Big Hole, Small Hands

How one man is changing the world of guiding. 

Montana fishing guides are the best in the business. They’re renowned for their rowing skills, knowledge of trout behavior, and of course, ability to put fish in the boat. But lately, outfitters on the Big Hole have been struggling. Anglers want big fish—and there are only so many to go around. Every year, the monsters either die off or get harder to catch, causing many customers to set their sights on New Zealand or Patagonia to lure in the lunkers, after leaving unfavorable reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor. “I paid $500 and didn’t catch a thing over 16 inches! What a rip-off,” wailed one disgruntled customer. “Sure, the scenery’s sublime, prettiest place I’ve ever been; but what I really wanted was a big-fish photo for Instagram.”

With his business suffering, veteran Big Hole outfitter Ty Niemitts knew he had to do something. He stopped by a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) hatchery and tried bribing them with Wheeler Walker Jr. tickets into stocking a few dozen five-pound fish in the river, but they refused, saying it might compromise the wild-fish ecosystem. Before leaving the hatchery, though, Niemitts noticed a photo from a recent fishing derby, with a small child holding up a fish. The kid had the trout extended out in front of him, blocking most of his body, and it looked enormous. It was only a modest fish, but the optical illusion flicked a switch in Niemitt’s brain. He looked down at his own hands, turning them over and over as his mind whirled and a surge of excitement ran through his body.

“When you’re using a net that looks like it came from an aquarium, even a modest brown trout looks like it’s pushing the record books." —Ty Niemitts

Business has been booming ever since.

We caught up with Niemitts at his home in Twin Bridges. His office is adorned with pictures of fish, friends and family, and a signed photo of his personal heroes, Spud Webb and Muggsy Bogues. Growing up with abnormally small hands, Niemitts experienced rejection and ridicule. In elementary school, he was the only student to use index cards when making hand-drawn turkey decorations for Thanksgiving. Unable to palm a basketball in high school, he was cut from varsity junior year, and in college at MSU, he was shamed for needing both hands to hold a red Solo cup. However, he found solace in the outdoors, where he discovered a passion for fly fishing. He found that if he sanded down the oar handles a bit, his hands were just big enough to them, and he soon found work as a guide, where many of his cocky co-workers suffered from their own diminutive appendages. He felt like he’d found a home, and a stable career.

Until, that is, the clients stopped coming. After returning from the fish hatchery, Niemitts went all-in on a new plan, rebranding his operation “Big Rivers And Small Hands,” or BRASH. He hired a team of retired horse jockeys, former circus performers, Japanese auto mechanics, and gymnasts. The result? Any one of his guides can hold up a respectable ten-inch trout that looks like a trophy-sized monster.

Once word got out, not only did Niemitts’s former clients start coming back, but an entirely new group of anglers began booking trips: younger men from Bozeman wanting impressive fish pictures for their online dating platforms. “I put a photo of a BRASH trout on Tinder, and within an hour I was matched with every hottie in the valley—all without owning single pair of Simms waders!” says one satisfied angler.

But Niemitts didn’t stop there. He retrofitted the company’s fleet of driftboats to incorporate magnifying-glass bottoms, enhancing the illusion of grandeur—schools of minnows below the boat “now look like freakin’ hogs,” he says. His tape measures are imported from Canada, so the measuring is in centimeters—an eight-inch fish hits “20” on the tape. A local brewery even agreed to make specialty six-ounce cans of their most potent IPA for the guide trips, and the fleet downsized their landing nets. “When you’re using a net that looks like it came from an aquarium, even a modest brown trout looks like it’s pushing the record books,” says Niemitts.

In order to compete, other guides have had to buy fake hands—which are awkward and clumsy when rowing—and other props to play to part.

With this holistic, swell-it-up approach, all BRASH boats are booked two seasons out. Aside from a key advertising placement in Outside Bozeman magazine—which Niemitts notes has been the best investment he’s ever made—referrals are word-of-mouth. Clients rave about the transformative power of the service, not just for their social-media accounts, but also for their self-esteem. A recent angler, for example, landed the catch-and-release state-record brown trout—measured on a metric ruler, of course. “People have been sliding into my DMs, asking how I did it,” he says. “I tell ’em, all credit goes to the guides. They’re the ones who have the skinny, or should I say, shortie on the Big Hole.”

Not everyone is pleased with Niemitts, though. In order to compete, other guides have had to buy fake hands—which are awkward and clumsy when rowing—and other props to play to part. “I now wear a watch the size of a hubcap,” lamented one disgruntled competitor. “It’s only a matter of time before we become the subject of an investigative 60 Minutes piece, and the Big Hole will be renamed the Big Asshole.”

Another point of contention comes from within Niemitts’s own family. His brother, Pew, has been receiving phone calls at his entirely unrelated practice, BRASH Proctology (Big Rectums And Small Hands). “We’re both professionals in our own right,” Pew clarifies, “but let’s just say that it could be a pain in the ass to mix up our contact information.”

“I used to hide my tiny little hands. Now I show them off! Finally, I can be me.” —Ty Niemitts

Regardless, Niemitt’s “Bloat It Up” tagline and bumper stickers and are resonating with anglers far and wide. And while it may be harder and harder to find a 30-inch trout swimming in the river, the fish in BRASH clients’ photos look like they’ve swum straight out of an episode of River Monsters. Family, friends, and dates are none the wiser.

Business success aside, though, the real triumph is in Niemitts’s wellbeing. “I used to hide my tiny little hands. Now I show them off! Finally, I can be me.” And for Niemitts, that new “me” is becoming a living legend, as the only guide service on the Big Hole who can guarantee trophy trout. Looking back, he smiles at how things have turned out: “I never thought my greatest flaw could become my greatest asset.”

To schedule a trip, visit BRASH.com or talk to Ty Niemitts at 406-582-8068.