With an honest-to-goodness blizzard about to dump 6-12 inches of snow on us, I’m thinking about fishing destinations.  I thought I would share a trio of guides with folks who may be considering hiring someone.  These three guys are all honest, hardworking, straightshooting guys who work hard for their clients and have showed me some honesty that renews my faith in humans.

#1:  Otis Dempsey of www.grandlakefishingguide.com

I fished with Dempsey a couple of years ago on Grand Lake, Oklahoma for paddlefish.  The day my brother and I went paddlefishing with Dempsey, he had been up a good portion of the night fighting a brush fire as a volunteer firefighter.  Although I was named “Lucky” by Dempsey on the trip because my luck was less than stellar to begin with, Dempsey kept at it and got me on a 70+ pound paddlefish that eclipsed my older brother’s.  Good man.  He does bass and catfish, too.  And he tells a good story.

 #2: Randall Kirkpatrick of www.fishatl.com

One fine spring break, I happened to be in Atlanta, so I found a day to go out with Randall on Stone Mountain Lake, a horsepower-restricted impoundment nearby, after largemouth bass.  Randall is a tournament angler and very smart bass fisherman.  His service even included picking me up at my hotel in Atlanta.  Of course, my luck (see “Lucky” above) caused us to be fishing in late March in light snow.  I went wayyy south (for a northerner) and all I got was the same weather as home!  Though we didn’t catch much, Randall taught me a lot about bass fishing and patience, and the severe cold front was obviously to blame for the slow fishing.  In spite of the tough bite, I enjoyed myself immensely.

#3: Doug Komrosky of www.hilinecharterfishing.com

Doug’s domain is Fort Peck Lake in MT, one of the best walleye (and pike and salmon) factories around.  Since “Lucky” is my name when I hire fishing guides, the day in June my daughter and I showed up to go fishing with Doug, there was a small craft warning and gusts way past 35 mph.  Even though it was a day most people were staying off the water, Doug found us some sheltered spots around the dam and tried to find us some walleye.  He didn’t turn any up on the graph, so we packed it in and Doug didn’t charge us a dime.  I believe his statement while we were on the water was “I could take you around to a few sheltered spots and pull cranks all day and charge you the full rate, but you wouldn’t be very happy at the end of the day.”  How’s that for honesty?  I hope to go back to fish with Doug on a better day.   Even though we only spent about an hour with Doug, I still got something out of the experience: a good test run in a Warrior that tells me they are one excellent boat for rough water.  

I salute you, real men of fishing genius.  Give these guys a try if you want an honest fishing guide, and tell ‘em “Lucky” sent you.