We were on a weekend fishing trip to a local lake with several other couples , we do this about 4 or 5 times each summer .
I was doing quite well catching and releasing several nice Rainbow each day . One of the guys was having no luck at all not even a bite after 2 days . He asked If someone would take him out in the boat and show him what he was doing wrong so he could pick up some tips and at least catch a fish . No problem I offered to take him out .
Out on the lake I set an anchor fore and aft just of a shoal .
This disturbs our hero who says trolling is better and anchoring is just stupid . I convince him that this method works really well . I have been quite successful fishing with a sinking line a pheasant tail nymph using a ultra slow retrieve . I set him up with a5wt rod 9ft leader 2lb test . As I am tying on a #14 pheasant tail . I notice him cutting the off the leader and fly I gave him . So I ask What are you doing ? His reply , that little fly and useless leader you gave me will never catch a big trout they cant even see anything that small and even if one does bite ,that leader will break . I try to convince him to let me
re-attach it as it is a killer combo but to no avail . He insists he is right . Frustrated I try to shrug it off and I get my own rig ready . He ties on 4ft of 15lb mono leader to the flyline and puts on a muddler minnow . He casts it out , I have to admit even with the 15lb mono leader , He casts better than I do . He doesn’t let it sink for more than a second and fast strips it in . I suggest that the fish are near the bottom about 17-18ft down and he should slow down . Nope He has seen a guy last year strip in line this fast so it must be the right way .
I cast about 50 ft out or so and let the line sink and begin a very slow retrieve . I am rewarded with a small rainbow . He says Lucky thats all . I catch several more small bows then one about 16" . Wow thats a nice fish He says . I again try to get him to follow my lead . No luck . I get a couple more 14" fish then We break for a lunch on shore with the others . He tells everyone that even tho the two of us fished exactly the same from the same boat that I was the only one that was lucky . He added a side comment that I must be using some illegal scent on my flies or something . I supperss the urge to strangle him . I will take him fishing again when Hell freezes .
Anyone else out there have the same type of experience ?
Gnu,
Don’t sweat it. You know what you did and what he didn’t do. Personally, if someone ask, I’m usually more than happy to help. However, if that person starts arguing with me immediately after the first thing I said, I’d have said, “It’s been nice. See ya later”. That guy really didn’t want to learn anything. He wanted to prove that you were lucky or that his methods should have worked.
Allan
Sounds to me that he couldn’t catch a breeze in a wind storm! I’d have to agree with strangling the guy. I doubt that he’s really out to catch fish, he’s looking for a personal pity-party!
In order to catch one must be positive that he’s got even a slight chance. There was nothing positive about this joker!
I feel better now.
There’s almost nothin’ wrong with the first lie, it’s the weight of all the others holdin’ it up that gets ya’! - Tim
the guy set you up. Nothing you could have done would have been right, okay, or correct. Stay away from home for fear of contamination.
Few things I learned early.
Don’t p…s off the umpire.
Don’t smart off to a cop.
Don’t doubt the guide (until you’ve been at least a half a day without a bite - and he has his back turned) 
I figure if a guy is good enough to put me on fish - tell me what fly to use and show me how he’s catching them - if I can’t catch fish it sure ain’t his fault. You did your part Gnu…
Gnu, You can lead a horse’s arse to water, but…
“Knowledge is knowing, wisdom is understanding”
…and this guy didn’t have to swim back to shore?
Unbelievable…the guy’s not only an idiot but ignorant.
Gnu-
Cheer up. At least you don’t have to work with this numbskull 40 hours a week like others probably do.
Taxon
[url=http://FlyfishingEntomology.com:5b056]FlyfishingEntomology.com[/url:5b056]
Happened to me when I fished with Micus. He caught more fish than I did. He must have scented his flies with Rum.
jed
3 questions
1 were the anchors heavy enough to hold him down?
2 are the anchors expensive?
