YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF GINK
words + photos by Reid Baker
AFTER I HUNG UP THE WADERS ON MY FULL TIME GUIDE CAREER, I FELT THE INTENSE NEED TO MIX THINGS UP.
18
I
spent years walking the same handful of rivers with clients, and found that what had made me successful as a guide— predictability and consistency—was impacting my overall enjoyment as a “civilian” angler. Simply put, I had lost that thrill factor you get when seeing a river for the first time. Though I had a couple of destination trips planned throughout the year, what I really needed was a fresh way to approach the waters in my home state. At one point early in my guiding days I had been logging commercial miles as a whitewater raft and float fishing guide. I was also fortunate enough to have a number of friends who owned boats throughout the years, but I was always at the mercy of their schedules. It didn’t take me long to conclude that a craft of my own would open me up to a refreshed