# 17 Fly Fishing Guides, is it worth it?

Hiring Fly Fishing Guides, Because "You Tube" can only get you so far.

I frequently have people ask me if they should hire a Fly Fishing Guide to learn how to fly fish. This is a very delicate question to answer, one that has several sides to it. You will need to ask yourself a few questions before you decide to hire a guide for an upcoming fishing trip, but honestly they will be very important questions.

First and foremost a Fly Fishing Guide is a different individual all together. Truly dedicated guides will show up to the boat ramp or the river in the clothing they were wearing yesterday, and reek of coffee and Red Bull at 7:00 in the morning. Your Guide should be the person who is on this piece of water  11 hours a day 7 days a week, they know this water like the back of their hand.

Some of the questions are as follows:

• Do I want the Guide to teach me how to cast?

• Will I catch fish if I hire a Guide?

• If I’m just learning to cast will the Guide be critical of me?

There are several more questions that I have, but let’s just focus on the few that I have listed here, and we can cover more as we read the list below.

Remember you are paying the guide to take you fishing, this day will be whatever you want it to be. If you tell your guide I want to work on?________, can you help me today, or if you just want to catch fish and do not care about anything else, well then you need to tell your guide this as well. Remember this is your day, spend it how you want..

Will a Guide teach me how to cast? This is an exclusive question, are you hiring a Guide to take you fishing or are you hiring a Guide to teach you how to cast?.

If you want to learn more about learning to cast a fly rod, then I would hire a casting instructor to spend time just learning the basics of learning how to cast a fly rod. There is a growing number of fly shops that offer a casting experience either at their shops or the banks of a local water shed.

These casting clinics are a great way to learn some of the basic skill needed and ultimately decide if learning fly fishing is something you wish to pursue. Classes are usually just a few hours in length and the beauty is that you are being taught by a person who has experience teaching newcomers to the sport. Most classes will provide the rod and a few basic items, with the ultimate goal being to either buy equipment from that retailer or hire one of their Guides to take you on a trip of your own.

I have told people over the years that the reason for hiring a Guide is first and foremost "local knowledge".

Guides spend the majority of their time fishing and working on these bodies of water that you want to fish on. If you are from out of town, and wish to fish a particular watershed, internet searches and watching "You Tube" can get you only so far for information on the destination watershed. This information can and does change from day-to-day, but a guide has the ability to adjust to the ever-changing environment and will give you a better chance of having a great day, instead of just a okay day.

With that being said hiring a Guide can improve your chances of success on your trip, but guides are in fact only human. I have had trips in the past, where for the preceding 3 or 4 days, the river had been on fire, but for no apparent reason the fish just took the day off, and would not cooperate, A.K.A. “Lock Jaw”.

If your Guide has experience with this body of water, they should always have that one secret fly or that sneaky trick up their sleeve to bring fish to the net. This is the one of the many reason you paid that Guide, as I stated before “local Knowledge” is so important.

If I’m just learning to cast will the Guide become angry with me?

I will touch on this briefly, but this answer is completely up to you. If you are in fact totally honest with your Guide when they ask you questions like, “what is your skill level?” and you tell them you are a master caster, when in fact you have only held a fly rod a dozen times, you could end up fishing in areas that may be too advanced for your current level of skill. A Guide could become annoyed when this occurs, because if you were totally honest, your Guide may have tailored your trip to a completely different section of water. Remember as a Guide we want you, the paying client to have the best time you can possibly have. A happy client will be a returning client, and hopefully recommend their friends and family to that Guide.

Here is a few more things you should take into consideration when hiring a Guide for your upcoming trip, let’s look at some of the items in this list.

FIRST TRIP: TOP 10 TIPS TO HIRING A FLY-FISHING GUIDE

1. Have a personal conversation with the guide about what you need to bring along. If you have any medical issues, bring them up before you get on the water, not after. Your safety is of utmost importance.

2. Be honest about your current skill level with casting a fly rod and casting larger flies, multiple flies, or Streamer flies, telling a fib will not help you, it will only hinder you, just be honest, and say “I only fish 5 or 6 times a year”. It’s cool to give your guide a starting point.

3. If on a full day trip, ask about food: beverage, snacks and light meal such as a sandwich, hat sunscreen, or any other items that should be discussed.

4. When on the water, don't be afraid to ask questions about the flies you are supplied with or the type of rod you are using. Guides love to give information about equipment and makes them feel that you care about fly fishing and intend to learn more.

5. Pay attention to instructions given to you. Accepting positive criticism as a way of becoming a better fly fisherman and a way to shorten time on the inevitable learning curve.

6. Pay close attention to where you are told to cast to. You are looking for a cover that holds fish. Dark water.... structure, usually in the form of wood in the water. Fish don't hold everywhere in a stream. (Ask questions about this) This will help you understand on your own, where to cast and cuts down on comments from the guide that can lead to frustration for both you and the Guide and will allow for quieter and more enjoyment.

7. Don't be intimidated by the guide. If you are not comfortable casting while the drift boat is on the move, ask if it is possible to stop and anchor or stop and wade. If you are on a walk-and-wade trip you should be comfortable with the type of wading you are doing. Nothing will ruin a trip faster than taking a swim early in a trip in chilly waters, because you were not comfortable while wading these types of waters.

8. Take the time to observe the river and its surroundings. As a client, you should ask about surrounding plants, trees and birds and Guides feel good about sharing their knowledge to give a client a well-rounded river experience that goes beyond putting fish in the net. Not all guides take the time to discuss other aspects of a river beyond the fish themselves.

9. Take the time to consider the guide’s role in your trip down a river, and the responsibility he has assumed, ensuring you have a safe and, above all, fun time that you cannot wait to do again.

10. Have fun! Cannot emphasize this point enough. You are paying for information and fun. Don't take fishing too seriously and capitalize on the fun part, and if all goes well......you will come away with a great experience that puts a smile on your face all the way home and beyond! (Portions of this list is borrowed courtesy of Fly Factor 1-3-2016)

I hope these items that we have covered will help you in the future in making the best choice possible for your Guided fishing trip, which in turn will yield you a great and memorable time you will fondly remember now as well as the future.

Tight lines

Gary, AKA LaMachine

As always if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me