My daughter is a huge fan of Dude Perfect. Dude Perfect Website In fact, for her birthday we will be seeing them live at the Scotiabank Centre in July. I too enjoy their stuff, especially their stereotype videos. It got me thinking (dangerous, I know) every fishing or outdoor group probably has “that guy” or those guys. You may even be that guy, I am definitely one of those guys, oh man I am confusing myself now...
The Tackle Junkie
The tackle junkie has every possible lure known to man. You know him. He shows up for an afternoons fishing with 8 combos, 2 large tackle bags and a fresh Bass Pro Bag with some stuff he hasn’t even opened. Its tough to get in a rhythm fishing with the tackle junkie. By the time you have changed your lure to match his presentation he is ready to switch again. The spot is never the issue, it’s all about the right lure, in the right colour, on the right rod. On your fly in trips you need to factor in an extra $20 per person just to cover the weight of his tackle box. Which brings me to:
The Nervous Nellie
This guy is thinking through every situation. No task or detail is too small for Nellie to revisit. Prior to your last fly in he showed up with a digital scale for you and your booze! Nellie has spreadsheets, lots of spreadsheets. These stomach churning, eye straining monstrosities re sent before and after every meeting. You decided to bring cream instead of milk, that’s revision worthy. Hitting the beer store instead of the LCBO in Thunder Bay, Version 7.2.1A just got created.
The Ghost
No, this person doesn’t ignore your texts. This ghost seems to disappear every time there I work to be done. The Ghost seems to wait until just after the meal is done to realize he needs to check in with home or see a man about a horse in order to avoid dish duty. While everyone is scrambling to set up camp the Ghost has conveniently realized he can’t find his phone and spends the next hour looking in the car for it. A signature move: Either at the very beginning of the trip or at the very end The Ghost will volunteer to do the dishes or cook a meal or maybe fill up the gas tanks; for the rest of the trip or as you head into the next one that event will be recalled frequently to ensure the Ghost gets credit. The Ghost you see is crafty and cunning in his quest to avoid the work.
The Opinion
This person has a take on everything. The opinion could be based on his experience, his friends experience, his coworkers experience or his second cousin once removed experience. His hot takes are famous; Walleye bite better in the rain, after a storm, on cold days or hot days or on Tuesdays whereby the date is a number greater than 11. You just wrenched your finger on the outhouse door and The Opinion is there to remind you that “Outhouses are the number one killer in all of the Greater Ontario Region”. Just a you are about to roll through the parks gates it’s this guy who points out to the MNR agent that “Lenient policies are truly the reason behind so many new invasive species” and wonders why you get pulled over and delayed for two hours.
I am sure we have all spent some time with these guys. Heck I am sure many of us are this guy or at least have been that guy for a certain trip (Hint I may or may not be a bit of a Nervous Nellie and a bit of a tackle junkie). In my opinion diversity is what makes the world go around. Let’s face it more than likely the tackle guy put you on to your favorite bait, Nellie saved your butt that time in Algonquin, The Opinion keeps you abreast of world issues and the one time the Ghost gassed up the boats before you got lost saved the day man!
PS - I realize I used the term guy a lot and my apologies if it offended. The people described in the post could be anyone or anything it was just a lot simpler to pick a descriptor and roll with it. Myself and Northern Jacks are proudly inclusive.