The book will be available spring 2026!
Pay Attention
As a full-time fly fishing guide, you may be fishing all year. If you are new to year-round fishing, then you may not be aware that the fish are not always where we expect them to be, and they are not always going to eat what you may be used to them eating. In warmer weather, it is not uncommon to find trout in faster, more shallow runs. However, come winter, you may see a nice run similar to the one that looked so good in the summer and think, ‘There must be fish in this run.’ Then you find out that those fish were considerably further downstream in the slower, deeper water.
Where are the fish? The truth is, if I always knew the answer to this question, I would be writing a very different book. The fish can be where we expect them to be, where they’re “supposed” to be, but more often than not, we have to work at finding them. There are other factors to consider as well: time of the year, time of day, water temperature, weather, water flows, insect hatches. If you have a good handle on all of these factors, and the fish are still being stubborn, just be patient. Generally, it’s just a matter of time and temperature. You may have heard that you should only give a few casts in an area before moving on. You could do that, but you are leaving behind a lot of fish. Trust me. The fish are there. It will happen. Just keep yourself busy and be patient. Check the water temperatures and keep a close eye out for any flying insects. Once you start to see the insects hatching, check the water temperature again, and take note. Eventually, you will be able to predict when those fish will start to consistently eat. More than likely, the fish will be focusing on the nymph or pupa stages that are rising through the water column to hatch as the adults you saw (Chapter-16). Certain insects hatch at certain air and water temperatures. Just be patient. If you feel good about your flies and their placement in the water column, it’s just a matter of time before you and your clients start getting eats. This is a good time to focus on fundamentals with clients and help them to sharpen their presentation skills. Maybe ask about their work or kids. Be kind. Be positive. Be easy to hang out with. On more than one occasion, I have been told by clients that they did not feel as though they were with a guide but with an old friend or a buddy. Be that guide.
Be Curious
When you work as a fly fishing guide, you will meet a wide variety of people. Some are curious about you and will have questions while others will talk your ear off anytime you get near them. Still, others will welcome the chatty and entertaining guide. But, the fact is that not all clients want to be entertained or are even interested in what you have to say. There have been trips where I was clearly viewed as the help by my clients, not so much on the river but more so when I pick them up and drop them off. I notice this to be truer on corporate trips where the people might work for the same company but in different departments or locations, so they are chatting each other up, getting to know each other or reminiscing about dinner and drinking the night before. Let them. It’s their day. Remain aware of your place throughout the day. Once you’re on the water, however, that’s when most people will shut up and listen to what their guide has to say. Focus on your ability to instruct and put clients at ease. Do the job that is required to the best of your ability, and do what is needed. Some trips require a little more and others a little less. Pay attention to client subtleties. Scott, an old timer in his mid-seventies and one of the single best casters I’ve had the pleasure to guide, is a classic example of giving clients space. At the beginning of our day, he told me that he was hard of hearing and not really interested in chatting, so I left him alone and let him enjoy the day in the way that he most wanted to. He just wanted to stand in the river and fish without having to engage in anything else. Even while we enjoyed lunch, I gave him a wide berth. It was my second year as a guide and the first time with a client who didn’t want or need to be entertained. This was an important lesson for me. Since then, I have paid special attention to clients’ subtleties and have tried to accurately read and accommodate them.
The Secrets Clients Keep
On still another trip, and lordy have there been many, I had one of the toughest SOBs I have ever had the pleasure to fish with, this ole-timer, John. He and his son rode with me to the fishing spot, so we got to know each other a little during the drive. His son was a little out of shape, but young and tough. John was a laid back guy in his early 70s and in much better shape than myself who was 20-years younger. He worked out a couple days a week and walked a fair bit. Also, he was as kind and smiley as he was fit, a genuinely good guy.
I walked him into the river by locking elbows for stability–I do this with everyone. “I treat everyone like they’re 83 because that’s how old my oldest angler is,” I will say to clients. I will generally warn people that I’m about to take their arm or grab their belt. The truth is, it’s slippery out there, so I am holding onto clients for my own sake as well as theirs. Hold the shoulder, lock elbows, put an arm around each others’ waists in faster water. I tell clients solo-crossing shallow water (below the knee) to face into the current and walk sideways like a sumo wrestler. Keep looking up at the shore now and again as you cross. There is no need to get any client in moving water that is over their knees. One swim is all it takes to end the day at certain times of the year. No one wants that. We just got here.
The weather was cloudy and warm, as I remember, and I got the boy into a run then moved John upstream to a little more tricky water that was sure to produce fish. I got him into position and took a couple steps away where I could observe both anglers, and when I turned around, John had fallen face first into the shallow water and was picking himself up only to tumble backward into the shallow current. I took a step toward him and extended my hand to help him up. He waved me off and grinned, leaned forward to pick himself up, and then down he went on his face again.
At this point, I waded to him, picked him up via a bearhug and held him there until he regained his balance. The water was fast around us, but not very deep, save for a couple of channels nearby. John’s waders were half-full of river water, and he was grinning like a kid on his first roller coaster. I asked him what the hell was going on, and he told me that he had vertigo. Now, as a seasoned guide, even I get vertigo sometimes just looking at the river bottom while making my way from one fishing spot to the next. It can be so disorienting that I often warn my clients about it and advise them to look up at the opposite shore now and again as they move across the river. It’s similar to when you’re on a boat and are trying to keep your thoughts off your upset stomach. Looking at something stable helps.
I asked him why the hell he didn’t tell me about his vertigo. He answered, “Because, if I did, you wouldn’t have brought me here.” Gotta love it, an old timer with a fear of missing out. I assured him that I would bring him wherever he felt he could fish, but that I may have to stick pretty close to him today. We ended up having a great day and John and his son have become regular clients of mine. While we hiked back to the truck, I teased him and told him I would bring inflatable arm floaties for future trips. He chuckled and commented how that would be quite a site. The next time John fished with me, I made sure he had a walking stick and boots with cleated soles. He stayed upright and slayed fish. There were no arm floaties.
