Captain Zachary is a 32 year old licensed Captain from New Buffalo, MI in Michigan’s Southwest corner. Zach’s father, Donald , got him into fishing at a young age and inspired him to chase his dreams of becoming a world class fishing guide. From the age of 12 years old, Zach worked as a deckhand and excelled as a fisherman targeting salmon, trout, and walleye on Lake Michigan and connecting water ways in Northwest, Indiana and Southwest Michigan.
Captain Zach’s love for the water lead him to attend College of Charleston where he studied Anthropology and Archaeology, focusing in Marine Archaeology. Here he worked for the Maritime Research Division of South Carolina in recovering, documenting and recording marine-based historical artifacts and prehistoric animal remains. During this time, he obtained his Divemaster and rescue diving certificates in Utila, Honduras and became a professional scuba diver.
After graduating college, Zach returned to Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan to work for his father’s environmental cleanup company and began the process of launching his own fishing guide service. In the Summer of...
About Your Guide
Zachary Gaza
Independent Guide
Captain Zachary is a 32 year old licensed Captain from New Buffalo, MI in Michigan’s Southwest corner. Zach’s father, Donald , got him into fishing at a young age and inspired him to chase his dreams of becoming a world class fishing guide. From the age of 12 years old, Zach worked as a deckhand and excelled as a fisherman targeting salmon, trout, and walleye on Lake Michigan and connecting water ways in Northwest, Indiana and Southwest Michigan.
Captain Zach’s love for the water lead him to attend College of Charleston where he studied Anthropology and Archaeology, focusing in Marine Archaeology. Here he worked for the Maritime Research Division of South Carolina in recovering, documenting and recording marine-based historical artifacts and prehistoric animal remains. During this time, he obtained his Divemaster and rescue diving certificates in Utila, Honduras and became a professional scuba diver.
After graduating college, Zach returned to Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan to work for his father’s environmental cleanup company and began the process of launching his own fishing guide service. In the Summer of 2020 Zach would fish Lake St. Clair for the first time targeting musky, and his life would change forever.
Upon the return from what was the ultimate trip to spark his new-found passion of musky fishing, Zach would learn that he tragically lost his father, the person who ignited his dreams as a professional fishing guide, to a battle with mental health complications. His father Don was a beautiful soul and a self-made individual who created what is truly the American dream for him and his family. Don was an avid fisherman who particularly loved and was extremely talented in fishing for walleye. Their core group of friends was deemed the “Wolfpack” by Don, thus this is the inspiration for Captain Zach’s fishing guide service after his father’s passing. The “Wolfpack” embodied the integral parts of how Captain Zach approaches fishing, by creating a fishing guide service in which those who become a member of the “Wolfpack” build upon and build up each other to enhance their skills, knowledge, and love for fishing.
Musky fishing at times can be demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally, but the reward of catching one of these beautiful giants will soon have you addicted to musky fishing—much like what happened to Captain Zach. We look forward to providing a positive fishing experience that is filled with memories, knowledge, skill acquisition and advancement, and a comfortable atmosphere with the chance of catching some trophy fish. Captain Zach’s journey has lead him to Detroit, MI to launch his guide service chasing musky and walleye providing casting, trolling, and jigging trips on Lake St. Clair, and its connecting water ways.
Captain Zachary started his guide service in Summer 2021 and launched his musky fishing guide services in June 2022, and walleye fishing guide services in March 2023.
