History

How I got into guiding began simply while I was fishing on Lake Scugog as a 13-year-old boy. I had rowed out in a 12' aluminum boat that my grandparents, who lived on the lake, had purchased for me. I pushed up into a very shallow bay and began casting. It wasn't long before a new lure I had been given for Christmas was catching bass like I had never seen before. I was truly in my glory. I didn't realize that I was being watched. Two anglers in the most beautiful bass boat I had ever seen yelled out to me. They wanted to know what I was doing to catch all of the big bass. So I told them. After seeing the bait that I was using and realizing they weren't carrying anything of the sort, they shouted an offer out to me. "We'll give you $10 for that bait right now.” I couldn't sell it. Though $10 would likely have bought three new ones - I had been given this bait for Christmas. Realizing that I wasn't going to part with the wonder lure they asked if I could show them what I was doing. They wanted me to hop in the boat with them and show them how to catch bass for a big tournament they had coming up. I couldn't believe it! A chance to fish out of this bass boat? Wow. In a panic, I told them that I would have to row back and ask permission from my grandmother. I think I got that little boat up on plane rowing it back to my dock! I ran up the hill to the house and, while out of breath, I tried to explain the situation to my grandmother. Had she known that I was hopping in a boat with a couple of strangers, I am not so sure things would have gone they way they did. With permission to go and the biggest smile I had ever had on my face I loaded my gear in their boat and spent the day showing them as much as I could. They caught some bass and at the end of the day they left me on the dock with my gear.  A quick  wave good-bye and I never heard from them again. But did I have a story to tell!
 

I shared my fishing story with everyone. It was my grandfather that pulled me out of my bliss. He said, "Chris if these guys were going to buy your bait and then take you on the lake so you could show them how to catch fish... why wouldn't you have charged them for it?” An entrepreneur was created and my guiding days had begun. Little did I know that two years down the road I would be guiding full time for my summers for many years to come. In fact it was two years later that I would guide a fellow by the name of Gerry. He was looking for results to get him into the Shimano Cup. We had a great day on the water and little more than a week later I heard back from him again. "Chris, my partner can't fish this tournament. Would you be free to fish it with me? No cost obviously, and I will get you a bunch of tackle from my sponsor to boot." That same smile from two years ago was back. After I rolled my tongue back into my mouth I replied with an enthusiastic YES. We didn't place in that tournament but I followed it up with further tournaments in Bass'n'tario, Pro Bass and later Top Bass.

My tournament fishing dream had finally become a reality. I say FINALLY as I had been waiting for this moment for years. You see, I was very lucky in that I grew up on a farm with a seven-acre bass pond. A fish on every cast. I swear. I caught more bass in that pond in a year than most anglers would catch in a lifetime. I caught the fishing bug here. A perfect situation for an eager young kid to do so. I used to save my allowance for an entire year so that I could go to the Sportsmen Show and spend it all. The first year I went to the show I found myself in Barklay's. I was eyeing a bottle of Berkley Strike fish scent for bass. It was going to take a big chunk of my money that I had saved but I believed in fish scent and knew that I would have better luck with it. I bought it. The funniest part is that I never did use it. I couldn't bring myself to.
 

Why waste this product on a body of water where success was a sure thing? So I saved it. For years. I was going to use it when I got into tournament fishing. When THE day finally arrived there were other "New and Improved,"products for sale but I held onto that bottle of fish scent. With the history in it I just couldn't let it go. I still have it to this day. I am afraid to
open it now. It's likely completely rancid. I don't care though. I'll keep it for years to come.

`

[ home ] [ history ] [ bio ] [ referrals ] [ packages ] [ rates ] [ gallery ] [ writing ] [ kids events ] [ sponsors ] [ boat finder ] [ videos ] [ local weather ] [ calendar ] [ affiliation ] [ recent news ] [ contact ]

[ DT Power Sports ] [ Lund ] [ Premier Marine ] [Quaker State ] [ Lowrance ] [ Exide ] [ Set The Hook ] [ Spike-It ] [ The Scugog Standard ] [ Rapala ] [ Aqua-Vu ] [ Navionics ] [ Tourneyshirts ]