Founder, GuidedFloats
“I started catching fish in Missouri at the age of two, with the help of my father and grandfathers. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Austin Lewis
Born in 1985, Austin Lewis is a lifelong angler with nearly four decades on the water. He caught his first fish in Missouri at the age of two, with help from his father and both grandfathers, and he has been hooked ever since.
Why he built GuidedFloats
Austin built GuidedFloats out of frustration. Whenever he and his father tried to find a guide to explore new water, the search was disjointed: scattered websites, unanswered calls, and a notebook full of hand-written notes to keep it all straight. He knew someone could build a platform to solve those problems, so he did. Today every water page carries live conditions, the guides who work it, and the species that swim in it, in one place.
Bragging rights, measured
Austin and his family also enjoy good old-fashioned competition, but angling has never had a settled program of bragging rights the way golfers have GHIN and a handicap. So GuidedFloats also measures the skill of the angler, through species and waterway badges and the state recognition programs, to honor the outdoorsman’s accomplishments and, yes, to settle a few arguments.
Cleaner water, made a little fun
Lastly, like many of you, Austin is tired of seeing trash in some of nature’s most beautiful landscapes. GuidedFloats makes taking our land back a little bit of fun: collect River Keeper badges for cleaning your waterways and showcase your legacy. Looking ahead, Guided Floats plans to explore cash bounties for trash pickup at select locations.
Austin also runs austins.website, his consulting practice. Questions about the platform go to the contact page; his journal articles are collected under Journal.