Trips are offered year round and are guaranteed fun, educational and memorable. You will see early on that where you find trout you normally find some great, motivation scenery also. This year marks my 68th year on the local trout waters and the 43rd as a trout guide with countless hours and trips to the local waters including local one and the Jackson, Big Back Creek and numerous wild and Native trout streams.My trips are considerate of all skill or non skill levels. I take special joy introducing Beginners to fly fishing, I’’ll never forget my first day. A ‘’can do ‘’ attitude is instilled early on. My goal always is to provide a solid learning experience that just might end up turning into a multiple decade pursuit and hobby. I stress developing observation skills early on as I teach techniques and methods for taking trout. All fishing is Catch & Release.
Our Intro Trips are Fun, Up close & Personal - Stress free
It's always gratifying to see parents, grandparents, family friends you name it, taking up a sport that can provide a lifetime of fun time together. Fishing stories just keep getting better the more times they are told. I do offer a corporate package for larger Beginner groups wanting to get the basics now.
Young Mike above started with our Intro to Flyfishing trip on our mountain pond to learn some basic skills of the sport. Next day he did the stream portion and caught several 14'' to 17'' colorful hard fighting Rainbows.
Typical Day For Beginners Includes:
- Overview of Flyfishing: the Fun it can Provide for Life and How It Differs From Other Fishing
- Equipment Introduction & Tips to Remove Frustration and Set Up.
- Safety: Pertaining to Equipment, Stream Access.
- Trip Planning: Learning to use the USGS Real Time Stream Flow Site and other sources.
- Getting the basic casts down - right one to get the job done.
- Overview of Virginia Flyfishing Waters - Special Reg Areas - Wild & Native Trout Waters.
- Learning the Important Knots.
- Basic Entomology, Flies, hatches.
- Trout Identification: Know What you are after.
- Respecting Property and the places trout live.
- Working your fly naturally in Moving Water and Other Presentational Considerations.
- How to Read Water and Find Trout, Good Trout Water Defined.
- How to Catch Spooky Trout Hold Over & Native Trout- Catching Big Trout in Small Places.
- How to Land Trout & Safely Release Them Safely , Avoiding Stressors for The Trout.
- Get the Perfect Picture of Your Catch and Returning It Safely to the Water.
- Observation Skills: The Huge Rewards They will Bring as You Assume the role of a Predator in Your New Study on Trout Behavior, Habits- Putting All these together to Catch Them.
For Those That Are Experienced.
Of course we bypass some of the above for the more experienced types. An overview of Virginia Trout Fishing Waters is provided. Special Regulation areas are discussed as well as wild and Native Trout water. Local Hatches are reviewed and appropriate Flies are recommended.
If you don't need a Guide I'm sure we can put you in some productive spots. Many times fishermen like to do 2-3 days of fishing, sampling the native & Wild Trout waters and graduating to larger rivers like the Jackson.
If you have a Spouse who is tired of you fishing or wants to go on your next trip out West I have been known to work wonders in making a flyfisher out of those types so they can go with you next time. If you rather them not know this, by golly there's a lot of sites and shops for them to see in town while we go fishing.
Remote Trips-Great Scenery
