Fly-fishing Guides: The New Merchants of Hope

The New Merchants of Hope

I often get asked to recommend fly-fishing guides, and while it isn’t always easy to find a good (or great) one with availability, there are some things that distinguish the first-class players from the rest of the pack.

Teaching not telling. People love being taught how to fish; they hate being told how to fish. Understanding the subtle difference between the two is the key to great guiding, or mentoring, or just being a good fishing partner. For the price of a guide trip, if you don’t come off the water having learned at least one thing that made you a better angler, you got ripped off. I’m convinced that the growing numbers of do-it-yourself boats at many river launches is directly proportional to the number of guides who cannot fish any better than their clients. Not many people want to pay several hundred dollars for a boat ride.

Speaking not yelling. Nobody likes to get yelled at when they’re on the water. First off, it’s just fishing. And while the enthusiasm is respectable, a little civility can go a long way. The client is already overwhelmed, so a type-A guide barking orders over their shoulder isn’t going to improve the experience. Give your clients some room to operate, and they might just surprise you.

Putting back more than fish. Maintaining a catch-and-release trout fishery is a fragile deal. It’s all about sustainability. Guides who actually steward a watershed, and that often means convincing your “sports” that they can have a good day without hammering 50 fish, are worth their weight in gold. Guides who profit off a resource without putting anything back, by way of money, sweat, advocacy, or mentoring people to have a conscience as they fish–well, they don’t tend to last more than a couple years in most places.

Be a leader, not a follower. After a long day of slinging bobbers, you’ll often hear the guide’s lament: “I’m just doing what my client wants me to do, and they pay good money, so that’s how it is…” Isn’t “guiding” by definition the act of leading? teaching? or helping someone become a better angler? Sure, it’s important to set and understand expectations, but just doing what the client wants you to do makes them the guide, and you a valet in waterproof pants.

Be a merchant of hope. At the end of the day, a great guide offers so much more than the adrenaline rush of pulling on fish. They inspire hope, both on and off the water. And hope is ultimately the root appeal of fly fishing. In small microdoses that follow every cast, hookup and fish spotted, that’s where the positive energy lives, and that’s what’s going to sustain fishing, and guiding, into the future. – Kirk Deeter

“So, You Want to Become a Fly-fishing Guide?” Checklist

1. April Vokey’s primer on becoming a fly-fishing guide: “To be successful in any field demands mastery of craft. With that in mind, I skipped school, family gatherings, parties and work to gain a thorough understanding of my local rivers. I hurt feelings, lost friends, neglected boyfriends and jeopardized jobs.” Also from April: her five-part MeatEater series, “So, You Want To Be A Fishing Guide?” One (origins), two (financial realities), three (guide qualities), four (guiding isn’t fishing) and five (responsibility). 

2. Required reading for any aspiring fly-fishing guides: Wisdom of the Guides by Paul Arnold, The Alaska Chronicles by Miles Nolte, On the Run: An Angler’s Journey Down the Striper Coast by David DiBenedetto, Castwork: Reflections of Fly Fishing Guides and the American West by Andrew Steketee, Kirk Deeter, Liz Steketee, Tideline: Captains, Fly-Fishing and the American Coast by Andrew Steketee, Kirk Deeter, Marco Lorenzetti. 

3. The fly guide media vault: Michael Dawkins of WorldCast Anglers on becoming a guide. South Texas guide legend, Alvin Dedeaux, talks about his long, winding path to becoming a fishing guide. The Last Day: Retired teacher and casting instructor, Dayle Mazzarella, talks about what is most important in life: “You’ve got a goal every day, a reason for getting up…” Bosnian fly-fishing guide, Anes Halkic, hunts the Una River for huchen (Hucho hucho, or Danube salmon) with fellow Austrian guides Christof Menz and Uwe Rieder. Seychelles guide, Alex Quatre, wading the flats of the Cosmoledo Atoll for giant trevally. My Old Man: Texas outdoorsman JT Van Zandt talks about his famous songwriting dad, Townes Van Zandt, as well as family and what it takes to be a great father. 

4. Fly-fishing guide schools and some practical resources: The Sweetwater Guide School (Montana) is one of the oldest and most respected fly-fishing guide schools in the country. The Western Rivers Fly Fishing Guide School from WorldCast Anglers is also a great Rocky Mountain option. RIGS Float Fishing Guide School (Colorado) is an “intensive seven-day course providing students with the training and essential skills needed to become a professional float fishing guide.” From Dvorak Expeditions (the oldest outfitter in Colorado) on the Arkansas River: Swift Water and Rope Rescue Courses that can improve your whitewater skills. If you’re looking for a guiding job, check out FlyFishingJobs. 

5. Guide tips from Flylab founder Tim Romano: “Be humble. Know your clients. Clean your truck. Do a quick background on your sports, if possible. Know what they do, and be able to speak their language, whatever that is. Ask if they have any goals for the day, fishing or otherwise. Know more about your watershed and fishery than just the fishing: history, geography, ecology etc. You should be a tour guide, not just a fishing guide. And always have some sort of backup plan for your piece of water…”

6. The new stewards of angling conscience: Deeter’s classic about summer river wars (“Rivergeddon”) and how we do better as a fly-fishing (and guiding) community: “The concern is not just that crowds ruin the experience of fishing, though of course that’s part of it. The bigger worry is that this relentless pressure on the most famous rivers is starting to hurt the fisheries themselves.”

Product Buzz

We review the Poncho San Juan Long Sleeve Shirt, climbing quick draws to secure boat anchors in your truck, a pile of summer drift boat extras and Romano’s new oar shipping setup. Hatch rolls out the August 2024 gear they love: “Anglers are drowning in gear choices…” (The Benchmade Water Collection stands out.) From Field & Stream, the Best Fishing Pants and Fly Fishing Vests of 2024–we really like the Men’s Latitude Pant from Free Fly Apparel. A great, and classic, fly line identifying tip from Mad River Outfitters, plus a great review of Costa’s Pro line sunglasses with sweat management channels–get started with a pair today. 

Fly-fishing News

Check out the BONEDALE FISHING REPORTS two and three, featuring legendary guide, Kea Hause, from Colorado’s Roaring Fork valley. Fish Handling 101: Keeping them healthy, especially when it’s hot. Tribal Waters from Patagonia Films: The Wind River runs deep for the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes–Darren Calhoun, of Wind River Canyon Fly Fishing, provides a visionary belief for a sustainable fishery. Wild Fly Productions heads up to Montana's Missouri River to throw old-school dries and bamboo rods. Sidechannels podcast with Shane Anderson: “Anderson and the crew at Swiftwater Films have been documenting the largest river restoration in US history–the removal of four dams on the Klamath River.” Business wire: Ben Lazarov, the co-founder and CEO of AnyCreek, talks about the evolution of online (outdoor) booking platforms.

Recent Press

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