114 Days as a First-Time Fishing Guide on Haida Gwaii

From The Wild Ways Podcast · 19:28

Show by Lyman Miller

Season 2 of the Wild Ways Podcast is here, and we're back to weekly episodes.After eight months off air, I'm sharing where I've been. This spring I got the chance to go to Haida Gwaii and spend the summer as a fishing guide at one of the best-known fishing lodges in Canada. I'd fished the ocean my whole life but had never been paid to take people out. That turned into 114 days of 14-hour days, big kings, and a lot of learning.In this episode:- Getting dropped into a remote lodge and learning the water in the first 10 days- Why guiding is "a marathon, not a race" and how I got through the grind- What guides actually celebrate (hint: it's not how many fish you kill)- Orcas, humpbacks, salmon sharks, and the sea lions that "nuke" your fish- What I learned from guests, many of them CEOs and business owners, after 30-40 hours on a boat- Going off the grid: from 5-6 hours of screen time a day to 15 minutes- The 2026 season report: Chinook, coho, halibut, ling, and where the big kings have gone- Would I go back?- What's next: a full winter on the trapline, documentedChapters00:00 Cold open - sea lions00:20 Welcome back - Season 200:50 Guiding on Haida Gwaii02:16 Getting there & the first 10 days03:24 A marathon, not a race05:28 Chasing big kings06:34 Adventure every day on the water07:32 The guests08:50 Off the grid - no screens09:54 2026 season fishing report11:30 Orcas, sea lions & salmon sharks13:44 The other guides14:33 Would I go back?15:49 Takeaways - discipline16:22 Winter trapline plans18:34 Wrap-upNext week: we're talking trapping and getting ready for the winter trapline season.Get the Trapline Report, one email a week from the line: thewildways.ca/communityWatch the episode on YouTube: Wild Ways Podcast (@wildwayspodcast)More at thewildways.ca

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