The infrastructure of guiding has changed in drastic ways. When I started guiding, the old structure of networking with hotel owners, fly shops, bait and tackle shops, local marinas — That is how I found my guests.

That was how business was done. It required meeting people and gaining their trust. In essence, I promoted my guide service the same as in the era of railroads and city-slickers and other “sports” coming to vacation in the Adirondack wilderness a century-and-a half ago.

Guides, outfitters, and charter captains now must seek the promotion of internet “fishing trip” brokers who have learned how to dominate the search engines. Folks, I assume, who spend far more time in front of a PC than on the water.

Ten years ago when these enterprises started to pop up I paid no attention. Now, they dominate the internet and make money off guides in a form of extortion.

To eke a modest living from the trade of guiding, modern day guides must be computer savy, social media gurus. Existing as an experienced licensed guide — possessing the knowledge and skills to provide a safe, enjoyable, and successful experience in the outdoors — is not enough. Those important attributes have become only a part of operating a successful guide service.

Prominence in hunting and fishing, being personable and safe, constitute the most important aspects of a sporting guide. But today, for many, social media is the catalyst — the backbone — of their existence.

A passion for fishing and hunting created Upstate Guide Service. As like most professional guides, I grew up hunting and fishing. My father took the time to teach me what he had learned. Things like how to read a trout stream. Where to put a tree stand. How to discern safe ice from unsafe ice. When to pull the anchor. When to get the hell off the lake. And when not to launch the boat at all. Important skills. Skills I learned at an early age. Skills I have grown and rely upon today.

 

What I sell you cannot buy. You can only experience.

That satement is the basic foundation of this new and perplexing term; Sustainable Tourism. The lakes and rivers, fish and game, are not a retail product for sale. Not a resource one can possess. They are the prize of a day spent afield or afloat.

Everyone should have the opportunity to experience these places. Helping people to do just that is what guides do. That is where a guide finds the satisfaction in the craft — the art — of professional guiding.

Providing safe, enjoyable, and successful sporting trips in the natural environments of Upstate New York is what I take pride in. It is a simple goal and I work hard to accomplish it on each and every trip.

These days, however, it seems a work-ethic, experience, and good instinct are not enough when competing with the clickbait, eye candy, and imaginary world of social media and the internet. A world where anyone can invent themselves into anything.

There exists nothing more juxtaposed than social media and nature. A statement which makes me appear old and out of touch.

Search Engine Optimization and “keywords” offer capitalism a whole new set of tools. In the end it is just business. I suppose. Being an old guide can make one rough around the edges. A byproduct of the lifestyle.

When my back aches hoisting an anchor chain, or dragging a sled on the ice, I remember what a good friend once said to me; “Old guides make the best guides”. I think he is right.