Should You Fish With a Guide?

 

The answer is most definitely, Yes (if you can afford it).

Two Saturdays ago my sister was visiting from town and wanted to go trout fishing. At her suggestion, we hired guides from TCO Fly Shop in State College, Pa. for a morning of fishing on a nearby creek. I was against the idea, at first. Guides usually do not come cheap and also, armed with the internet and my own personal stubbornness, I usually just strike out on my own and do okay...or kill an entire day flogging the water and not catching anything. To me it's all part of the experience of being a fly-fisherman. However, my sister did not have much time and wanted: a.) to learn something, and b.) to actually catch some fish. In such a case, it is almost always preferable to get a guide if you can. 

As it turned out, we were -- quite appropriately -- fishing on International Women's Fly Fishing Day, though none of us knew it at the time. My sister learned a lot and hooked a few fish. I caught the lunker pictured above. But most importantly, we all had a good time.* 

Getting a guide every once in a while is undoubtedly worth it. Why?

• A good guide can teach you more in a couple hours than you can learn by yourself in months or even years of trial and error on your own
• Guides often have access to private streams that are protected and don't get a lot of fishing pressure, and therefore have more fish in them 
• Even if you are not fishing on private water, a guide will have the local area pretty well staked-out and almost surely be able to put you on some fish
• Fishing guides even hire fishing guides when they are fishing on unfamiliar waters or need some additional instruction to hone their skills
• Guides are generally people that really, really love fishing and love to teach people to fish; meaning that, on a philosophical level, you are supporting someone's effort to do what they love while you're also getting the benefit of their years (or decades) of fishing knowledge. What's not to love about that?

(Notes: The fish was caught on a #16 or #18 bead-head nymph, using a dry-dropper method. Hat by Andrea Larko. Thanks to David from TCO in State College for putting me onto the biggest trout I've ever caught in my life.)

(*Actually, that's a bunch of Hallmark Channel B.S. Everyone loves to say, "It doesn't matter if you catch fish, it's just about being out there," but let's face it: it's kinda about a catching fish. If you've never come back from a full day on the water cursing a blue-streak or feeling like the world's most sorry excuse for an angler because you got completely skunked, then I'm sorry but your heart's just not in it.)