Many people envy my being able to work as a fishing guide. Being on the water, catching all those fish. But it’s not all fun. Sometimes it’s work.

Sometimes running around on the boat, attending to customers, untangling lines and trying to keep the boat in a somewhat straight line and off the rocks has it’s own stress. But I always try to keep things light and cheery. It helps having wonderful clients who are having fun and catching lots of fish.

But other times trout are finicky eaters. The fish finder is beeping and marking large schools of fish, but they simply won’t bite. It’s like they are laughing at me. That’s when I want to toss a quarter stick of dynamite into the water, tell my passengers to hold on, and wait for the boom! They wouldn’t be laughing then! No they would be floating to the surface where I could scoop them up in the net. I could then stand on the bough of the boat and proclaim, “I am the king of the world.” But that could be a little scary for my clients.

I know, when the fish start to resist the exotic presentations of a night crawler tipped spinner, trolled after flashers at the perfect speed; I could rip off my clothes, dive into the water and grab those tasty trout with my bare hands. But I am concerned about the reaction of my passengers seeing a 300 pound man surfacing and displaying the catch in a Speedo. It simply could be too much for some of them. I am also concerned about Captain Ahab thrusting a harpoon into my back, claiming he finally got the great white whale.

No, I will simply do my best to trick the fish into attacking my client’s lines. Tell a few jokes, enjoy the beautiful scenery and watch the Osprey dive into the water to pluck out it’s dinner. But that dynamite thing sounds like fun!

See You at the dock.

Ken Bear Cole

Fishing with Bear LLC