Despite retiring from his day job with the police service in March, 2000, Denis Barnard still rolls out of bed early most mornings for another day on the job—but there’s a new twist. His work these days involves a boat and fishing gear.
“It’s a little piece of heaven out there on the water,” Barnard said, when explaining what keeps him going. “I’ve always been involved with fishing and I just love it so this doesn’t feel like work.”
Paul Jewiss is another retiree who took on the roll of fishing guide in his semi-retired life, and although getting paid to fish sounds like a fantasy to the thousands of avid anglers out there, it can be downright hard work.
“You are up getting the boat ready at quarter to seven with the gear and what [the clients] want for drinks and so on and then we head out around quarter to eight,” Jewiss said, while talking on his cellphone out on Rainy Lake, fishing with family. “There we just got a fish on, looks like a nice bass,” Jewiss chimes in midway through the conversation.
“Anyway, then we usually try to get them to a spot to see what kind of fishermen you have. If you’ve got good fishermen then it makes your life real easy because you put them on bass and they’ll catch them.”
Jewiss and Barnard obviously live and breathe the sport, and wouldn’t have it any other way, but there’s no doubt pressure inherently comes with the job.
Clients expect you to bring them lots of fish, and if that doesn’t happen they aren’t going to be very happy campers.
“Oh, there’s definitely pressure to get on those fish every day,” Barnard said. “Especially this year with the high water levels, the fish are in different spots so it’s up to you to find them.”
But with their vast fishing backgrounds and tournament successes, both anglers know the area waters well, so adjusting to varying conditions is not an insurmountable task.
“You move spot to spot, the bass come off where they winter so we’re finding spots where they are getting 20 or 30 bass just like that it,” Jewiss commented. “It’s all catch-and-release, too, and to me that is excellent for the fisheries.”
Chris Grandrud, a guide for RainyDaze Guide Service, also said guiding rarely feels like a job.
“[It’s] just the love of fishing and enjoyment of sharing fishing with others,” Grandrud said. “It became my day job two years ago, and was a lifelong dream.”
Grandrud said the process of being a guide is simple enough—at least on the surface.
“First prepare by looking at the map, getting the game plan down based on wind and motivation. Then pick up the guests at the dock, catch fish, [have] shore lunch, fish, [then] bring guests back to the dock.”
Sounds simple, but coming back empty handed is just not an option in this business.
However, hearing the phrase “So long, and thanks for all the fish” makes it all worthwhile for a fishing guide—signalling a job well done until the alarm rings the next morning.
