Jon Stolski was born in Princeton, MN and moved to Brainerd when he was 9 years old. Jon got his interest in fishing by spending time with his Grandfather. Jon’s grandpa had a cabin on Mille Lacs Lake so he spent most of his time there during the summer. When Jon was about 7 years old his other Grandpa made it a habit to take him fishing almost every Saturday. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis where he played football under legendary coach Lou Holtz. He then received his teaching certificate from Bemidji State University and his master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas. Jon has been teaching social studies at Brainerd Middle School since 1991 Jon’s favorite story that he likes to share was the time he took a threesome of brothers, all elderly, to Leech Lake. They had fished Leech often as youngsters and hadn’t been back in 50 some years. It was really windy and they finally found a school of walleyes. Jon and the brothers fished and caught walleyes until it became so rough it was getting dangerous on the lake. The oldest brother, who was in his late 80s, didn’t want to quit, when they finally headed in. That was the last fishing trip he ever took, as he died that winter. He left Jon a note telling him how that last fishing trip was his best fishing trip. Jon also likes the story about the 5-year-old that he took bass fishing for the first time. The boy caught a 21-inch largemouth on his second cast. He is now hooked for life. Jon likes to fish all species. He likes the special company of his best friend Lee Johnson (another Nisswa Guide) and his sons when he gets out fishing. Jon started guiding on the Kenai River in Alaska in 1988 and has been guiding almost 20 years now. He started with the Nisswa guides in 1996. Jon has been married to his wife, Kim, for over 13 years. They have 3 kids, Will, Joe and Lauren. Jon has coached youth football, varsity football as well as junior high basketball. He pretty much enjoys all sports and other outdoor activities like hunting. Since 1998 Jon has coordinated the Annual Kids Fishing Contest for Franklin Junior High each year. A highlight for Jon last season was when he was featured on the Kent Hrbek Outdoors television show where he guided Kent Hrbek, Kristi Yamaguchi (Olympic Gold Medalist) and her husband Bret Hedican (NHL Hockey Pro). He has also guided them more since then.