The First Guide Job.
©
Tim Tipton 2022
Living
and Working in the Smokies
Just before I left
to go to guide school in Montana, I signed up for an email list that keeps you
updated on guide jobs open in the United States, Canada, and Alaska. While I was
intrigued with the Rocky Mountain west, and working in Alaska was pure romance,
I needed to be a realist. I had a young grandson, who was going to have a
little sister in a few months. I needed to be within reasonable driving distance of
home. We also needed to be in a place where my wife, a Registered Nurse, could
find work as a travel nurse. Things all came together perfectly through one of
the emails from the guide jobs page. There was a guide service that had a need
for more guides, and they were based in the Smoky Mountains.
I had been going
to the Smokies since I was a child. When I started fly fishing, my wife, kids,
and I would go there at least once a year and sometimes more. I would wake
up early and get four or five hours of fishing in, get back to camp or the
hotel, depending on our chosen accommodations, and the family would be ready to
do tourist things. I knew the park and its fishing well, and it was only a four-and-a-half-hour
drive from home.
Before I left for
Montana, I called the number of the guide service and left a voicemail for the
owner. He called me back later in the day and we talked for about 15 minutes.
It sounded promising and he told me to call him back after I returned from
Montana.
When I returned
home from guide school in mid-March, I called the owner of the guide service again. I got voicemail once more, which disappointed me, but I left a message
anyway. Later in the afternoon, I went to buy a part for my wife’s car. While I
was getting ready to walk in the auto parts store, I received a phone call that
would change my immediate future. It was the owner of the guide service calling
me. We conducted a 30-minute interview, and I was offered my first job as a
genuine fly fishing guide in the Smoky Mountains while sitting in the parking
lot of the local AutoZone. I was so excited I immediately left and drove home
to tell my wife. I didn’t even go inside the store to get the part I needed. I
would have to come back later.
The good news
about guiding in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) was that I had
20 years of experience fishing here. The bad news was those years added up to
about 6-to-10 days a year. I knew the park and its fishing, but I really didn’t
know it the way I needed to in order to take paying clients. I produced a plan,
where I drew on my experience of writing about and sharing a boat with some of
the best professional bass tournament anglers in the world. I would practice on
these streams like a tournament pro practiced during the official practice periods.
I started driving
to the park each morning. Driving along a lot of the streams. I would use pullouts along the water, get out and make a few casts in various pools. I would
throw a size twelve dry fly with the hook cut off. I was looking for bites.
Every time I found a pool where I got a lot of action, I would mark it on my
GPS. It worked. When I was finally able to start taking my own clients, I was
confident because had numerous spots I could put them. Being confident in
yourself is important when dealing with clients and this pre-fishing I had done
really paid off.
I also felt at
home in the Smokies. There seemed to be a spiritual connection between me and
these mountains. Eventually, I would realize why.
These southern
Appalachians feel like home to me. I’ve never lived here, but there is a strong
family and spiritual bond when I am here. My roots are in these mountains. My
ancestors resided in the mountains of Cherokee, NC, and Cades Cove in
Tennessee. They worked in the coal mines of eastern Kentucky, Virginia, and
West Virginia. They had the names of Patton, Davis, Tipton, and Haynes, among
others. I always feel a sense of home when I am in these mountains. It also
helps to comfort me to know these mountains are full of bears, deer, turkey,
moonshine, and most of all, wild trout.
So, I became a fly
fishing guide. Something I would have not thought of back in the days of my
youth. Still, I wouldn’t have traded these experiences for the world. Getting
to work in the Smokies each day was a treat that never got old. The opportunity
to teach newcomers about the sport was pure joy. Sometimes, when driving into or out of the park during a workday, I would pull off the road and stare out
at some of the gorgeous views that the park offers. It never got old.
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