Why Hire a Fly-Fishing Guide
Art: Jack Unruh
Sally Roberts, owner/operator
Local Waters Fly-Fishing 800.748.5329.
lwff@earthlink.net
“Why should people hire a guide? The same reason you hire a guide when you go skiing in the backcountry, or a caddy or pro on the golf course. You’ll have a much better experience; you might even catch fish! Local knowledge is key—visitors simply cannot know what our local rivers are like. I think a lot of people forget that guiding is more than taking you where the fish are—it’s helping you use the skills you have more effectively and giving you some new strategies on how to fish and how to cast in certain situations. Most importantly, when you hire a guide, you’re hiring a witness who can say that your fish really WAS 20-inches long (since we’re mostly catch-and-release). We’ll even take a picture to prove it!”
Bruce “Goose” Juhl, owner
All Seasons Adventures, 649.9619.
www.allseasonsadventures.com
“The obvious reasons to hire a guide would be local knowledge of entomology and local knowledge of public access and fishing regulations. You also get to brush up on technique and you get stroked, you know? Encouraged. There’s some pretty good entertainment value to hiring a guide, too. The personality of the guy or gal who wants to be a fishing guide is pretty much the type of person you want to hang out with anyway! Another huge benefit to a guide service is that a lot of visitors come to town without a car because they use our wonderful, free transportation around town. Most of the local guide services provide transportation to and from the river right from your hotel or condo.”
Kory Kapaloski, General Manager
Trout Bum 2, 658.1166.
www.troutbum2.com
“You want to hire a guide because he/she can give you local knowledge that could take weeks (if not months) of your time to learn. They can give you fly patterns they’ve developed that work specifically for this area. Guides basically work like instructors, like a private ski lesson, even if a client doesn’t have any experience at all. We can take people who’ve never even seen a fly rod before. A guide can teach them everything from casting, to presenting the fly, to drift, to catching really huge fish, and most importantly, having fun regardless of the fishing.” And here’s the hook: Kapaloski says, “Don’t forget, too, that there are several secret spring creeks we can always help you find.”
George “Squid” Sideris, buyer
Jans Mountain Outfitters, 649.4949.
www.jans.com
“Other than finding the good fishing locations, if a fly-fisher is just starting out, a guide can teach them more in one day than they could learn in five years on their own. Guests can get a lot of local knowledge on our entomology from a guide—which time of year to use which type of fly, etc. Jans offers half- and full-day guiding, mostly at our private Thousand Peaks Ranch. There, we have nine river miles of private access to the Weber River, where we fish with barbless hooks; we’re 100-percent catch and release. If you could design a river for the beginner fly-fisher, it would look just like Thousand Peaks Ranch. You’re in the foothills of the Uintas, surrounded by peaks; wildlife; wildflowers; and a crystal-clear river coming straight out of the Uintas, full of native Utah cutthroat. It’s a small river, not intimidating, and easy to wade. We also offer three-hour clinics at the stocked pond behind the Stew Pot restaurant near Deer Valley. We offer a wealth of information in those three hours.”
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