Denise surprised me for Christmas with a guided trip on the Kennebec (with a service that will remain nameless to protect their identity on the forum, for reasons that will become apparent as I progress), and to say the least, I was thrilled. I had never been on a guided fly fishing venture, though I've been on a few guided outings with spinning tackle so I figured I knew what to expect. We set the date for last week, which was during our week-long stay Downeast in Maine. Denise was going to come out with us, and though she doesn't fly fish yet, she's a very good photographer and was interested in getting some good shots of the local wildlife and scenery. My guide was a nice guy who had been in the profession for five years or so, and at the shop where we met I explained to him that I had done little fishing for trout with a fly rod (most of my fishing is in saltwater or for bass and pickerel) and was probably a bit rusty with dry fly fishing, and that I'd like to fish streamers as much as possible, even if the fish weren't hitting very often. What followed out on the river was the most frustrating fishing experience in my memory...
We got out on the river and fish were rising everywhere, and after figuring out what the hatch was we hopped out of the boat and waded up in some shallow water to get a good shot at several fish that were better approached "on foot". I was casting up-current to fish and no matter what I did, I couldn't have bought a strike with anything. My guide believed that I was spooking the fish or not getting the fly close enough, or so I figured by his snatching the fly rod out of my hands every so often to show me how it was done (casting 6-20 times in a row to try and hook a fish (one small rainbow, one small chub), then hand me the rod). Needless to say, I was fuming, and I think he got the hint because eventually he wandered back over to the boat and remarked to Denise that he "might have overdone it". What upset me so much was that even though I had communicated my desire to fish streamers to these fish, knowing full-well that I might not catch any of the rising ones, I'd likely catch something nonetheless. So, after 45-minutes of placing some very good casts in front of these fish and having no luck, we moved down the river. In the interest of saving anyone reading this the experience of re-living this day (and keeping it buried in my mind, rather than getting mad about it again), I'll just say that this was the tone of the day from around noon to 7 pm; same casting to rising fish, no takers, all with a dry fly because "the fish are so keyed in on the hatch that they'll ignore anything else". Around 7, the hatch had been in a lull for an hour, and I picked up my other rod and started tossing an olive matuka near some large boulders just for fun... and hooked a nice smallie. No trout, but honestly I couldn't have cared less. I had several more strikes using this streamer until the hatch started again and I spent the next hour and a half getting turned down by trout with my dry fly, placed right into their feeding lanes, imitating the current hatch, drag-free. Well, those fish were certainly "keyed in on the hatch", alright.
When we came in off the water, I was really disgusted. I didn't say anything to the guide, but I think he could tell I wasn't a happy camper. I tipped him, thanked him for his hard work, and we left to drive the two-hours back to our place on Cape Rosier... where I caught plenty of stripers to make up for my earlier frustration... all on streamers that I had tied . If I ever pick up a fly rod to fish a dry fly again... it will be a very cold day you-know-where indeed.
It would have been fine to fish that day the way that I wanted to, since it was our money that paid for the trip and the tip, and not caught any fish. But to fish in a manner that I really didn't want to (and the shop knew about my intention to fish streamers months in advance) and get skunked, have the guide hook a trout, hand me the rod and say "good job"? Never again.
I will fish that river again, but not with a guide.
We got out on the river and fish were rising everywhere, and after figuring out what the hatch was we hopped out of the boat and waded up in some shallow water to get a good shot at several fish that were better approached "on foot". I was casting up-current to fish and no matter what I did, I couldn't have bought a strike with anything. My guide believed that I was spooking the fish or not getting the fly close enough, or so I figured by his snatching the fly rod out of my hands every so often to show me how it was done (casting 6-20 times in a row to try and hook a fish (one small rainbow, one small chub), then hand me the rod). Needless to say, I was fuming, and I think he got the hint because eventually he wandered back over to the boat and remarked to Denise that he "might have overdone it". What upset me so much was that even though I had communicated my desire to fish streamers to these fish, knowing full-well that I might not catch any of the rising ones, I'd likely catch something nonetheless. So, after 45-minutes of placing some very good casts in front of these fish and having no luck, we moved down the river. In the interest of saving anyone reading this the experience of re-living this day (and keeping it buried in my mind, rather than getting mad about it again), I'll just say that this was the tone of the day from around noon to 7 pm; same casting to rising fish, no takers, all with a dry fly because "the fish are so keyed in on the hatch that they'll ignore anything else". Around 7, the hatch had been in a lull for an hour, and I picked up my other rod and started tossing an olive matuka near some large boulders just for fun... and hooked a nice smallie. No trout, but honestly I couldn't have cared less. I had several more strikes using this streamer until the hatch started again and I spent the next hour and a half getting turned down by trout with my dry fly, placed right into their feeding lanes, imitating the current hatch, drag-free. Well, those fish were certainly "keyed in on the hatch", alright.
When we came in off the water, I was really disgusted. I didn't say anything to the guide, but I think he could tell I wasn't a happy camper. I tipped him, thanked him for his hard work, and we left to drive the two-hours back to our place on Cape Rosier... where I caught plenty of stripers to make up for my earlier frustration... all on streamers that I had tied . If I ever pick up a fly rod to fish a dry fly again... it will be a very cold day you-know-where indeed.
It would have been fine to fish that day the way that I wanted to, since it was our money that paid for the trip and the tip, and not caught any fish. But to fish in a manner that I really didn't want to (and the shop knew about my intention to fish streamers months in advance) and get skunked, have the guide hook a trout, hand me the rod and say "good job"? Never again.
I will fish that river again, but not with a guide.