1 . SAFETY CONSCIOUS
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how to choose a guide
STEPH AVENA : OMAK , WA
Ever feel clueless about hiring a Fly Fishing guide ? These 5 tips will help you qualify him or her before laying down the big bucks …. and these tips may even save your life !!!
Let ’ s say you ’ re headed to a new Blue- Ribbon trout lake , or perhaps your spouse has agreed to accompany you for a day of fly fishing ( miraculous !). Maybe you ’ d like to wine and dine a client on a guided trip ? Clearly you ’ re gonna need a competent and dependable guide – especially , if you hope to stay married to your spouse !
So , what do you look for in a guide when you go fish a new place or want to learn a new technique ? My advice is to ask other anglers , or your local fly shop to refer you to a guide with the following five qualities , all of which start with the letter “ S .”
1 . SAFETY CONSCIOUS
Does the guide carry enough life jackets ? Have they renewed their First Aid / CPR certification ? Call me crazy , but I ’ d like to make it to the take-out ( even more than I ’ d like to catch fish !). Yes , it should be given that my guide is safety conscious at ALL TIMES , but consider the following “ guided ” experience I had one July on the Upper Yakima River .
I booked a fly fishing trip with a wellknown outfitter from Ellensburg . Instead of the experienced senior guide , I was given an unnamed junior guide — just a nice , fish-crazy college kid . About a half hour into our float , “ Big Ernie ” made his fateful appearance . This twenty-plus rainbow specimen was known to local guides , and he could be found behind a certain rock . Sure enough , I missed the hookset and realized we had floated by — too far to cast again , but not to my guide . He dropped his anchor in heavy current , and grabbed the rod from my hands . “ Here , let me try !”
What happened next should caution you to always ‘ vet ’ your guide …. as he was false casting , this kid ’ s anchor kept slipping downstream . He dropped the fly rod too late and we were pinned against a sweeper ( log ) hanging just above the river and perpendicular to the flow . In a flash , the boat filled over its side and was flipped .
I lost my phone , my rod , my reel , my wallet and nearly my life when the sweeper snapped back and hit me between the eyes — POW !!! Now seeing stars and treading water , it was a hundred yards until we landed on an island . Thank God we were both in swim shorts in July and not floating an icy stream in waders .
Are you too embarrassed to ask if they know CPR ? Don ’ t be . You might just be passed along to their most dependable ( and experienced ) guide . At the very least , you ’ ll get your point across , and you ’ ll find out how much your outfitter values basic safety .
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