Tap into the Wisdom of the Guides

One major rite of passage in fly-fishing is going on your first guide trip. It's a big milestone in a beginner's path to becoming an angler.

For one, a trip with a fly-fishing guide is a commitment. You have to spend a significant chunk of time fishing. And you have to pay someone—a hefty sum—to do so.

Fly-fishing with a guide can be painful. It exposes your own weaknesses and shortcomings. At some point in the day, someone will be cringing.

It might be the guide who cringes. They're doing everything they can to put their client on fish. But the client is oblivious, and keeps making mistakes.

At some point, the guide reclines and resigns. Pops in another handful of dill pickle-flavor sunflower seeds. Limits their feedback to calling out "Mend!" and "Set!" as the customer watches their indicator. Nothing will be learned that day.

It might be the ultra-self-aware, bashful angler who cringes. They know their cast isn't the greatest yet. They fumble with the rod, and gets the line tangled. It's scary and hard for them to put their own poor technique on display.

Here's the good news: If you're reading this, you're likely on the second path. I'm here to tell you it's OK. The tentative openness of a beginner, the soft and tender sponge mode necessary to acquire new skills, is the mode that guides like best.

Wisdom of the Guides, by Paul Arnold, published in 1999 by Frank Amato Publications, asks ten fly-fishing guides from the Mountain West the same general series of questions. Each shares their broad philosophy, and their tricks of the trade. It's a treasure trove of tips from people who have made a livelihood from fly-fishing.

Some, like fly-tiers Al Troth and Gary LaFontaine, spend more time talking fly-tying and patterns. It makes sense. LaFontaine is a legendary fly innovator. Al Troth invented the Elk Hair Caddis. Some interviewees spend more time talking conservation, like Craig Mathews, of Blue Ribbon Flies, a co-founder of 1% For the Planet.

But all the legendary fly-fishing guides touch on what makes a great client.

It's not the guy who comes in saying "I'm an expert at home, I want to catch a 36" brown today." Great clients are the anglers who come in with an attitude of learning and study. They want to understand the area, or pick up a new technique.

You might be an absolute beginner who just declared yourself Mayor of Tangle Town. Or, you're an accomplished angler who's seen a thing or two. Either way, a growth mindset is what's going to make your time with a guide most valuable.

Here are some tips, and bits of reassurance for anyone taking their first guided fly-fishing trip. The Wisdom of the Guides has an awful lot more, but "advice for clients" is plentiful throughout.

Here are five tips, and four tidbits to take with you, to make your first time fly-fishing with a guide a success:

Listen to the guide

Taking your first guided fly-fishing trip might be your first exposure to an angler who has their whole setup dialed. A good guide is on the water every day during the season. They'll float on their days off, too, scouting and fishing with their friends. They know the rivers and lakes they fish.

Guides live and breathe the logistics that make a trip hum. They have the broad planning in hand, and know the gear, the fishing program. Everything to let the client (or "custie", or "dude," take your pick) focus on the fishing.

When the author asks "What's your favorite kind of client to take fishing," guides always answer "Someone who will listen."

So, the number one rule is to listen up. The guide has been doing it a lot longer than you have.