Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Hanske.
Hi Tim, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Virtually my entire life has been centered around fishing, therefore fishing, family, and friends are my life story. I am fortunate to be on the water and ice as a job. I do open water guiding for muskies, smallmouth, and walleyes, and I do fish house rentals in the winter. I was introduced to fishing at a very young age by my father. I can remember not sleeping the night before fishing trips, and 30+ years later, that still happens! So I was born into a fishing family; we didn’t hunt and spent all of our time on the water and ice chasing fish. It was a lifestyle that set me up to become a professional fisherman with a true passion for the sport.
We lived on a lake, and I can remember being down at the dock all the time with a pole in my hand. Later, I got a little boat with a 25 hp motor, and then I got my driver’s license, and I was driving all over the place, learning lakes and fishing every second I could. I vividly remember the feeling of excitement when getting a bite, and that feeling is what established a deep passion for fishing in my life. That passion has developed into a deeply rooted desire to be on the water chasing fish as much as I possibly can.
During my senior year of high school, I remember talking with a local fishing guide legend named Royal Karels, and by luck, he asked me if I would like to help him out possibly. Not fully understanding what that meant at the time, I quickly agreed. A few weeks later, I remember exactly where I was when he first called me to ask if I could take a fill-in trip for him. I was musky fishing on Lake Alexander and had just gotten a flip phone. I tried to act calm and agreed to take the guided trip on Gull Lake, pick-up at Cragun’s resort. It was a sizeable corporate trip with lots of other established fishing guides in the area. At that point, I was terrified, looking around at all the guys who I looked up to in the area. Eventually, I picked up my customers, acted like I knew what I was doing for 4 hrs, and we caught a bunch of fish! I pulled back into the dock with a massive smile on my face (and my customer’s faces), and that was the beginning of my career as a professional fisherman. I tell that story often and still laugh, reflecting at how that one day had such a HUGE impact on my life path! I had no idea at the time what I was getting myself into!
After that, I got lucky, and my name started being brought up more as a good fill-in guide to use. I did a few trips that summer and was one of the happiest guys on the planet! I was a young local guy getting paid to take people fishing. Eventually, I began doing some fill-in trips for Dan Eigen, owner of WalleyeDan’s Guide Service in Nisswa, MN. The following season rolled around, and Dan asked me if I wanted a full-time guiding job for them, and I said yes! Little did I know, I was stepping into one of the busiest guiding roles in Minnesota. I spent many years guiding every day from May through October for Dan and Shelley Eigen, primarily on Gull Lake, The Whitefish Chain, and Mille Lacs Lake. During this time, I got to know many local guides and became good friends, even if I was the young guy with loud pipes on his truck. I am forever grateful for Dan and Shelley because they got me more work than I could handle for many years and did what they could do to support me along the way. Dan taught me many things about fishing, life, and everything in-between as I was a young man learning how to stand on my feet.
In the winter of 2011, I was presented with the opportunity to join my two good friends Toby Kvalevog and Jeff Andersen, as part of an up-and-coming guide service called Leisure Outdoor Adventures. This decision was incredibly challenging and uncomfortable to make; I lost sleep over it and couldn’t decide what to do. I knew it would be painful to step away from WalleyeDan’s Guide Service, but I also knew that I needed a change of pace. I need this to help grow me as an individual and a fisherman. I also knew that Toby and Jeff had big plans, and I wanted to be part of it. So I ended up joining Leisure Outdoor Adventures in the spring of 2012. Leisure Outdoor Adventures is a guide team and allowed me to spend more time chasing my three favorite fish (walleyes, muskies, and smallmouth bass) on my two favorite lakes, Mille Lacs and Leech Lake, although I still spend plenty of time on Gull Lake and The Whitefish Chain. Leisure Outdoor Adventures opened the door for my personal growth as a professional angler, with support from a guided group.
