Fly Fishing Guides
Fly fishing was first written about more than two millennia ago and started to become very popular in the nineteenth century in the United States and in Britain. A lot of people think of Brad Pitt and the movie A River Runs Through It when they think of fly fishing, especially if they are sporting novices. Others immediately call to mind a quiet river setting, and the relaxing “swish” as they gently cast their flies against the running water (or the lake as fly fishing can be done on any body of water). For people who are not new to the sport of fly fishing though, fly fishing is a sport that is at once relaxing and thrilling. For people who are new the sport, though, the best way to become educated on its inner workings is with fly fishing guides.
Fly fishing guides can either be written publications (magazines, books, website) or actual people who will take you, step by step, through the fly fishing process.
A good fly fishing guide will tell you not only about the history of fly fishing but will give you the low down the gear you will need, what each piece of gear is used for, and the best fly fishing locations in your area. If you are reading a fly fishing guide, there will also be pictoral guides on how to tie the knots that you will need to know, it will explain how to put your rod and reel together. The book will tell you about the fish you are trying to catch and will probably provide a lot of good tips on how to catch them.
Unfortunately, written fly fishing guides are just not as good as human fly fishing guides.
A human fly fishing guide will know everything that you can find in the written instructions about the sport. The benefit of working with a human fly fishing guide is that, well, it is easier to learn fly fishing from a person than a page.
Your fly fishing guide will walk you through the process of assembling your gear step by step. They will be right there, telling you how something works and offering suggestions on how to better assemble your fly rod and reel. They will have suggestions on how to form your grip and will help you figure out how to cast. Learning how to cast by reading about it can be a torturous process. Learning how to cast with a person standing right next to you, giving you actions to mimic is a relatively painless process.
Your guide will also know all about the fish you are trying to catch and will have plenty of their own suggestions and tricks for how to be a better angler. The difference is that the human fly fishing guides can show you outright how to stand, where to balance your weight, how to cast your line, how to tie the various knots, etc. Also, learning from another person is more fun than learning from a book!