As an angling guide, Robert Havers lives the good life by residing on a luxurious floating lodge during the summer. But the gig didn’t come easily; it’s the culmination of 18 years of hard work in the sport fishing industry. Therefore, as a new challenge assessor for the Tidal Angling Guide program, Havers is eager to help professionals and newcomers become TAG certified. “It’s important to recognize the professionals in this business and give guidelines to new people,” he says.
Victoria-based Havers, 50, has always valued professionalism. “I guide everyone from families to high-powered business executives, and their common goal is to have a good time on the water and know they’re in safe hands,” he says. “It gives me a sense of satisfaction to provide that.”
Havers believes that in addition to being able to avoid or cope with water-borne hazards, the secret to being a good guide is the ability to “read” people. “In that respect, I took to guiding naturally because I was schooled in marketing,” he says.
He actually entered the industry by chance. “My friend’s parents owned a fly-in lodge in Knight Inlet, and one summer we went there to fish,” he recalls. “After three days they were short on guides, so I gave it a shot. A month later I came back and guided for a week, then the following year I did it for most of the season. The rest is history.”
Realizing that spending his summers on the water was irresistible and could be a permanent way of life, Havers lost no time obtaining his radio license, marine training and various other qualifications. “The thing about working on the water is it may be alluring, but it’s also an incredibly unforgiving environment, and when something goes wrong it tends to go horribly wrong,” he says. “For example, where I currently work is 50 miles to the nearest road — so you absolutely have to know what you’re doing in order to avoid mishaps.”
Havers has worked in the Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert and other regions, and the fly-in floating lodge that has been his summer home and workplace for the past three years is anchored on the west side of the former Queen Charlotte Islands: “The lodge can accommodate 38 guests and 30 staff. I take people out on an 18-foot boat daily, and I can’t think of a more pleasant way to make a living.”
During the off-season Havers works in the construction sector, an occupation he will augment with his duties as one of 10 TAG assessors stationed along the BC coast. “I’ll use résumés, testimonials, other documentation, a test and a two-hour interview I will conduct with each applicant to decide whether an applicant qualifies for TAG certification,” he says.
Havers expects that the word-of-mouth currently spreading about TAG will make him a busy man by the fall of 2011. “It’s really going to take off,” he predicts. “The program will be a huge marketing tool for lodges and charter owner-operators because it’ll be such a reassuring factor for guests.”
As for professional guides who have obtained various licences and don’t appreciate the benefit of obtaining TAG certification, Havers says, “That’s like going to university for five years and dropping out just before graduating. TAG shows everyone that you’ve done your due diligence. It’s the ultimate certification.”
