BACKLASH
Q&A
JEFF “GUSSY” GUSTAFSON
KEEWATIN, ONTARIO
your professional career in
ontario got off to a different start
than most. When did you get
started?
I started guiding for a resort on
Lake of the Woods at 14 years old.
Though, I wouldn’t say I was really a
professional that first year; more like a
lawn boy. I only guided when the other
guides didn’t show up for whatever
reason.
anyone ever complain they were
getting a kid for a guide?
Oh yeah. The guests would look at
me and then at the owner as if to say,
“Are you kidding me?”
that had to be a bit awkward.
Not really. I mean, I get it. You pay a
lot of money to travel up here and get
a guide. You don’t want to feel like
you’re being cheated.
The owner always told the guests
that if they didn’t catch fish with me
he’d refund their money. No one got
their money back.
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so how’d you get to be a guide
that young anyway?
By then I was fishing every weekend.
I had a 14-foot aluminum boat with a
25-hp motor, a little fish finder and a
paper map. That’s how I learned to nav-
igate and read structure.
Well, the owner had gotten to know
me just from always seeing me around
and fishing tournaments, so I just asked,
and we worked something out.
Walleye tournaments?
No. Bass tournaments. We have a
bunch of local tournaments, and one
big tournament called the Kenora Bass
International.
My first tournament ever was the
Kenora Bass International, actually.
how old were you at that first
tournament?
Ten years old. My parents bought my
entry as my Christmas gift. It’s a team
tournament, so I fished it with my dad.
how’d you do?
Donation.
To be fair, my dad, Jim, wasn’t much
of a bass fisherman. He was mostly
walleye.
He and I fished it every year until I
was 15. I started fishing it with my
buddy, Chris Savage, when I was 16,
and we took second our first year and
won it the next.
By Sean Ostruszka
that has to be one of your favorite
tournaments.
Oh, for sure. Only problem is it’s
usually the same weekend as the Cup.
I’d rather be fishing the Cup. The pay-
out is “a little” bigger. I’d make more
money showing up at the Cup than I
would winning the Kenora Bass
International.
lake of the Woods is a ridiculously
good fishery. Walleyes, small-
mouths, muskies, perch – you
name it. Which is your favorite?
Bass is my No. 1, for sure. I’ve always
lived for the tournaments. I’m a com-
petitive guy.
I like muskie fishing, but it’s not
enough action for me. Walleyes are fun,
too, but it’s always the same, it seems.
Bass are always changing. You have to
figure them out every day.
you’re a fishing and hunting guide,
writer, photographer, television
host, professional angler. did you
ever dream you’d be all this?
Honestly, no. I’m living the dream
right now in my 30s. It’s a lot of hard
work and sacrifice, and I’ll probably
never be rich doing it. But I never want-
ed a Monday-to-Friday job.
flWfIshIng.com I august-september 2018