She doesn’t make a habit of it, but Kylene Booher does occasionally hit the
water with her husband for trophy catfish on the Tennessee River.
(Photo by Capt. Sam Simons)
The Unsung Partners of Catfish Guides
By Capt. Richard Simms
Every angler has dreamed about it at some point.
Imagine spending your days on the water, chasing fish, telling stories and getting paid to do what you love. To many fishermen, becoming a guide seems like the ultimate outdoor fantasy.
But while the guide is out there living the dream, someone else is often back home keeping life on track—washing clothes, hauling kids to baseball practice, managing schedules and working a job of their own. In many cases, they’re doing it because guiding, despite appearances, isn’t always enough to pay all the bills.
Welcome to the world of Crystal Jellison and Kylene Booher.
For years, both women have occupied a unique role in the fishing industry: guide’s wife.
Crystal’s husband is Capt. Joe Jellison, known across the nation, if not the world, for his wildly popular Chatt Cats YouTube channel.
Kylene’s husband is Capt. Sam Simons, whose reputation has been built over about 17 years of helping thousands of clients experience what was likely the fishing trip of a lifetime.
Both men work as independent guides under the umbrella of Scenic City Fishing Charters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, specializing primarily in Tennessee River catfish.
The fish may get the attention. The guides may get the glory. But behind every successful guide is a spouse who understands exactly what that lifestyle costs.
Kylene Knew What She Was Getting Into
Capt. Simons has been guiding professionally since about 2008, but Kylene recognized his fishing obsession years before he ever took paying clients. In fact, when they began dating in college, she spotted the warning signs almost immediately.
“Oh my God, I knew right away,” she said. “The first time he visited me, he literally came to my dorm with a photo album of fishing pictures. I’m not even joking. That was his go-to move.”
Somehow, it worked. And when Capt. Simons decided to start guiding on weekends while continuing his career as a school teacher, Kylene fully supported the idea. What she didn’t anticipate was just how popular he and his services would become.
“I didn’t expect him to be as busy (fishing) as he was,” she said. “But I think it’s good for him, and it gets him out of the house. Maybe I’m supposed to act like I have a problem with it, but I can sleep in and do whatever I want around the house.”
While her husband is on the river, Kylene has developed passions of her own. One of those is community theater, where she has become a familiar face on local stages.
Though she’s performed dramatic roles, comedy is where she feels most at home. One recent performance cast her as “Pidge” in the Texas tragicomedy Cabin Fever.
Asked what similarities she shares with the character, Kylene delivered an answer worthy of a comedian herself.
“We are similar in that we both sometimes care too much about the people we love. We are different because I have not been admitted to a mental hospital… yet.”
And her favorite line from the production?
“You can’t kill nobody these days without somebody’s gonna try and talk you out of it.”
It’s probably safe to assume she wasn’t referring to her husband’s fishing schedule.
From Wrestling Mats to Catfish Rods
Unlike Capt. Simons, Capt. Jellison wasn’t always consumed by fishing. According to Crystal, when they first met, another sport dominated his attention.
“He told me when we first met that ’60 percent of my conversation is about wrestling. If you can handle that we’ll do okay,’” she said.
Twenty-one years together and 15 years of marriage later, she apparently handled it just fine.
For years, Capt. Jellison devoted much of his spare time as a wrestling coach while teaching school full-time. Then, around 2012, something changed. Crystal said he began to notice photos of giant Tennessee River catfish on social media. One fishing trip led to another, including a guided trip with Scenic City Fishing Charters.
“He was hooked,” Crystal said. “He started the YouTube channel first. When the subject of guiding came up, we both thought, ‘I don’t think so. I think that’s going to take the joy out of it.’ But as he started fishing more and doing really well, we talked about it again and thought, ‘Wow, it might be nice if you could actually make some secondary income off of this.’”
Eventually, Capt. Jellison earned his U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license and officially entered the guiding business.
The additional income has certainly helped. But Crystal quickly learned that guiding involves much more than what clients see on the surface.
“He might have just a four-hour guide trip, but I know that means there’s a lot of preparation involved,” she said. “He’s got to go out and get bait either that morning or the night before. Then he’s watching to see what kind of weather we have, where have the fish been biting lately? There’s a lot of stress involved.”
The Hardest Part
Crystal and Joe have three children: Kaylee, 13, Adeline, 10, and Cael, 8.
Even though we were talking on the phone, I could hear Crystal choke up a little as she shared, “The worst thing for me is the hours of time he’s away from me and the kids. That’s hard.”
It’s a reality shared by many guide families. Fish don’t care about birthdays, ball games, weekends or family dinners. When the weather is right and clients are booking trips, guides often have to go.
Like Kylene, Crystal has developed her own way of balancing those absences.
She runs. And not just a little. Crystal is an ultra-trail runner, a sport that makes a standard 26.2-mile marathon seem like child’s play. Ultra races push athletes through punishing terrain, relentless elevation changes, extreme weather, fatigue and pain. Crystal’s proudest accomplishment to date is completing the Lookout Mountain 50, a grueling 50-mile race across rugged mountain terrain. Over the course, runners must struggle up a combined 8,000 feet in elevation.
“It’s still hard to believe I did it. It was a long day,” she said, with perhaps the understatement of year.
Preparing for races like that requires tremendous commitment.
“I can generally do some training runs during the week,” she said. “But those long runs are much better done on the weekend.”
Coordinating her training and life in general while raising three children means she and Capt. Jellison have become experts at juggling schedules. Together, they make it work.
One Thing Kylene and Crystal Agree On
Despite their different personalities and different ways of handling life as a guide’s spouse, Crystal and Kylene share one unwavering opinion. Without hesitation, both identified the single worst part of having a catfish guide husband.
“The smell,” exclaimed Kylene. “The smell is absolutely the worst part.”
Capt. Simons doesn’t bother asking for help with the laundry. He’s under strict orders to handle his own fishing clothes.
“Oh, I do not touch those things,” she said. “Absolutely not.”
Crystal couldn’t agree more.
“I will never get used to the smell of fish,” she said. “There’s only so much of that smell that soap can wash off.”
So, the next time you’re posing for a trophy photo with Capt. Simons, Capt. Jellison or any fishing guide for that matter, remember, back home there is probably a spouse helping make that fishing trip possible, even if they’re holding their nose while doing it.
(From Chattanooga, Tenn., Capt. Richard Simms is owner of Scenic City Fishing Charters, Inc. He began his outdoor career as a Tennessee game warden later choosing journalism (and guiding) as his chosen profession. Check out his book, “An Outdoor State of Mind.” You can contact him at Richard@ScenicCityFishing.com.)
