HONESTY
Many moons ago I was involved with hands on fly-fishing education. I taught basic fly casting classes, gave fly tying instruction and I even taught a class at a community-based adult education program on the History of Fly Fishing. In later years I had a brief stint as a fly-fishing guide, but passed that rather onerous task on to my nephew who proved to be a far better guide than I could have aspired too.
One of the things that I learned during my time of teaching and guiding fly-fishers was that honesty, particularly when it came to angling ability, was something that was sadly lacking in many of the individuals that I encountered. A few years ago when I was editing another publication I conducted a survey of professional fly-fishing guides about their biggest problem with their clients. Topping the list was lack of angling skills, and failure to listen.
Recently I read an article by a professional salt water guide that lamented the fact that a considerable number of his clients exaggerate their angling ability with the results being that they spend most of their time with him being frustrated because they do not have the necessary skills to catch the fish they are targeting.
If you want to BS your buddies by telling them what a great caster you are, and how you can double haul your entire fly line despite the fact that you can barely cast 40 feet with the wind at your back, that lie doesn’t have any real consequences. Your buddies have probably seen you cast and they know that you are feeding them a line, [no pun intended] but when you put out good money for a professional guide and exaggerate your skills you make both yourself and the guide miserable.
The point of this rant is simple. Be honest about your abilities, especially if you are going to hire a guide or spend time at a fly-fishing seminar. If you don’t honestly describe your abilities the only person that is ultimately impacted is yourself. Consider the following scenario:
You are headed for the tropics to fish for salt water fish. To be successful you must be able to quickly drop a fly on a moving target that is generally going to be over 40 feet away. Now if your fishing experience has been limited to fishing for trout on relatively small streams where a cast of over 30 feet is rare and a big fly is a size 12 you are not likely to be able to meet the demands of putting a fly in front of a bonefish cruising over the flats at 80 feet away! That doesn’t mean that you cannot have a good time and that you will not hook some of those salt water fish. What it does mean is that you have to be honest with your guide, preferably in advance.
Hopefully you will have the time before you leave for your trip to get some casting lessons and have time to practice casting with bigger rods and larger flies. However, the important thing is make certain that your guide knows that you are not an experienced salt water angler and that you will need help in learning the ropes.
By telling your guide or outfitter in advance that you have never done this type of fly-fishing will help insure that everyone involved will not have unreasonable expectations. This will also allow your guide or outfitter to plan your trip in such a way to maximize the experience given your skill level. In addition, some guides are great teachers and they enjoy that aspect of guiding while some guides anticipate that there job is to put the client over the fish and they have neither the desire or the ability to teach you how to catch them. If you are a beginner you don’t want the guide that only wants to show you fish.
Being honest with your guide doesn’t just involve fishing the salt. Freshwater angling has just as many challenges, and the skill set necessary to fish many freshwater situations can be just as demanding as casting to a moving bonefish on a sun bleached flat with a 10 knot wind blowing in your face.
Presenting small flies to very picky trout on a gin clear spring creek requires casting accuracy, precise presentation skills, and tenancy. If your experience only involves wading and fishing small freestone streams you need to be prepared for a sharp learning curve the first time you wade into a spring creek where the trout are sipping size 20 midges, and any errant cast will spook every fish within 100 yards. A proficient guide will be more than happy to help you polish your skills but you must be honest enough to admit that you need help.
Fishing from a moving boat can be unnerving to some anglers that have never experienced this type of fishing. This is especially true if you are fishing a large freestone stream where the current is pushing you downstream as a relatively rapid pace. During the early part of the season rivers are often running at an accelerated pace due to runoff, and during this period the fish will often be holding in the relatively calmer water close to the bank. On my home water, the Yellowstone River, early season angling often requires consistently dropping large weighted nymphs within a foot of the bank. Standing in the front casting yoke of a pitching drift boat casting big weighted flies at the bank as it zips passed can be productive but unnerving. If you have not done this before make certain that you tell your guide, preferably before you find yourself faced with that prospect.
Honesty is always the best policy, and when you are contemplating laying out a considerable sum of money for a guided fly fishing adventure being honest about your abilities may mean the difference between a good investment and giving your money to Bernie Madoff!