How to Find a Good Fly Fishing Guide

Canadian fly fishing lodges and fishing guides abound, but how can clients really tell if the experience will be positive? It抯 hard to tell who really knows what they抮e doing just from a website when a slick design can make anyone look like a pro.

There抯 the lingering question of whether someone who is passionate about fishing, the water, nymphs and trout can be completely on top of online presence at the same time. Shouldn抰 the focus be on weather, temperatures and water levels instead of SEO?

It抯 tempting to go it alone, but a good guide can make the difference between a wasted weekend and one that抯 full of the rush of zinging fishing lines and the whir of the reel. Here are a few tips on choosing guides that might make the decision easier.

Follow fishing sites, and check the posts for the guides that other anglers recommend.

Research the conditions ahead of time, including long range forecasts and predicted water levels. Government websites offer river forecasts that give a general sense of conditions in the current year.

Understand the river and the landscape as much as possible including the timing of hatches, insect cycles and more before booking. A good site will offer resources like maps and species information to help develop background knowledge.

Clients need to set realistic expectations; the fish don抰 know how much the day cost, but the guide does. A focus on the client抯 experience, patience to instruct on technique and generosity with knowledge can offset some of the disappointment of not catching tons of fish in a day. However, if a guide knows his river it抯 reasonable to expect that he抣l know of some secret place that抯 reliable given almost any conditions.

Part of the problem is the model; when a lodge or guide takes care of the advertising directly the image is bound to be positive regardless of the reality. An independent reviewer, who recommends the guide or fishing lodge purely from a great experience is more reliable. TripAdvisor is a good place to look for customer reviews, and Holy Waters recommends a variety of guides from all over British Columbia. only after having the best possible experience with them. The website offers a range of rivers from all over the province and map searches can be customized by species including steelhead, bull, cutthroat, and rainbow trout plus chinook, chum, coho, pink and sockeye salmon.

People come from all over the world to fish in British Columbia抯 waters. Everything from big rivers like the Fraser, Columbia and Pitt and to smaller ones such as the Elk and Salmo offer incredible fly fishing adventures when the right guide can unlock their secrets.

Log on to http://www.holywaters.ca/ for more information!!