This article will provide you with an overview of what you need to know to become an angling guide as well as some helpful hints on how to begin gaining experience as a guide.
How To Become a Fly Fishing Guide: What You Need to Know
- by Josh Hassell
- February 18, 2022
Table of Contents
Fly fishing is a great way to spend time outdoors and enjoy the wonder of nature. It’s also a wonderful hobby for those who want to keep their minds active. The first step to becoming a fly fishing guide is to learn about equipment, fly-fishing basics, and all the other ability is necessary for being a guide.
What To Know About Being a Fishing Guide
You can always look into becoming a full-time, professional guide – but if this is something that interests you, then it will pay off for you to do so gradually. In the beginning, feel free to take on as much work as you can. After all, it’s a great way for you to gain experience and develop your skills.
In addition, if you offer lessons or have other people that come with you on trips then there’s a good chance that they will be willing to pay you a little bit of money – this is a good way for someone just starting out who doesn’t have enough work from which he can make a living from being a guide yet. It may also provide some extra cash!
How To Get Experience As A Fly Fishing Guide
If you’re just starting as a fly angling guide, then you’ll need to get some fly angling experience under your belt. Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can do this – and most of them don’t involve charging people for fly fishing lessons.
You can:
- Volunteer as a guide
- Offer angling lessons for free
- Gain fishing volunteer work with conservation organizations
- Practice fly-fish as much as possible
The first thing you should know about becoming a fly fishing guide is that it doesn’t happen overnight. Even if you have all the necessary certification and licensing, it still takes time to build up a reputation as an expert guide.
The Best Fly Fishing Guides
The ones who can teach you are the one who has a passion for fishing and flies fish often – both on their own and with clients. If you start to love fishing as much as you hope your clients will, then this is a good indicator that you’re going to be successful!
Much of becoming a guide comes down to doing the work necessary to gain certification, acquire proper licensure, and increase fishing mastery and skills.
If you’re a skilled fisherman who’s also passionate about the topic, there are certainly advantages to be gained here. So, what would it take for you to succeed here and gain clients’ trust and confidence as a guide?
Enhance Your Fishery Ability
You must enhance your catching skills if you want to become a guide.
A few weeks of what seems like little progress can lead to discouragement, which is understandable. But, if you keep practicing and getting better at fly catching, then it will be clear that your efforts are paying off down the road – and that’s satisfying!
Whether or not you decide to take this as far as becoming a professional guide is up to you – but we certainly support those who do!
Obtain a Fly Fishing Certification and Licensing
Fly fishing certification and licensing are required for anyone who wants to work as an official fly-fishing tour guide.
There are many different levels of certification, but the most basic level is the Sport Fishing Guide License. This is what you’ll need if your clients want to go on a guided fishing tour with their own equipment, but don’t have the licenses or permits of their own.
Learn Fly-Fishing Terminology
Fly fishing terminology can be very confusing until you understand it well enough to know which term means what.
You also need the rest of the physical abilities required for this kind of job, not to mention all the necessary licenses and certifications. And, most importantly, you should be passionate about it! If you are, then there’s no telling how far your career as a fly fishing guide might go.
Try to Get as Much Knowledge and Experience as Possible
The more experience you gain through fly fishing lessons, the better! You don’t have to become a professional guide just yet – but the more you know about this sport, the better off you’ll be.
One of the best ways to start developing your expertise as a fly fisher is to simply fish as much as you can, on your own and with others. You can also read about fly fishing in magazines or books – but nothing replaces actual experience!
Learn the Fly Fishing Industry
If you want to become a fly fishing guide, you need to learn about the industry and where it’s headed – not just now, but in the future!
Many factors go into this, so take some time to better understand the fly fishing tourism market and how it works. This is certainly a good way for those who love to fish as much as their clients do can still make money from fly angling or guiding!
That said, there are many other ways that you can eventually gain all of the knowledge and experience required to become a tour guide. And if you’re truly passionate about this discipline, then it will be well worth pursuing.
The ability to share your knowledge with others is a remarkable one – and if it’s something you love to do, then it could very well become a full-time profession as a fly fishing guide.
Have a Fly Fishing Outfitters
To be the best fisherman, you must have a good angling outfit. It will make your life easier.
Each fisherman needs a fly-angling outfit to complement the other equipment he is wearing. For example, if you are wearing boots while catching fishes, it would be best to have waders that go up to your waist or chest area. This way, you get the proper coverage that you need without any gaps in between for rivers or streams to pass through.
Consider Doing Some Fly Fish Lessons
The success of every guide depends on his clients’ satisfaction with his abilities, so taking up fly angling lessons can help ensure that they’ll keep coming back!
Be Patient and Persistent, and Take Your Time!
No one becomes successful overnight – and if you’re trying to become a guide (or even just an experienced fisherman), then this is among the best advice that we can give to you: patience and persistence pay off!
It might take some time to get where you want to be – but as long as you keep pushing forward, things will fall into place before long. This isn’t something that anyone should rush; rather, those who take their time with it usually reap more benefits than those who try to go about getting certification or licensing too quickly.
Enroll in a Guide School
If you don’t have much experience, why not simply get certified?
