|
If that sheet of ice under foot is the immovable object, Chris Granrud is the irresistible force.
“I live fishing, man!” the ICE FORCE Pro-Staffer gushes, unable to contain his excitement. “I get jacked up when anglers are sticking big fish - knuckle bumps and screams follow our team of anglers!”
Indeed.
Seeking elite-caliber fish has armed the indefatigable angler and guide with a rather unique vocabulary. If you’ve heard echoes of “Super Tanker!,” “Team Wet Sleeves!,” “Move-N-Groovin BABY!” or “Ri-Donk-ulous!” ringing across the ice, you might have been set up next to Granrud, ice fishing’s Mr. Excitement.
The owner/operator of RainyDaze Guide Service, Granrud has been guiding for six years. A full-time licensed and insured captain, he still gets excited every day he goes to the “office” - 227,000-acre Rainy Lake.
“That’s a pretty big playground to live out a boyhood dream!” he says.
Like many anglers, Granrud developed a passion for ice angling as a youngster.
“The difference with me is I didn’t grow out of it,” he says with a grin. “My desire to spend a life with fishing rod in hand shaped my career.”
Located on the Minnesota-Canada border, Rainy Lake is a terrific “off the beaten path, portable-fishing” destination for anglers who like to fish off the grid, Granrud says.
As a guide, his goal is pass to on to his customers a passion to lace up the boots and hit the ice each morning. That, and icing Super Tankers!
“Big fish motivate me,” he says. “Honestly, I’ve been known to turn down guide trips with groups looking to fill pails full of dinks - just not my deal!”
In addition to serving on the ICE FORCE Pro Staff, Granrud is an In-Depth Outdoors pro-staffer, television personality and outdoor journalist.
“I’m as plugged-in as one man can get in the world of ice angling, because I’m a self-admitted addict!” he says.
While some ice anglers simply enjoy a day on the hard-water, anglers like Granrud work constantly to re-define paradigms in the sport of ice fishing. The more time an angler spends on the ice, the more his curiosity leads him to learn more about the underwater world below his feet. Granrud shares what he learns with his clients, readers, TV viewers and Facebook fans.
“We’ve got a lot of anglers counting on our knowledge of big fish,“ he says. “We work pretty darn hard trying to uncover elite-caliber bites and putting our customers on top of them. Unlocking fish movements and producing patterns as the season progresses keeps me busy 365 days a year.“
The ear-to-ear grins on clients’ faces while sticking fish are “daily reminders that we’re doing something worthwhile,“ he says.
|
