Friends who fish

“Why don’t you just go into business together?” Sheila Nittmann asked her husband Helmut and his friend Josh Metiva.

So they did.

Metiva has been fishing the Great Lakes and Michigan inland lakes for more than 20 years. Originally from Saginaw, Josh moved to the northern Michigan when he was two years old.

Armed with a lifelong love of fishing and the outdoors instilled by friends and family, Josh has fished for just about every species you can name. Chinook “king” salmon, steelhead, coho salmon, lake trout, walleye, perch, crappie … If you can name it: Josh has probably fished for and caught it.

Josh has had a Michigan charter captain’s license for about nine years, working on charter fishing boats in various positions from deck hand to first mate.

“The tug is the drug,” Metiva said about the moment a fish pulls on the line. He still gets that rush when he’s reeling one in.

But it’s that excitement he has for others when they feel that same tug that makes Josh his happiest; it’s the ultimate rush for a charter captain to watch others feel the tug.

Josh met Helmut Nitmann through mutual fishing friends around 2017. They started fishing together and became fast friends.

“I think we connected because we share a lot of common interests,” Metiva said of Helmut. The pair has even been fishing in Alaska together.

A former executive at Ford Motor Co. for about 30 years, Helmut was looking for what to do next. He fishes for fun, mostly walleye on the Detroit River.

“I was looking for the next challenge. And I thought it would be fun to set up a business that combines my love of the outdoors with my business experience,” Nittmann said. “Josh has the skills, both for fishing and socially, to really excel at offering a fun, exciting and interesting trip for clients.”

So when Sheila suggested the pair start a fishing charter business, Josh and Helmut naturally got hooked on the idea. And Pro Fish ‘n Sea Charters was born.

Friends who became business partners …

“At the end of the day, we still get to talk about fishing and we still get to fish together,” Metiva said.