Take a look at your local area to see what guide schools are available near you. You can also talk to other guides or experienced anglers that you know to discover which ones they’ve attended and whether or not they recommend them to someone who is just starting out. Enrolling in these courses will give you the guidance that you need – plus certification!
Build a Guiding Career
There are several ways to build a career.
The simplest and most common way is to be part of a well-established guiding business or become an independent guide that takes his or her clients on guided trips through their chosen waterways.
Know Your Angling Grounds
Knowing where the fish are isn’t difficult when you have plenty of prior experience. If you’ve been fly angling before (maybe for other species), then it should be no problem to find out where the fish are.
This way, you’ll have no issues being able to advise your clients on where to go. If necessary, you can also ask other guides in the area about where they normally recommend taking their tour groups!
What You Can Learn from Fly Fishing Guide School
Guide schools provide an excellent opportunity for flies fishers to increase their angling abilities and learn more about the sport.
Guide schools are where you should go if you desire to gain expert knowledge about angling. Most of these places offer many different classes for participants, and they may also be able to connect you with other guides who can provide more information on what you need to know.
Guide schools will teach you everything from fly tying techniques; basic fly fishing rod equipment; line maintenance; knot making skills; understanding water currents and fish behavior; reading maps and charts (so that you’ll know the best locations); basic weather forecasting (for optimal angling conditions); finding out which techniques work best under certain circumstances.
Latest Angling Techniques
For those who wish to become successful angling guides, you must know the latest techniques and strategies for catching fish.
There are many ways to catch fish – but what many anglers don’t realize is that each trout has his or her preferred way of being caught! Knowing what this is can make your life much easier when it comes to finding success.
Water Safety Course
Every angler must pass a Water Safety Course and get CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) Certification before starting his or her career.
Being a guide needs to know how to handle any kind of situation that might arise on the water, including accidents, injuries, and more!
Right Usage of Fishing Gear
You want to make sure that you are properly equipped with all the necessary gear before venturing out on your next fly-catching trip! It’s important to know how to use each piece of equipment, including rods, reels, lines, waders, and boots.
The proper usage of everything will help ensure that your outing goes well without any major setbacks or problems – which is exactly what you need in order to please your clients while keeping yourself safe at the same time.
Knot Tying Skills
You must know how to apply the right knot for the specific type of fish that you’re using. By practicing and getting proficient with your knot-tying ability, you can avoid losing fish (which will lead to less frustration) and make it much easier to land them once they’ve been hooked. Plus, knowing how to tie knots can come in handy if anything else goes wrong!
Different Species of Fishes
Different fishes have different ways of being caught, so it’s essential to know each species inside and out! You need to learn how the fish live, where they are most likely to be found, what their average size is, etc.
Once you understand these things about one particular type of fish, it will be much easier for you to locate them throughout your guiding careers.
How to First Aid in Tough Situations
If something goes wrong and a client gets injured, you’ll need to know first aid procedures in order to ensure that they don’t get more seriously hurt.
It’s also important to provide the proper first aid for yourself as well! You can always ask about getting authorized first-aid training (and your guide school may offer this as an option).
Rules and Regulations
In order to become a guide, you must first know all of the current rules and regulations that apply to your area. Some places have stricter guidelines than others, as well as different local laws to adhere to!
In other words, you must do everything possible in order to make sure that you abide by each law – or at least try your best – if you don’t want any run-ins with the police!
The Responsibility of Being a Guide
Being an experienced guide means that you are also responsible for making sure that your clients are fully taken care of during your service.
This includes everything from providing them with the necessary gear (and knowing how to use it); driving them through off-the-beaten paths; cooking them delicious meals; helping them spot fishes in the water; providing them with a great overall experience – and so much more!
Where to Work as a Fishing Guide
If you want to become an angling guide, then there are plenty of places that you can put your skills to use. Many outfitters require guides who have been certified by the Federation of International Sports Fishers.
Some angling lodges will also hire experienced guides from other companies, but always make sure that they ask for references before officially hiring you! The best way is to find out whether or not a company needs a guide is to call them directly and inquire about their services.
What to Do When you Started Guiding?
Once you’ve decided to become an angling guide, there are plenty of things that you must do in order to get started. For one thing, it’s essential to complete guides training courses and learn as much as possible about angling – including how to handle any kind of situation that might arise on the water (including accidents, injuries, etc.).
It will also help if you show up looking the part; this means bringing extra clothes for changing into along with bringing proper gear (if it isn’t provided by your employer).
In order to make your clients feel comfortable and build a good rapport, you should also be able to start some lighthearted conversation. You must know how to operate all of the necessary gears as well! Once all of these things have been covered and once your clients are fully satisfied with their day out on the water – it’s time to relax and enjoy some fishing yourself!
Final Thoughts on How to Become a Fly Fishing Guide
Now you learned the basics of how to become a guide!
The most important thing to remember is that there are tons of different interests in the world when it comes to fishing, so always make sure that you know which kind of fishes your clients are interested in catching before you start your journey!
Josh Hassell
There's nothing better than going out to the lake early in the morning, and catching some fish! Like many other anglers, I find fishing to be very therapeutic. I've been fishing since I was about 10 years old, and fell in love ever since. I hope to share my expertise and knowledge with the community, and help everyone become better anglers.
