Tale of two fishermen

2 fishermen plan a trip to the same lake on the same day both having the same equipment. Both have never been to this lake before and the lake is on the larger side and has a reputation for both having decent fish, but hard to figure out. Now, about the fishermen, one is a self proclaimed and proven worlds worst ice fisherman (me), and the other a world renowned ice fisherman (James Holst). How important is having a good guild familiar with this lake? I’m asking not just for myself, but also for others who may be planning a trip to unfamiliar waters and wanting a productive experience. I don’t want to get into a bunch of what ifs, I just want to explore the significance of a guild with price NOT being a factor. In a nutshell, in this situation would a guild make the clown better than the icon without a guild? Would the icon without a guild possibly get skunked?

Guild? Or guide?

Sorry guide, my GED must not be paying off so well when it comes to spelling.

A guide will out fish a pro on most occasions if it is the guide’s home waters and the pro has never fished it. The guide normally fishes this water all year long for many years and knows it like his back yard.

That’s why you generally see James fishing with other people, these individuals have been fishing that particular body of water and know it well.

James doesn’t go to every lake without some info from others and fish blindly.

Yeah, he just reads IDO and uses all the tidbits here he can. Notice he doesn’t post much even though he spills the beans on the show. He just drains the think tank and keeps the rest to himself to keep up that reputation of being a much better angler.

The icon will gather all the information he can, review the lake fish population, lake map, use his experience to decide on where to start. The icon will then drill holes in likely locations and continue to drill and search until they mark fish. If the fish are not active or of the right size structure, they will keep moving.

The icon will not always be able to put together a good show in a one day attempt, but using all his knowledge and information collected, will have a much better chance of getting on fish than the average ice fisherman.

Never underestimate the satisfaction of figuring out the lake (or river) all by yourself.

-J.

Jon, how old are you? As for me, I’m old, there are too many lakes, diminishing time, too empty stomach, not enough knowledge, and many other variables for me to decode every lake or river that I would like to fish. But on the flipside, yes I am trying to be more successful on one particular body of water and am on it every chance in all four seasons. I want to occasionally conquer this lake and so far I’ve dedicated 5 years and along the way have met some very nice people who have taught me alot all without a paid guide. Yes, there is satisfaction even when I fall short, but it’s a work in progress. My original post more related to someone fishing a body of water maybe only once in their lifetime, but still desiring success.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

Jon, how old are you? As for me, I’m old, there are too many lakes, diminishing time, too empty stomach, not enough knowledge, and many other variables for me to decode every lake or river that I would like to fish. But on the flipside, yes I am trying to be more successful on one particular body of water and am on it every chance in all four seasons. I want to occasionally conquer this lake and so far I’ve dedicated 5 years and along the way have met some very nice people who have taught me alot all without a paid guide. Yes, there is satisfaction even when I fall short, but it’s a work in progress. My original post more related to someone fishing a body of water maybe only once in their lifetime, but still desiring success.

Mr. Clown,
Just remember the saying – a bad day of fishing is better than…

P.S. You live in Castle Rock?

No, I do not live near Castle Rock, but my nephew turned me on to it about 5 years ago. He has a place about 10 miles downriver from the dam. He and I live in the Milwaukee Racine area.

James was assisted by 2 guides, Adam Rasmussen and Troy Peterson, in the filming of the show. No doubt James could eventually figure Poygan out but probably not on the deadline of having to put a show together in a few days of shooting.

As I said on your other thread, Poygan has humbled many good anglers.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

Jon, how old are you? As for me, I’m old,

If your birthday in your profile is correct, you are only 2 years older than me. I don’t consider myself old. I’m probably in better shape now than I was at 35. I have a lot of time on the water ahead of me!

-J.

Gregg Pfeifer wrote:

Notice he doesn’t post much even though he spills the beans on the show

I don’t want @jamesholst posting that much, truthfully. That takes away from his ability to produce show, gain/maintain sponsors and keep this site running. Not a cheap venture! The man needs to make some dough to keep us all fed.

Besides, we have the IDO staffers on a lot and they’re fun to poke jokes at while they provide details to methods and other trade secrets.

Clown, you could use your secret weapon….TRENT!!!!

So,what is the bottom line here, is it the capabilities and experience of the fisherman or in involvement of a guide when it comes to fishing unfamiliar bodies of water given a short amount of time to fish. which would you choose if your life depended on it.

A famous man once said,
“The fisherman who thinks he can and the fisherman who thinks he can’t…are both right”!

Confusus?

never run in front of a car, you will get tired. never run behind a car you will get exhausted!!

castle-rock-clown wrote:

So,what is the bottom line here, is it the capabilities and experience of the fisherman or in involvement of a guide when it comes to fishing unfamiliar bodies of water given a short amount of time to fish. which would you choose if your life depended on it.

Guide, every time. I can learn more in a day(or half-day) about a body of water or area, techniques, patterns, and trends that I can apply to the rest of my trip than I ever could in a week or even two on my own.
Experience, knowledge and enough time to put together a working pattern will get me one fish eventually, but it comes down to time. We’d do that in Canada on new water…spend most of the week figuring out the lake and the bite, and finally get it wired just in time to pack it up and head home. In hindsight, I’d have spent the $$ on a day with a guide-it shortcuts all the floundering around figuring it out.
Think of it this way: You have the equipment, and already know HOW to fish. A guide will fill in all those other blanks that only time would fill in…and it sounds like time in this case is not an affordable luxury.
My oh-so humble $.02
-Rev

Man who fishes in other man’s well often catches crabs.

JD Winston wrote:

Man who fishes in other man’s well often catches crabs.

Crab dinner sounds good.

Clown next time we are on the Rock at the same time I will give you some of my time and hopefully fill some empty spaces.

CRC:

Guide… and treat him well, they are invaluable resources!!! Use him a half day during different times of the year and you will figure it out very fast!!!

Mark

Thanks guys, and thanks Ice for the offer, I will take you up on it.

I would go at it alone and If I ended up doing bad that just gets me more fired up to figure it out the next time out.I have found that if I go fishing with someone and they take me to the spots where the fish are biting I dont enjoy myself as much even if we are pounding them.Dont get me wrong I still have fun but it will never top finding and figuring them out for myself.