Fly Fishing Colorado Trout Fishing Guides

Fly Fishing in Colorado at its best !

Those of you who are experienced at fly fishing and comfortable with fly tackle have a good idea what to expect insofar as you are fishermen (or fisherpeople); that is, you know anything can happen. Among the various stages that fisherpeople go through, it's my humble opinion that the most important stage or attitude or orientation that an angler arrives at is that it is best to think about results as process oriented. A great day on the river doesn't necessarily mean you've landed fifty fish which isn't that difficult to do on some days.

Similarly, landing three fish doesn't imply an unsuccessful day. I will be honest with you: we have great fishing around here. If you have some experience you can catch a lot of fish and you can catch some big fish, too. If you have no experience you can catch a lot of fish. I've had "never ever" fisherpeople in my boat catch fish all day long. Fly fishing, or learning how to fly fish, isn't like learning how to play a Shostokovich piano sonata. But you don't learn how to do it in a day. It's quite easy to learn enough about the general mechanics of fishing with a fly rod in about an hour to the extent that you can and will catch fish under the watchful eye of a perceptive and intense guide.

What I'm trying to say, I suppose, is that I want you to allow your expectations to conform to an enjoyment of and exhilaration with the process by which we fish for wild trout with a fly rod and the beauty and intrinsic value of the context within which it all takes place. Much of the plumbing the depths mythos that fishing is identified with has to do with the expectation of discovery.

A valued friend, teacher, and example setter of mine describes fishing as "the anticipation of discovery," which I think is a beautiful way of looking at the process. Discovery, keep in mind, implies much more than the successful execution of hooking, playing and landing fish.

Discovery can mean finding lots of big hungry fish around the next bend in the river, and it can imply ironing out wrinkles in a strained relationship with your adolescent son because of a shared experience out doors and the enabling mediums of communication that the experience provides.

I have been fly fishing since I was six years old and guiding since I was nineteen, so my ideas, thoughts and opinions have had the opportunity to evolve (or devolve depending on your point of view). In grace and humility I accept that what is important to me in attitude and philosophy may not necessarily be important to you, but I want the opportunity to satisfy as many different kinds of priorities and expectations as people are capable of challenging me with. In fact I'm hungry for that opportunity. That's the process that makes me a better guide. So don't hesitate to request something special or unique. If you're a beginner, you're still going to catch fish. If you're a veteran, how many do you want to catch, or more importantly, how do you want to catch them? Some days are better than others in terms of the willingness of those fish to eat or how easily fooled they are. Some days are rainy and some days are hot and some days are windy. Sometimes the water won't be as clear as we'd like it to be because of too much rain. We can't control those things, but we can control our attitudes about those things. With the right attitude you'll catch fish and have fun no matter what the conditions are like. That's a fact!