure action In this way, many more Muskie were caught and some sizable
Muskie hooked that otherwise might not have been hooked.
The casting guide parties were always taken to
the most productive waters and it was their fishing that produced the
strike. My eyes were always watching the feeding Muskie, the birds over a
weed bed and the surfacing Muskie. Adjustments were made as soon as these
type of movements occurred. Nothing was overlooked as my publicity came from
the success of the guide party as well as my personal success.
A father and son team fished with me one day
and the boy had a deformed arm. I suggested trolling for Muskie, but the
father said the doctor suggested fishing and casting to help the boy’s arm.
After an hour, the boy sat down and had to give up. I told him that I would
do the casting and he could do the retrieving until he had had enough. We
then trolled for two hours and still no Muskie.
The boy suggested casting again and I headed
for one of the better productive areas. They cast for an hour and the boy
laid down the rod again. He had all the casting he could take. So once
again, I picked up the rod and cast and he retrieved. By now, I would put
the rod in the rod holder and he just cranked in the lure. It was getting
late and I had already gone a half hour over my usual quitting time. I was
dead set in having the boy catch a Muskie and probably would have stayed out
until dark in trying.
It was then that I saw a Muskie working near
shore searching a weed bed: he was feeding. With the weeds, I chose a
Jitterbug in frog finish and dropped the lure a bit over ten feet in front
of the Muskie. He hit and I set the hook handing the. rod to the
boy. Even now I can describe the joy in this
boy’s eyes as I was watching him land the Muskie more than I was watching
what 'the Muskie was doing. He finally landed a sixteen pound Muskie. As he
stroked its head he fairly jumped up and down with joy. Finally he turned to
his dad and said: "Let's get this Muskie mounted so I can show the kids at
school." The fish was mounted and the boy had his day in school at a class
where they discussed their summer vacation.
I guided this father and son team for the next
two seasons and the boy’s arm was showing improvement. This type of guiding
you will never forget and you do your best to produce…Of course, there were
parties you would like to forget.
Two sportsmen from Philadelphia arrived and we
went out for Muskie. They had fishing emblems covering their jackets and
they looked like walking billboards. To hear them talk, they fished from
pole to pole and caught many records. After comparing their supposed records
with actual records in the record books that evening, I couldn’t find them
listed. But who cares…fishermen all like to brag a bit and the biggest fish
are caught after a few drinks or in the tap room.
Three hours and no success. One guy suggested
changing lures and picked up one of the many home made Muskie-bug plugs I
had with me in the boat. The other guy picked one identical. So we switched
lures and went back to fishing.
While trolling, I noticed a good Muskie chase a
bass near a weed bed at the shore side of a reef. Had we been casting, it
would have been easy. We were trolling, so I figured if I let out line on
both rods another 30 feet I could make a wide swing with the boat and not
disturb the Muskie and then by straightening out the lines I could run them
past the area close enough to maybe get a strike.
It worked and the one fisherman set the hook in
a good Muskie. Now with the extra line out on the other rod, I had to
operate the boat so as no to tangle his lure with the hooked Muskie. In
doing so, the other fisherman said he had a strike and set the hook…nothing,
so I figured his lure struck bottom. By now, the Muskie was getting the
better of the other fisherman because he slacked off on the drag and the
Muskie just took line.
I quickly reset the drag, but by now it was a
hopeless mess. The Muskie had wrapped around the other line and the other
fisherman said he had a strike on his line. To make a long story short, this
32 pound Muskie had one plug in his throat and another wrapped around his
head.
Both fishermen realized that this Muskie was
over 25 pounds and could qualify for a "Field & Stream|" pin. Neither would
concede that the other caught the Muskie, so made me untangle the lines. My
judgment was that the first strike hooked was the one that caught the
Muskie. Over an hour later, my theory was right…the first strike caught the
fish. Now listen to this. The second fisherman said the first one couldn’t
qualify on the Muskie because he assisted in landing the Muskie.
A guide can make or break the success of the
fishing trip, so even though you hired him, you will have to devise some
method to make him think kindly of you an another fisherman. Most guides get
into a rut and are happy when the day is over. I found that stating that you
heard of his good reputation from someone who caught a Muskie while out with
him gets results…offer him a bonus for an exceptional catch while he is
guiding. Always at like a beginner and have the guide show you how to catch
the fish. Over the years, I have learned a lot of fishing ways that I
probably would never have found on my own.
Always hire a guide in new fishing waters. If
you spend a few days or 2 weeks in an area, it is a good idea to hire a
different guide a few days later and make comparisons. Then you can go it
alone. Your catch will improve and the knowledge you gained just might help
you catch a big Muskie.
I have had good guides that went all out to
help me catch Muskie and I have had Indian guides in Canada that got lost on
the water and it was only because I had the foresight to make mental
markings along the way that we found our way back. Always hire a guide by
his reputation, be friendly and don’t hope by hiring him that you will catch
the biggest Muskie. Give him and incentive, like a bonus, if you catch an
exceptional fish. Remember, your attitude and make a good guide for the day!
