What's In A Guide Trip?

"So, you get paid to fish?"  It's something I hear fairly often, but it couldn't be further from the truth!  The fact is, I barely touch the fly rod on a guide trip outside of a few demo casts at the very beginning.  It's about a lot more than just fishing the day of a trip, however. Everything that goes into an afternoon or evening on the water with guests starts long before the alarm clock sounds that morning. 

Most successful trips start months before the actual day of fishing.  That's not to say that arrangements and logistics can't be planned last minute, but the majority of outings are planned well in advance.  From first contact what I'll try to do is learn about expectations.  What are the main goals for our day on the water?  Is fly fishing going to be a one-time thing?  Is the hope that a foundation of skills can be acquired so as to go do it again solo after our day is done?  Are multiple trips in the works to learn not only about technique, but also different streams in a variety of PA regions?  Once I learn what exactly the goal of the day is, I go about formulating an itinerary. 

Fast forward to the morning of the trip.  The planning has been completed, lunches packed, arrangements for meetups finalized, and all that's left is to go fishing!  Once we are on the water, I typically go through a brief rundown of the rig that's being used and what it's supposed to imitate.  Knowledge is power, and the more everyone knows about our setup the more successfully it can be fished.  After my opening spiel and explanation of what we are fishing with and why, I'll go through a few quick demo casts.  What comes next is instruction into casting motions, how to achieve a proper drift, what a drift even is, how to set the hook on a fish, and how to fight a fish that's hooked. 

Once that's finished it's game on!  For the next 4-8 hours (depending on length of trip) it's all about having fun, learning, and catching some fish.  

The idea behind a guide trip is providing guests with a day on the water they wouldn't find elsewhere.  Each detail is thought of with guest comfort in mind.  For a seasoned veteran maybe that means a day of someone else doing all the knot tying and learning a few advanced techniques.  A beginning angler may be able to learn about fly fishing and be exposed to the sport without the costly start up costs of gear acquisition.  It's an opportunity for folks to broaden their horizons and experience all that nature has to offer.  To do that under the tutelage of a professional guide shrinks the learning curve and guarantees a fun day on the water with plenty of fish in the net and stories to revel about later!

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