Boundary Waters Fishing & Canoe Guide Profiles

Moose Track Adventures a Boundary Waters Outfitter & Guide Service, located near Ely Minnesota specializes in guided Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCAW) and Quetico Provincial Park trips. Moose Track Adventures guarantees our customers the most able and skilled fishing and canoe guides in the business. Each one has extensive experience and knowledge guiding our customers into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park. Whether you are interested in trophy fishing, fly-fishing, ecology, natural history, or just want the satisfaction of using a knowledgeable and qualified guide, Moose Track Adventures Guide Service will see to it that your needs are accommodated.

Jim Blauch

Jim has been exploring the woods, paddling waterways and discovering wildlife since childhood. As a wilderness guide and previous owner of Four Seasons Adventures, he has introduced many people to the diversity of flora and fauna, natural history, and ecosystem ecology of northern Minnesota – not to mention lunker fish! Jim holds degrees in wildlife management, chemistry, environmental studies, and graduate research in environmental biology. He has extensive interests and experience in wilderness ecology, natural history, backcountry skiing, skijoring, winter camping and wilderness preservation. Customers rave about his fishing knowledge and instruction, a wealth of local information, wilderness navigation abilities, enjoyable campfire stories and not to mention taste bud tantalizing meals. He will provide you with an unforgettable wilderness adventure.

FFF Certified Casting Instructor
FFF Guide Association
FFF Life Member

CERTIFIED Federation of Fly-Fishers Guide

Dan Bosch

Dan Bosch: Dan was born in Devils lake North Dakota and raised in Ely his whole life. He is passionate about fishing and being in the outdoors has always been in his blood. If he has some free time, you would find him fishing off shore on any of the local lakes. Once he was old enough to start working, he got a job at an outfitter located on moose lake driving tow boats and taking guests out fishing for the evening bite. Most of the time, he did this free of charge. Now as his passion for fishing and the outdoors has grown, he loves to share what he has learned over the years with others. To him it’s a good day on the water seeing the smiles on his guests faces and arms tired after reeling fish in all day. It should also noted that his fishing addiction is at the point where he is making all of his own tackle from jig heads and spinners, to custom crank baits and trolling spoons for lake trout. There’s nothing like making a bait yourself and catching fish on it.

Craig Best

Craig Best was lucky enough to have a father who spent time with him in the outdoors and at an early age provided him with the opportunity to learn to fish some of Minnesota’s finest lakes. Although fishing is a passion of his, being a well-rounded woodsman is what drives him.  He enjoys fishing year-round and spending time in the outdoors hunting, canoeing, wilderness travel and seeking elusive antler sheds in the spring.  He loves having the opportunity to help people see the outdoors through the eyes of someone who is passionate about the north country and now that he has that opportunity he looks forward to providing customers with the best experience possible.
 
 

Gavin Blauch

Gavin Blauch:  Gavin is the son of Jim Blauch, the owner of Moose Track. In his younger years Gavin could be found wandering in the woods catching bugs and exploring for wildlife. Whenever Jim would assist customers with routing Wilderness trips routes on maps, Gavin would be right at his side curiously watching and observing. Gavin also accompanied Jim, when he was younger, on a few personal camping trips which greatly influenced his love for guiding and wilderness canoe camping. At the age of 13 he began working at Moose Track Adventures mowing the lawn and working on projects with his father. As he grew older, he started to dip his paddle in the world of guiding. He began doing guided day eco-tourism trips, sharing his knowledge about the area’s flora, fauna and educating people about the history of the BWCAW and the important significance of the Native American Pictographs. In the summer of 2020, he began to guide overnight trips and quickly fell in love with it and had carried his Dad’s legacy forward. He enjoys educating people about the various flora and fauna of the Boundary Waters and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at The College of St Scholastica. In his spare time, he can be found in the woods hiking, cross country skiing, running and fishing.

Trey Fleck

Trey Fleck: Trey was born and raised in the North Woods, originally from Two Harbors MN. Growing up he was surrounded by hunting and fishing while his grandfather, father and brother all shared similar hobbies. He moved to Ely in search of catching trophy fish and growing his passion for the outdoors. He now enjoys putting other people onto fish, and sharing his love and respect for the BWCAW, leaving clients with an unmatched experience. In his down time Trey enjoys spending time looking for moose antler sheds in the spring, winter camping, skiing with his dog and fishing all year round with good buddies.

Ron Guck

Ron Guck:  Ron has spent the majority of his life trekking through the Great Boreal Forests of Northern MN. Growing up in the shade of spacious pine trees and deciduous wooded areas, nurtured an eternal love of the great outdoors.  Upon graduation from High School, he pursued a degree in Natural Resources and then spent over 36 years with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources mostly as a Field Forester, prior to retiring. This career provided endless hours either on foot, snowshoes, canoe, boat, ATV, snowmobile and 4 wheel drive vehicle, traversing across the Northern portion of the State surveying, inspecting, preparing prescription plans, and maintaining the overall health and vigor of MN State Forests. Studying and working with the Ecology and Environmental attributes of the many ecosystems contained within MN Forests have given Ron a unique understanding and appreciation for this wonderful area in and adjacent to the BWCA.

Mike Heiman

Mike Heiman:  Mike grew up exploring the woods and fishing the lakes around his hometown of Ely, Minnesota.  At the young age of 14, he spent summers working for Moose Track Adventures primarily doing maintenance and ultimately after learning the ropes began guiding day and extended wilderness trips.  Mike went off to college in Madison, WI where he received a BS degree in engineering and began a career as an engineer.  After working for a few years in the Twin Cities area, his love for the wilderness kept calling him back to the North Country. In the summer of 2016, Mike and his wife launched their canoe from the dock at Moose Track Adventures and spent the summer paddling around Canada and finally reaching the Hudson Bay after 80 days. Mike decided in 2017 that the hustle and bustle of “city” life was not his forte’ and returned home to northern Minnesota where he enjoys fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing, and sharing his love of the outdoors with visitors to the BWCA and beyond.

Chris Parthun

Chris Parthun:  Chris, a veteran paddler of more than thirty years, brings a wealth of experience to our guiding team. He first canoed the Boundary Waters while in high school back in 1969 and has been returning ever since. Growing up backpacking and canoeing, as well as hunting and fishing with his father, taught him respect and appreciation for nature. Wilderness paddling has become his greatest passion and has enabled him to become an expert on gear, backcountry camping, and wilderness etiquette. In addition, Chris’ clients have marveled at his mouth-watering culinary skills. With separate degrees in Environmental Studies and Geography, Chris enjoys integrating his knowledge of the environment with an appreciation of where things are. Chris’ trips will always have you coming away with a better understanding of the wilderness, and a heightened appreciation for stewardship of our natural resources. His experience and dedication to his trips and our clients make him a joy to be with on any adventure you may want to take.

Tom Houghdahl

Tom Hougdahl: Tom moved to Ely in 1997 with the intention of building, living and playing in the woods of Northern Minnesota. Patience, humor, love of people and comfort in the outdoors makes him uniquely qualified for those first-time paddlers and campers. “I love it when people get to see a moose for the first time, a child catches there first fish or a group is hushed by a wolf howl around a campfire, it reminds me again of why I live up north”. Tom is an artist by trade and builds off-grid cabins as his full-time job.