There came a time around 2013 when I decided that I needed another income as we began having children, a house, and things were getting expensive. My amazing mother, who is a Special Education teacher in the area suggested that I become an Educational Assistant in an Early Childhood Special Education room because “I would make a great special education teacher.” Well, just like my guiding career, I did not know that choice would lead me to go back to college a second time and earn a Minnesota Teaching license for teaching special education, specifically emotional and behavioral disorders. I am currently in my 6th year of teaching at an elementary school as a Level-III teacher. That is a whole new story that I could write a few paragraphs about on how it was going to college online full time, guiding, working a few other jobs, and trying to be around for my wife and two little boys…haha!
Currently, at the end of the 2021 open water season, I am wrapping up my 20th year as a fishing guide in central Minnesota. I reflect on those years and honestly think about all of my experiences and how fortunate I am. Guiding is by no means a glamorous life. It is super long days, not many days off, sunrise to sunset…literally working all the time during the busy season. However, I sure do love my office and the people I get to interact with both on and off the water.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Heck no! People always say to me “oh you just go fishing, how hard can it be.” I usually don’t say much because it isn’t worth my time explaining how expensive, exhausting, demanding, and hard it is to be a real fishing guide. If you are a true fishing guide that works your tail off trying to make each day the best experience possible for your guests, there will always be challenges. However, we get awful good at waking up, putting on our game face, and leaving all the worries behind when our guests step on our boats for their special day. All of my energy is spent trying to make the best day for them in their moment.
I think for me, nowadays is finding the balance between work and family. I have a wife and three boys (4, 9, and 10 yrs old). I want to be around for them and give them the time they deserve, that is my #1 priority. On the other hand, if I am not working a lot of the time in the summer, I am not making money. Trying to put that puzzle together is very challenging for me.
I could go on and on about struggles, but that is in the past, I like to stay focused on the present and future.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work as a professional fishing guide in central Minnesota, based out of Baxter, MN. I am a USCG-certified Captian. I take customers fishing for walleyes, muskies, largemouth, and smallmouth bass on many different lakes in the area and have been doing that for 20 years now. I also do ice fishing house rentals in the winter months.
I am known for and what sets me apart from many other guides is my ability to guide on many different lakes for different species and do a decent enough job that customers have fun! I enjoy the vast challenge of fishing various lakes in a week for other species and being successful. It takes a ton of work to be prepared and lots of travel time, but I enjoy it.
I am most proud of my ability to stay positive and do my best to make the customer’s experience good. I work my tail off every day, and I can put the boat on the trailer knowing I did everything in my power to make good fishing choices on the water, and regardless of the fishing success, my clients had a fun day in the outdoors.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I use apps daily to help me check the weather conditions, moon phases, and other fishing-related topics. The best overall weather app for forecast and updated radar is The Weather Channel Premium. The best and most accurate wind prediction app is Windy because it will tell you the wind speed, direction, and gusting speeds all over a lake. I am a HUGE believer in following moon phases for fish activity, and the best website by far is https://solunarforecast.com, based on the calculations of the wizard named John Alden Knight.
I love reading about history, and yet do not find time to read a bunch. One recent book I read was from a long-time Mille Lacs fishing guide Joe Fellegy. Although Joe loathed guides like me because we have fancy boats and modern electronics, I find his story amazing, especially because Mille Lacs holds a special place in my heart, just like it did his. The book is called Mille Lacs: Thirty Years on The Big Lake.
Another great book is John Alden Knight’s Story of the Solunar Theory, Moon Up, Moon Down. This book is an amazing read if you are obsessed with the moon phase and its correlation to fish and game activity.
There are SO many fishing podcasts and YouTube channels, that I have been somewhat over-saturated by them. However, there are still some good ones if you look in the right places. I love our guide services YouTube series called The Guide Life. It can be found on our YouTube page by searching Leisure Outdoor Adventures. One of my recent finds in the YouTube/Podcast mixed world is Musky Fool Fly Fishing Co.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lesiureoutdooradventures.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capt.timhanske/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tim.hanske/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LeisureOutdoors
