Harry MacDonald, affectionately known in angling circles as "Dirty Harry," is one of the most respected fishing guides in Campbell River, British Columbia. He has acquired numerous licenses and spent thousands of hours on the water. In 2010 he earned his Tidal Angling Guide certification and then underwent other examination procedures later that year in order to become an assessor for challengers. He found the process of becoming an assessor “extremely intense, like going through university in a six-day period.”
Now MacDonald is eager to use his newly earned assessor status to certify others who want to validate their expertise in the sport fishing industry. “I wish TAG had been around 20 years ago,” he says, noting that there are guides working today who may know how to fish but aren't expert at the intricacies of guiding. He has also seen instances in which some employers have allowed guides to operate unsafely. "TAG will hopefully change all that.”
The TAG program will allow those already working in the sport fishing industry or planning to enter the sector to obtain a certification of proficiency and professionalism, and MacDonald is one of 10 assessors stationed along the BC coast who will interview and examine these TAG challenge applicants. His assessor duties, which he will fulfill when not busy guiding fishing enthusiasts on his 23-foot cruiser, are the culmination of a career that has enabled him to serve “everyone from celebrities like Eric Clapton and multi-millionaires to Ma and Pa tourists — most of whom are very nice people and fun to guide,” he adds.
Although his passion for fishing was acquired as a child, MacDonald didn’t become a guide until relatively late in his working life. “I started out as a heavy equipment operator, then got into the oil business, then became an accountant in downtown Vancouver before moving to Campbell River in 1985,” he says. “I kept changing careers to ward off boredom, and because there were so many fishing guides in Campbell River I decided to become one.”
Back then, one could become a guide without any professional credentials. But MacDonald’s propensity for doing things properly compelled him to take a Power Squadron course, obtain his Provincial Freshwater Guide License and become Coast Guard-approved. “My credentials gave my clients confidence, and as a result my company, Mid Island Fishing Charters, was busy from the get-go,” he says. “That’s why I was attracted to TAG. It has enormous potential to keep everyone safe on the water.”
Today, MacDonald’s services are sought year-round, and unlike the time he spent in previous jobs, he is more passionate than ever about his work: guiding fishing enthusiasts on his cruiser, which incidentally is also named Dirty Harry. “I spend all my time outdoors instead of behind a desk in an office,” he says. “Plus, you always meet new people with guiding, and never know what each charter will bring. Overwhelmingly, the experience is positive.”
MacDonald, who looks and acts years younger than his years, assessed over a dozen fishing guides with the first wave of TAG applicants in 2011. He is expecting many more will be submitting their applications in 2012. “As many as 2,000 fishing guides work in BC, and now that we’re a recognized industry, there will be intense certification of existing guides and newcomers,” he says. “It’s all good for the profession.”
