Finding a Fly-Fishing Guide

By Captain John Tarr, Edgewater

A basic search engine result for a fishing guide in Florida will result in thousands of hits. Even trying to narrow it down to a specific location will still result in hundreds of hits. When an angler tries to narrow that down to fly fishing, it doesn’t help much. So, the quandary becomes knowing how to select a fishing guide that actually knows fly fishing.

There was a time that it was easy to distinguish between fly fishing guides and guides that didn’t specialize in fly fishing. All you had to do was ask the guide. When I started guiding, over 25 years ago, if a guide didn’t specialize in fly fishing, they told the angler and gave them a suggestion of some guides that did. As time moved forward and more people became interested in fly fishing, guides realized they were missing out on money. They decided they would no longer tell anglers they didn’t fly fish and would take them. The results were not good. Why do you need a guide that specializes in fly fishing?

If you have been fly fishing for a long time, this answer seems obvious. However, for new fly anglers, they may not know and they really need to. I will make this as quick as I can. First, guides who know fly fishing know how to set anglers up for a proper cast to a fish, or at least try to place the angler in best position for a good cast. As an example, a right-handed caster should have the majority of fish off the left side of the boat, between 9 and 11:30. This allows an easy forward cast, without any danger to anyone in the boat. Second, fly fishing guides know how far anglers can cast and try to find fish that will cooperate. Conventional gear anglers can cast a jig or lure over 100 feet, and sometimes much farther depending on the set up. 90% of fly anglers need fish within 60 feet and some new anglers need them within 30 feet. As a fly-fishing guide, once I know this, I select specific locations with this in mind. It means I may not chase the big school of over-slot redfish, because they have been spooky and we can’t get within 100 feet of them. Guides who don’t have this knowledge will go to that big school, sit back, and watch the angler get frustrated because they cannot make the cast. Fly fishing guides also have the knowledge to know what flies are working at that time, and have the selection of custom flies needed for their area. This can be of utmost importance when fish are being very persnickety in their feeding. One final reason is rigging. A true fly-fishing guide will know how to rig a proper leader for your given fishing situation. This will make sure you fly turns over properly, transferring energy as the loop unrolls, and presents your fly in the most delicate, like-like manner possible. All of these factors make a huge difference in the success rate of fly anglers. Now of course, the question is how do you find a real fly-fishing guide?

The answer is that it will take a little leg work. Think of selecting your guide as performing a job interview for an employee you are hiring; because that is exactly what it is. I’m basing this on the understanding that you are going somewhere you have limited knowledge of, no close friends have fished, and you are not part of a lodge situation. First, do your internet search. But, when looking at results, don’t just look at the first page of results. No matter your search engine, the first page of results is mostly paid advertising. While this may give you the person you ultimately choose, most of the time it does not. I want you to look through a few pages of results and pay attention to the website addresses. As you delve further and further into the results for “fly fishing guide” you will start to see the same website addresses repeated. The reason being is those websites have more mentions of fly fishing or fly-fishing guide in them; not just a paid keyword result. Next, start looking into the websites. Look at what their average trips are. Do the majority of anglers have conventional gear or fly gear in their hands? Read their reports. Do they even mention fly-fishing? The biggest clue is what type of gear does the guide use in photos where they are fishing? Now understand, I myself do both fly-fishing and conventional fishing but, when you look at my site, the vast majority of photos will be fly-fishing related and there is plenty of related material that you can see to understand my passion for it. The next step is the most important. Call the potential guide and conduct and interview.