Everything You Need to Know About Guided Fly-Fishing Trips: What to Expect and How to Prepare

Booking a guided trip is the one of the best ways to get an introduction into fly fishing and to cut the learning curve, compared to going it alone. A quick Internet search for local fly-fishing guides can lead to hours of outfitters to scroll through. Doing your due diligence and requesting referrals while reading reviews will help make sure you are booking with a quality outfitter. Once your trip is booked and the deposit is made, here are a few things you should know before your trip that will improve the experience and help improve your odds of success.

1. Team Spirit: You and your guide are a team. Simple as that, your success will depend on your ability to take coaching, communicate, and listen to instruction. Maintaining a positive attitude regardless of the fishing conditions is the most important contribution you can make. Have fun and enjoy the scenery throughout the day, and the fish will come.
2. Dress Well: Be sure to read the outfitters recommendations for clothing, hats, glasses and other essential items. Dress accordingly for the trip for potential weather conditions. Nothing ruins a trip faster than being ill prepared for changing weather. Many locations regularly have sudden changes during peak fishing season (May through August) that can vary from scorching sun to frigid rain in just a few minutes. Quality outfitters have this information listed on their websites. If they don’t, be sure to ask.
3. Get Legal First: Buy your license online before the trip whenever possible. Too many anglers wait till the morning of the trip to buy a license at the fly shop or online, which delays your trip. Most states offer online license sales so buying your license online the day you book with an outfitter is a great way to streamline your trip. Many of the best rivers don't have cell service to purchase an online license at the ramp and early morning meet ups often happen before the fly shops open. When anglers show up without a license it starts the day off in a bad way that is easily avoided.

4. Guide Gear: If your guided trip includes fishing equipment, leave your gear at the hotel, even if you just bought it and want to learn with it. Your guide will have quality equipment ready to roll for the specific techniques they have established as the most effective for the fishing conditions. Rigging rods can again delay your day, and if you have less-than-quality gear your fishing could suffer. If you're set on using your equipment, be sure to communicate with your guide before the trip (but know your guide likely stayed up late rigging rods and tying flies just for your trip).
5. Expectations: Set a realistic goal for the trip with your guide. It is not a realistic expectation to show up and learn how to cast, mend, set the hook and catch 50 fish on your first day. Too many anglers have unrealistic expectations which can make for a rough day on the water for you and your guide. Your guide likely spends days and days on the water and they have an extensive knowledge of the water and its fish. Don't be upset when you don't catch a brown trout because you didn't ask what type of fish are in the specific water you're booked to fish as there may not be a brown trout for 60 miles. Talking with your guide about your goals before the trip is a great way to start it off on the right foot.
6. Stay Centered: If your trip is a float trip, basic knowledge of a drift boat can be invaluable. When I say basic, I mean basic…If I had one tip to give it would be stay in the middle of the boat. Standing in the middle of the boat inside the leg braces isn't just a suggestion, it is key to your safety and also your guide's sanity. Rowing a drift boat may seem easy, however this simple task of staying in the braces will help your guide with positioning the boat for optimum drift and access to trouty water. Their ability to hold the boat in the right position for you is a huge part of your team's success. Leaning the boat to one side or the other makes it difficult for your guide to control the boat. Remember they are rowing hard all day for you–help them out. And avoid the "Captain Morgan" at all costs–this one-foot-on-the-gunwales stance is a potential path to conflict within your team.

7. Upstream vs Down: Downstream is the direction you are floating. Upstream is where you came from at the back of the boat. This may seem obvious to some, but more anglers than you’d expect ask which is which and even after instruction, cast upstream when told to cast downstream. A downstream mend is just that, mending the line downstream to catch up with a drift. These simple instructions are valuable to understand before your trip to help improve your success.
8. Listen Carefully: Your guide has a system for the instruction portion of the trip and speaks in an order that anglers should pay attention to. Rather than interrupting with a question, wait until they are finished speaking when they ask if you have questions. If you ask a question and the guide starts to answer, try not to interrupt with another question.
9. Jargon: Your guide might use terms that don’t make sense to you so learning the fly-fishing lingo helps. Your guide may say things like "nervous water," "let it ride," "hit the foam," and the most popular "SET!" (which means set the hook a few seconds ago). Ask your guide to explain their verbiage if you're confused as this will make sure you're on the same page.
10. Keep Your Fly Wet: Remember that your guide can read water and knows exactly where you need to put the fly and most importantly, leave it. When you make a great cast and follow it up with a mend, let the fly float down river until your guide tells you to re-cast it. Too often clients feel like re-casting every two seconds and pull the fly out at the wrong time. Fish can't eat the fly unless it's in the water. Know that if you're casting all day, you're likely going to be floating past trout that would likely eat your fly if it was in the river not above it.

11. Gratuities: The trip is over and your guide has untangled messes, re-rigged flies all while providing drinks, snacks, and lunch. They rowed up and down the river to get you the best possible chance at catching your prized fish, mentored you through it all with casting advice, and reminded you when to mend and set the hook for countless drifts. Tipping is a huge part of your guide's income and follows the same standard as at a restaurant or any other service industry. Planning on a 20-percent tip with cash before the trip is a great way to plan ahead allowing you to adjust accordingly depending on the quality of the trip not in regard to the number of fish you catch, but the experience you received.

Whether it’s your first or sixth trip on the river, almost everyone can take something away from these tips and help do their part to take a more educated approach on their next guided fly-fishing trip. These tips can help to build a better team between client and guide and put more fish in the net.

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Colton Bagnoli is an outdoor writer and fly-fishing guide for Montana Fishing Guides located in Northwest Montana specializing in trips on the Missouri, Clark Fork, Blackfoot and Flathead River as well as lake trips for trout, grayling, bass, pike and panfish.

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