Beat the Learning Curve.

When fly-fishermen discuss whether to hire a guide or not, you will often hear someone give the advice to "take a guide and beat THE LEARNING CURVE".  What does this mean?

You may think to yourself "I already know how to fish!"  Whether your skill level is that of an absolute beginner or a highly experienced fisher with thousands of hours on the water there is still the learning curve of learning new water.  Learning the water is the challenge of fishing.  Where should I fish and what should I use to catch them?  This is a question all fly-fishermen ask of themselves and to others be it the fly shop folks, others staying at the same lodge or on web sites and bulletin boards.  It is the info that can make or break a day.

All too often a fly-fishermen on new water will just wander into the water and begin casting without regard as to where the fish may or may not be.  More often than not fly-fishermen will actually wade into the spot they should be fishing thus spooking the fish.  By hiring a guide, this learning curve can be beaten as the guide will know the water, how to fish it and what to fish it with and on a tail water such as the White River, a guide will know when the water is rising due to generation.

A good guide will also show you the different techniques that can be used to catch the fish such as leader and tippet length and diameter, indicator setting, mending and the casting method to best get your fly to the fish.  For the absolute beginner a guide will teach you the basics of the cast and take you to a spot he knows you will catch fish and coach you on playing and releasing fish. At the end of the day your skill level will be better, your knowledge of the river will be enhanced and casting problems will be solved.  Your questions of "where should I fish and what should I use to catch them?" will be answered.

I pride myself on providing a completely fun and educational day on the water. I can't always promise that we will catch fish, but I can promise that I will do everything I can to make sure your trip is a success and that you learned something regarding our wonderful rivers.