I know several, national as well as foreign. I have seen most of them in action. Different styles but same basic function: take the client to the fishing grounds (and bring them back safe and sound).
Some talk a lot, too much. Others very little, they just say cast over there every now and then. There are some who know where every trout of the river lies and anticipate each client's step killing all possible elements of mystery and surprise. Some like to impose their conditions: fly, leader, fishing spot... regardless of the experience and knowledge of the fisherman-client.
There are some who try to offer a global fishing experience and others that only focus on assuring the client catches fish at the expense of whatever else, doing whatever it takes and forgetting about the surroundings, the conversation, the anecdotes and a thousand small details more.
However, those small details mark the difference and make some guides clearly stand out above the rest. Those guides comply with their basic function and add a lot of other very useful and practical things for the client. Details that are not advertised on their web sites and always surprise the client.
Some in this group give very practical fly casting tips adding to the fishing experience an interesting pedagogical approach. Others have a great deal of knowledge on entomology and riverine ecology and invite the client to discover a new dimension in the way they perceive the river and its surroundings.
I know a Spanish guide who suddenly disappears leaving the customer alone for some time so that he becomes the only main character in the picture. I once witnessed how a guide made a customer tie a fly quickly streamside while a good trout was rising ten yards away in front of him (a real torture). He managed to catch the fish on that pattern and the customer admitted it had been one of the most incredible experiences in his life.
My good friend Pierre from France, a professional guide, videotapes the customers and a few days later he sends them a CD home containing a short movie with the best moments of their fishing day. Brilliant idea and extraordinary marketing.
I would like to highlight a reduced group of guides that from my point of view make an important mistake. They are those guides that fish at the same time as their customer. They do so just because they like fishing a lot and can not help it. They take their rod and fishing gear with them and become fishing mates for long periods of time. They would really be fishing mates if it weren't for the fact that the customer pays and what that guide is really doing is preventing them from catching possible fish.
Happy week.
Carlos
Pic Of Day
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