What to expect from a Guide...A Guides perspective...By Brian Kaiser

Enthusiasm and a boatload of expectations is usually what I find waiting for me as I meet my clients in the early morning hours. The adrenaline level is high and the hope of catching a Trophy Muskie is circulating through our blood veins.

What realistic expectations should you have when hiring a guide? I can tell you that I too have hired many guides before I started guiding myself. I can tell you that I have a different mind set being the guide as opposed to being the guided. This scenario is similar to that of being a bartender as opposed to being the guy sitting on the other side of the bar drinking a cold one.

A good guide will have the proper equipment when you don’t. The only thing you have to do is show up with a positive attitude and the willingness to learn. A good Guide brings experience and knowledge to the table, his main objective is to put you on fish and show your proper presentations and techniques.

No guide that I know of guarantees you a muskie but he/she should guarantee you an eight-hour day of training. Training is what I call it anyway; you the client are being trained on what to look for, what to do and what not to do. What to do at boat side when a big muskie follows your lure up, proper netting techniques & proper fish handling are just a few things you will be trained on, in simple terms a guide is there to educate you.

Assuming you already have the correct training in these areas you the client should expect your guide to show you locations and help you learn the water. Catching a Muskie is not a easy thing and its certainly not a numbers game, muskie fishing is over glamorized and your guide should be up front about this and explain why there is a saying that muskies are the fish of 10,000 cast.
Besides the cost ask other pertinent questions such as, will there be drinking water on board? Do you have a cell phone in case of an emergency? Is there a first aid kit in the boat? I can’t tell you how many times I had to put a Band-Aid on some ones cut finger.
As a guide I do not expect a tip but I do appreciate one, a tip is when you go above and beyond the average routine and when I receive one I certainly do not give it back.

Guides should be friendly, courteous and hard working, as should you be. Crack a few jokes and enjoy good camaraderie, there is no rule that says you have to talk fishing for eight hours straight.

I do not feel you have to make 10,000 cast to catch a muskie, and a guide should help you minimize this, however there are some weeks that you feel like you made 20,000. This again is a part of the learning curve and I can tell you I am still learning!

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Brian Kaiser
Phone: 218 841 3534
Email: brian@kaisertail.com