3 was there enough money is his wallet to cover the cost of the anchors and rope?
any question as to my train of thought
Thanks for the replys guys .
MOturkE - I am glad you feel better its good to vent .
chewydog - What saved him from a swim to shore with a boat trying to run him down was his children watching from shore .
Taxon - Your right 40 hours a week with this clown and I would be talking to you from the big house doing 30 to life .
Jed , I have read most of Micus stuff on Faol , he may be a pirate , but he is a Pirate several classes above this twit .
teasels- see my answer to Chewydog above .
if such were the case money would have been no object .
I have to say that I have taken lots and lots of people out fishing . I especially like to take kids out and get them started in the sport . For the most part everyone has a good time and hopefully catches something . Never before have I encountered such stubborness and closed mindedness .
I just was so frustrated I needed to vent a little . Thanks for letting me do that guys .
When I was guiding in AK, each year I would have a few clients act in much the same way. I would suggest flies and techniques that have been working that week, only to get snubbed as the dude tied on his own fly and would cast to the wrong water. Usually this kind of dude would be partnered with another dude that was not as experienced and would listen. I would take the dude that would listen, and made it my mission of the day to make sure the listener caught fish while the other dude would go fishless.
Usually sometime during lunch while we ate and discussed the day thus far, the non-listener, whom caught less fish, would start to become receptive to the guides advice. At that point, my goal was that I put them both in the right water, with the right kind of fly, and help them both with presentation. I didnt have to prove myself to them or me, but since they paid so much money to have a guide, it made no sense to me for them not to take my advice.
I have taken others fishing too, and the ones as described above get only one trip from me. I guess that is the good part about not being a guide any more, I can be very, very picky about whom I take fishing.
There is something positive you can take from these kinds of experiences. That you are not like them, that you can take advice from others without destroying your ego, and that you are nice enough to try and help others succede. Tis these experiences that teach us most about other people.
Have fun, Jeff
Tis my time on the water, in the mountains, and in my driftboat where I can see things as they really are.
I think in situations like that we often start out mad or at least angry. If you take a moment and look at the situation from another side its quite humorus. I think you could wind up with a good side ache from the laughing at someones foolishness. Think the three stooges!
jed
I hired a guide once(that was the only time I had the money).My first step was to say to him I am an IDIOT and you are the teacher HEEEEELP then grinned. It was down hill from there. If he said jump I jumped.I have always been open to advice from the ones catching the fish.He just didn’t realize at that moment YOU were his guide. His loss your gain in the long run.Next time leave the kids at home and DROWN HIS BUTT.heheheh
Hee hee hee
I have a very special place that I go fishing and one time I met another fly fisher there. (very odd thing to happen in texas) To make a long story short, he would only fish one kind of fly and it was a spider type of popper. He did catch a few fish now and then. I asked him if he wanted to try a nymph and he had never heard of such a thing. We were fishing at a spot where he was convinced that the fish would be over near some rocks where the water was deep but wasn’t catching anything. Directly behind him about 30 feet was some shallow water riffles and I suggested trying a nmyph in there and he just turned his nose up and kept throwing at the deep water. I was really angry at his reaction so I cast a hares ear directly behind him (ok, not a very nice thing to do)and hooked into a 14inch smallie which ended up running right at him which he scooped up with his net. He gave me a dirty look and I went my way. Later that day he caught up with me down farther in the river and his attitude was different and we talked for a while. I ended up giving him a few of my best tied nmyphs and wished him luck.
One thing that I always do when fishing is try new things. I’ve learned more by doing that than any other thing. Most of the time after I’ve caught a few on a certian fly, I’ll try others just to see if they too will work. This last sunday I was catching on top water so I tried a bugger just for kicks and totally struck out with it. I ended up trying about 8 different flys and had luck with 2. when I got finished fishing I went up to the local store for a hamburger and saw why. The windows were covered in green mayflies.
Yes, every time I fish with my Dad! I’ve learned to accept it…not gonna change!