Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 10 November 2025
I was blessed with the opportunity to go fishing with some young and enthusiastic fly fishers this week. I can still hang. Colt and Luke decided that it was worth the 5-hour drive from college to come hang out with me and chase monster trout with streamers. Colt even knew that I was going to be talking shit the whole time he was here and still thought it was worth the drive. To be completely honest, the boys can cast. I really don’t have too much to worry about on that front but trying to ease the how to use big streamers to catch massive fish in a river learning curve can be steep. Now, I’m not saying that the boys didn’t have a good idea of where fish might be, how to present different flies, and how to use different techniques. I am saying that it takes time and experience to pull all of that knowledge together, along with the weather and river currents, and also set the hook, fight the fish, and pray to the fishing gods for mercy.
I found myself transitioning to a different type of coaching than I’m used to while guiding this week. I started answering everything with options rather than anything definitive, and I think it really helps to uncover the intricacies of what they are trying to learn. “How would you fish this?” “Well, it depends. If I wanted to swing a fly like that at this level in the water column, then I might use this set up. I would try to cast it up there and give it a little mend so that the fly is here when it comes through the zone. I would work my way through the run like this, and I’d expect to get eats around here all the way down. On the other hand, I know that there are some fish that like to set up like this on that seam over there. You might try to come up from the bottom of the run with a fly like this and cast over there and reach mend. That will present a sculpin swimming like this down river, but you need be sure not to line any of the fish that might be over here. It could spook the whole run.” If you spend a couple of days on different types of water sharing your knowledge in this way, then you might be surprised the amount of information that your experience has afforded you. I do try to tailor casting lessons toward fishing tactics. That is the point of it all after all. “Now we are going to learn the reach mend and how to use it. It is a great weapon to have in your arsenal against all fish that eat.”
There are some things that you just can’t teach, though. “How do you keep your nerve in the face of a once in a lifetime fish, and remember to set the hook at the precise moment?” You can’t just listen to me screaming “Set the hook,” because your heart is beating through your ear drums, and the fascination of seeing such a beast has left you so awe struck you forgot you were fishing. “How do you maintain focus while trophy hunting for two days straight and remain unaffected when you suddenly get an eat at the time you least expect it?” That moment when you have finally become completely automated with your casting and working flies through the runs perfectly. That is when a monster chooses to explode at you. When you don’t fish your fly all of the way out one time in the last 500 casts. They’ll come flying into the party late like the fattest baby pig to the trough.
Here’s a tough one. How do you always know where your fly is going to be?
The only way that I can think of to help people gain the knowledge they need to develop this type of skill set is to put them in those situations as often as I can and coach them through it when they need it. I was talking to a gentleman that has been making a living teaching the fly game for quite some time, and he told me, “If you want me to be perfectly honest, I think that people should pay to come watch me fish. Better yet, pay me to come fish the water that they typically fish so they can watch. Come on man I’m serious. It has taken me thousands of hours to develop my ability to efficiently and effectively present flies, and I know that people could benefit from watching how I attack the water. Think about it. The best advice anyone ever gets is from a guide, and they aren’t as concerned with your long-term growth as a fisherman. Save your guide money and I’ll come show you how to fish. I agree with this idea completely. Starting today you can pay me to watch me fish your water. For the low low price of five hundred bucks a day I will catch as many fish of your chosen species as I can. Obviously, if I have to travel to your location, (I prefer tropical) then you will also need to cover my travel expenses. I’ll be waiting for emails.
So, tell us the good stuff about the trip this week. What happened?
We hung out and talked about rigs and flies. I did a little fly tying demonstration. We ate pizza. We saw fish. We made plans of attack and thoroughly executed them. We got great interactions with enormous fish. We learned that we don’t always set the hook in the best way that we can. We learned that fish can chase your fly over 30 feet and deny you at the last possible moment. The boys got to see world class fish and had shots at catching them, but we didn’t land any fish. We felt them eat flies. We watched head shakes, but we didn’t close the deal. On the bright side, the boys now have a fire that they likely won’t extinguish. “Oh my god.” Is always something that you like to hear from people that you are fishing with.
I did leave out one part. I fished in a different section of the river the first morning, and…well, we can just say that sometimes experience matters.