Any recommendations on guides at Lees Ferry? I get down there a bit and it’s always a quick weekend thing so I was thinking I’d get a guide the next time, hopefully in about a month.
a guide there is a good idea as it gets you upriver and into the fish.
there are several good ones.
the gunn’s shop, lees ferry anglers has several good guides. two of which I can recommend w/ confidence, dr. george peet and skip dixon (I think that’s their last names). their approaches differ abit, skip zipped around hitting hot spot after hotspot catching fish in each one and the dr. put us in at 4 mile bar and we stayed there all the live long day.
I understand dave foster (ambassador guides) is good, though I have no experience w/ him.
another option would be renting a jet boat…last time I did it it was $125 a day, plus gas. a considerable savings on a guided trip.
mgj
[This message has been edited by mikeytwoshoes (edited 22 February 2005).]
The one time I fished there, we had a guide from Lee’s Ferry Anglers. I will not repeat the experience. End of comment.
Email me if you want gory details.
Dennis
PS I will wave to ya on my way thru Missoula next month.
I think the whole board would want to hear the gory details.
I posted the gory details on another board at the time, and was flamed to a crisp by people who disagreed with my feelings. I do not wish to start a thread like that here.
email is in my profile. This must be good
I’m fishing with Dave Foster on March 30. I’d be interested in hearing about your experience with Lee’s Ferry Angler’s (a friend on mine recommended them after I already booked the trip), but I can’t think of any reason other than morbid curiousity.
So far I have only hired Ambassador Guides - Bill McBurney is a no-BS guide. If the fishing is lousy, he’ll tell you to come another time. I have to respect a guy who’s that honest.
[url=http://www.ambassadorguides.com:b8c45]www.ambassadorguides.com[/url:b8c45]
The usual disclaimers apply.
Benjo, (et.al)
As your looking for a guide, I’d like to point out a few things about booking.
When I book clients, I like to know what they are looking for. Some clients are looking to catch lots of fish. Others want to spend a day on a famous river. Others are looking to spend time on a beautiful river. Others want to catch a trophy and some want to catch lots of trophy fish on a famous and beautiful river. 
Do you prefer wading or floating. I’ve seen clients drift by just panicing 'cause they wanted to get out and wade a bit while the guide was hauling to try to drift the length of river that he thought the client wanted to see.
Communication is very important when booking.
[ul]
[li]What’s the policy if the river isn’t fish-able[/
f9c2c][/li][li]Can you accurately communicate your real abilities to cast and control the line[/f9c2c][/li][li]Will you expect the guide to fish (or not)[/f9c2c][/li][li]Tips (that’s another thread)[/f9c2c][/li][li]Can your prospective guide get real information about river conditions and communicate a realistic evaluation of the fishing[/f9c2c][/li][li]Can you clearly explain what kind of an outting you’re looking for (kids, family, solo,…)[/f9c2c][/ul][/li]Further, do you need/want instruction from the guide. Maybe you just want some quiet time, … in that case, you wouldn’t want some local blabbering away all day about the local indian customs and the history of the place.
Do you want to use your flies and technics or do you “expect” the guide to help you out (say for a new nymphing technic).
Just a few things to ponder. A bit of communication goes a long way to putting together a wonderful experience on the water for all those involved.
my 0.02$ anyway.
Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://www3.sympatico.ca/chris_chin/:f9c2c]http://www3.sympatico.ca/chris_chin/[/url:f9c2c]
[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 23 February 2005).]
I have fished Lee’s Ferry about thirty times on my own with my own boat when I lived down in that area.
I went with Dave Foster of Marble Canyon Lodge once for two days strictly as a learning experience, which it was. Not only was Dave a great guide, he was a good person to hang out with and I felt I got my money’s worth. I was a professional guide for 10 years and I would rank him right up there.
Terry Gunn at Lee’s Ferry Anglers also runs a great shop, but I have only stayed at his place and rented boats from him. You will get the best river information at his shop.
Renting a boat is a great way to fish it and you can get good maps to show any danger and the good fishing spots.
Both places have good lodging and great restaurants. They have sack lunches if you go on your own.
Do not go if they are fluctuating the river to accomodate the spawning squaw fish. They will tell you it’s all right and the fishing is good, but it’s really not. Try to go during stable water flows or on a weekend when the river stays fairly low.
While Lee’s Ferry may not be the fishery it once was, I believe it is worthy of a visit. The fishing is good and the scenery is fantastic.
“My fondest memories and friends will be forever bound to my heart, with the waters I have fished.” D.G. 1992
You won’t go wrong with a guide from Lee’s Ferry Anglers especially one of the veterans such as Terry Gunn or Jeff English. They both are more than competent are great people. They also know the river inside and out; even the little midge coves where the midges cloud up this time of year. Great food, by far the best of the three available in the area. Except for Sunday, the river is now going from 5,000 cfs to 20,000 cfs each day. The fishing is great on the rise as the quantity fish follow the edge of the water as it moves. After noon when rise has stopped just downstream nymph the deep runs with midges, scuds, san juan worms and you will get the larger fish.
…am happy to hear that some don’t think fishing the Colorado is not what it once was. That will keep the crowd down for me.
hmm, imagine fishing in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I wouldn’t care not one leetle bit if I did not see or catch a fish, not that ahh, that would ever happen.
That place rocks (period).
Fishing is good (always).
Fair weather fishers, is that possible?
hmm, I’m outta here, the place just isn’t like it was some years ago.
grin
adam
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Benjo,
I can’t respond as to which guides are best as I’ve never hired a guide for LF. However, I have rented the LF Anglers Jet sleds on numerous occasions as well as bringing my own boat down from Page. I’d say renting a boat and guiding yourself is the way to go if you want to save bucks and you’re reasonably good at reading big water. The downside of this is that you’ll be competing with all the guides for the limited gravel bars upriver, but unless it’s a really busy weekend you’ll still find many places to fish.
If you’re unfamiliar with the river, Dave Foster published a book entitled “The Lee’s Ferry” which includes techniques, boating info–including maps of the river mile by mile, and history of the area. He’s knowledgeable and I’ve used this book since 1992. You’ll also want to get the flows. Call 1-800-752-8525 for a recording or go to the internet to find them at: [url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/uv?09380000:70115]http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/uv?09380000[/url:70115]
I’ve found both the Gunns and their staff at LF Anglers and the smaller shop at Marble Canyon Lodge to be friendly and knowledgeable. I’ve stayed at both places and prefer the Marble Canyon Lodge due to it’s closer proximity. OTOH, if you’re renting a jet sled from LF Anglers, Gunn’s place might be the best place to stay as you have to go there to pick up and drop off the boat anyway.
I know this wasn’t what you were asking but hope the info might help.
I also forgot to add that Bob Marriott’s Flyfishing store in California has a fishing trip planned for the weekend of March 11-14, 2005. This might bring more of a crowd that weekend–don’t know the impact, but saw their flyer when I was in the store Tuesday.
Mike
[This message has been edited by RS2 (edited 24 February 2005).]