Captain Hook

Keith Robbins, Charter Fishing Guide

By Matthew Halverson

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT HAVING WATER UNDERNEATH YOUR FEET THAT’S MAGICAL, even though sometimes you’re on land. For the most part, I’ve got water under my feet, whether I’m wading in a river or in a boat. I do a lot of catch and release, so it’s the pursuit. It’s a lot about the pursuit.

THERE’S A DOCK AT GOLDEN GARDENS, AND BACK IN THE DAY, MY MOM WOULD DROP ME OFF THERE DURING THE DAY. I was probably 12, 13, 14. and now I call it my babysitter. I didn’t at the time. I’d be there all day, fishing off the dock, and then my mom would come back and pick me up later. You can’t do that kind of stuff now.

EVEN IN MEXICO AND THE BAHAMAS, AND CERTAINLY MONTANA AND FLORIDA, THE IDEA OF KILLING YOUR PARTNER—WHICH, IF YOU’RE A FISHERMAN, IS THE FISH—JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. And the idea of being able to catch the same fish multiple times, I think, is just fantastic. You’re not catching the same fish twice if it goes in your cooler. At least the perception is nice.

EVERY DAY IS ENTERTAINING. The thing that’s cool is I’ll take out CEOs of big companies, and they’re totally enamored with my job. I’ve taken a lot of people who are powerful in their own industry, but if they had their way, they’d be a fishing guide.

ONE TIME, I WAS FISHING WITH DAN WILSON, WHO WAS THE FORMER CATCHER OF THE MARINERS. He had his son and a friend of his and his son. The fishing was outstanding. And Dan’s son—I don’t remember how old he was, but not old—already had a couple king salmon. And every time he dropped the line, he said, “I got one!” At one point, I look over, and he’s got a fish on, and it’s clearly a salmon. He’s fighting for a second, and then he just lets go of the rod. This was the only time, even to this day, that a rod has gone overboard. So Dan, who I knew could afford to replace it, was reeling his line out, and he caught his son’s line. He didn’t catch the rod. He caught the line. He reeled it up, and then from a distance, we could see the butt of the rod. We backed up, grabbed the rod, reeled it up a little bit, the fish was still on, and his son reeled the fish in. I’ve heard of this happening before, but that was the first time it happened to me. So once I saw that, I knew that he was a really good catcher.

Ed. note: Robbins is also the owner of the bars Tini Bigs and Hula Hula.]

I NEVER TELL ANYONE ANYTHING ABOUT MY OTHER JOB, because I want them to take me seriously as a guide. And I have this perception that if they knew I owned a bar or restaurant, they would think, “Oh, he’s not really a fishing guide.”

I WORKED IN RESTAURANTS PRETTY MUCH SINCE I WAS 18. Then I worked in fine dining. And I worked at a bar one day a week, and it was a lot of fun. And the bar I worked at went out of business, and then I ended up making a really low-ball offer, and no one else wanted it because the lease was really bad. I ended up getting it. So then I worked in the restaurant business. But I always fished. Sometimes I stayed up all night. When you start out, you’re there a lot. I would close the bar every single night. And a lot of times, myself and my old fishing buddy, who was one of my bartenders, we’d stay up all night, go to his boat, and we’d go fish until like 7 or 8 in the morning, and then we’d go to bed. And then we’d go to work at like noon or 1. So I always fished, even when I opened my first business.

AT SOME POINT, THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS BECOMES DIFFICULT. I mean, I’m hardly there late anymore. It’s very difficult to work late and get up at 4 in the morning to go fishing.


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