What To Expect From Your First Guided Fly Fishing Expedition
Even if you have gone fishing a lot in the past, fly fishing is a whole different sport. The bait you cast — a fly — is so light that it bobs across the top of the water, hopefully attracting fish. To cast this fly effectively and then reel in a fish afterwards takes quite a lot of skill and finesse. Because fly fishing is such an art and differs so magnificently from traditional fishing, many people will choose to go out on a guided fly fishing expedition before embarking on their own. If you book one of these expeditions, here's a look at what you can expect.
A Preparation Checklist or Guidelines
Usually, when you book a fly fishing trip, you'll receive some information from the guide well in advance of the excursion. This guidance will tell you what equipment you need to bring along, where to meet the guide, how long your trip is expected to last, and so forth. Generally, you'll be given the contact information for a guide so you can ask any questions you have before the excursion.
Lots of Basics
Sometimes, more experienced anglers are taken aback by all of the time the guide spends teaching the basics at a fly fishing expedition. However, so much of fly fishing comes down to correct basics, such as how you bait and cast. There's less room for error in these techniques with fly fishing than with traditional fishing, so your guide is actually saving you a lot of headaches by making sure you get these things right from square one.
Personalized Advice
Once you do have the basics down, you can expect your guide to create a rather personalized experience. They should focus on the skills that you, personally, need the most help on. If you're fishing with a larger group, you can expect your guide to teach broad information to the group as a whole and then also spend some individual time with each one of you. Even in group excursions, however, the groups tend to be small. Usually, there won't be more than three or five students in your group as this allows the guide to really supervise and assist each one of you. As the day goes on, you should notice your fly fishing techniques improve, both due to practice and due to guidance from your leader.
Fly fishing is a really fun sport, but it can be tough to learn. Going on a guided fly fishing trip is a good way to jump in with both feet and really learn the ropes.