Working With Your Fly-Fishing Guide

In saltwater fly fishing, the fish are almost always on the move, so casts need to be quick and accurate. You often have only one shot at a feeding fish, so it’s important to make it count. The best way to increase the chances of hearing your fly reel scream is to work closely with your guide. Though you may have fished with guides on freshwater lakes and rivers, a good working partnership between guide and client takes on a higher level of importance when fishing tropical waters and flats saltwater fly fishing, the fish are almost always on the move, so casts need to be quick and accurate. You often have only one shot at a feeding fish, so it’s important to make it count. The best way to increase the chances of hearing your fly reel scream is to work closely with your guide. Though you may have fished with guides on freshwater lakes and rivers, a good working partnership between guide and client takes on a higher level of importance when fishing tropical waters and flats.

Your fly-fishing guide will be giving you directions constantly when fish have been sighted and while you’re casting. In the excitement of the moment, it’s easy for miscommunications to happen. Here are some basics to prepare you for the fun and frantic process of casting to those quick and wary saltwater trophies. Whether you're fishing in a flats boat, an offshore boat, or wading, your guide will be using distance and direction to help you get your fly where it needs to be.

To communicate direction, guides use the hands of a clock in relation to the boat. Remember that last phrase “in relation to the boat.” Twelve o’clock is always directly in front of the boat—not where you happen to be looking. You will get befuddled, guaranteed. Even the most experienced anglers have heard a guide say “Cast 30 feet at 9 o’clock.” Sigh. “No. The other 9 o’clock.”

To help you make an accurate cast, your guide will also communicate the distance needed. Often, as an angler, this is hard to judge. People have different ideas of what 40 feet is, especially in the heat of the moment! Make a short and a long cast before you start and ask your guide how far the casts were. That will ensure that you’re both on the same page. You may even want to make a mark on your line to use as reference. If you’re traveling to Mexico or Central America, it’s not a bad idea to learn the words for 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 feet. Though the majority of guides will be able to communicate in English, it’s fun and adds to the camaraderie.

No amount of preparation will keep your heart from racing and your poise from going out the window when your guide says, "Big permit at 11:00, 35 feet," but listening to your guide and fully taking advantage of their experience, instincts, ability to spot fish and predict fish behavior will put you in a great place to catch fish—and thoroughly enjoy the whole saltwater fly fishing experience.