Guides
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Support a Guide
I always hear to support your local flyshop. That's all good and well. However, I wanted to take a different approach, one that you don't hear very often and that is to support a fishing guide. There are lots of things you can learn from someone who makes their living on the water. One is casting. Typically its not a good idea to learn to cast on a guided fishing trip, but most guides can teach you the basics of casting and get you headed in the right direction by the end of the day. With that being said I also don't believe you get a whole lot out of casting on a yard. I have seen several flycasters that can lay out a 100' cast with perfect loops on a grassy yard but when it comes to true fishing conditions were you are trying to punch flies through a stiff wind or are on a boat rocking in 2' chop, its a whole different story. Unfortunately there seems to be far more days with poor conditions then there are days with prime conditions at least that is the way it always seems to be on the days I go fishing. A guide can teach you how to “read the water,” the areas where fish are more likely to be. Once you learn to read the water, you can approach the water with confidence knowing exactly where to fish and what water is likely to hold fish and what water is not. There is a whole lot more a guide can teach you from: fly selection, entomology, the fish and their behavior, what effects moon phases and weather patterns have on fish, and countless other tips that will make you a better angler. At the bottom left hand page of my blog is a list of guides I have fished with. Most of them you can search through my blog and find my trips with them. I would fish with each and everyone of them again and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to have a great time out on the water and become a better angler.
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Casey
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about using a guide. I did post a while back that covered some of the things you have mentioned. I think it is imperative to use a guide when you are on foreign waters. I will be using a guide this summer to help me learn more about the Caney Fork tailrace in Tennessee. The only time I would use a guide is for trout fishing. As for bluegill, crappie and bass with the fly rod I think I can hold my own with most guides in our area. The trout fishing is where I would need some help and that includes on our local tailrace. The local owner of our fly shop has offered to take me on a guided trip down our tailrace when the conditions get right. I am thinking about taking him up on his offer. Great post with some great suggestions—by the way did you use the Ozark guide and where did you fish with him? I have fished the White River in Arkansas.
Yes I used Steve Dally and Ben Levin a couple weeks ago up on the white. I would highly recommend them.
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