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Giving a hand to guiding hands
Outdoors Columnist And then there were five.
Last guiding season, we started with five regular guides and had a fill-in list for times when we had calls for more.
This year, after some offseason changes, we are still at five, but have a couple of new names.
In the guiding business, it's all about "trips." Who has got one, who's next in line, etc. With five regular guides and a good list of fill-ins, there are many guides that would like "trips," and it's my wife's job (at this point) to figure out who is up next.
It's not always easy. It's a juggling act some days/weeks and it can get quite interesting with all the different scenarios. There are requests for quarter days, half days, full days, shore lunches, trips to Mille Lacs, Leech and all around the Baxter/Brainerd/Nisswa/Merrifield/Cross Lake area and surrounding communities.
Some guides know only certain lakes; some are better muskie fishermen than others; some are better at other species.
So you can only imagine the different things that come up throughout the summer. It's a business like no other. Just ask Shelley. The nice thing is that she could be at the grocery store and still be booking a trip - she doesn't have to be at the new office in Nisswa at all times.
Our regular guides are Tim Hanske, Toby Kvalevog, Bruce Meinz, Jeff Anderson and me.
Tim is a good, all-around guide and the fly-fisherman of the crew. He's a newlywed, a college grad, and he loves to fish all the time.
Toby is a school teacher, goalie coach and a tournament walleye fisherman. He's married and has three children and is always tweaking some presentation in an attempt to catch more fish.
Bruce is the veteran of our crew. He's been fishing since before the rest of us were born. He has fished and won many tournaments, worked for Berkley for many moons and is married. He fishes all species and he is the jigger of the crew. Give him a Fire-Ball and a fathead and he can do some damage.
Jeff is the latest addition to our guide service and will be a valuable No. 5 guy. He is a busybody who also lives for this sport of fishing. He is a tournament muskie man and all-around angler who, like the rest of us, just loves to fish.
WALLEYEDAN Eigen may be reached at (218) 839-5598, walleyedan@brainerd.com or www.walleyedan.com
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