Recently I was able to attend a guide school with Confluence Outfitters, in Northern California. At this top notch school, I was able to hone my skills with some of the industries finest guides. Dax Messett, Andrew Harris and Gino Bernero helped me develop my instructional skills as well as fine tune my rigging techniques and angling skills. For anyone who is aspiring to become a fly fishing guide, there is not a better program out there. Three different perspectives from industry experts and hands on experience is essential in developing a well rounded perspective of what it means to be a guide. After all, guiding is much more than getting your clients into fish; and I love that Confluence recognizes this and encourages its students and clients to be stewards of the water,  promote responsible angling and instruction based guiding.

Rowing practice!

To many people the choice to pursue guiding is bewildering and invites a diverse range of queries. Why would someone who has a variety of other skills seek out a career being fly fishing guide? Have you really thought this through? Young lady, why don’t you find a nice boy and settle down? Ha. A week immersion into the life of guiding and I’m 500% sold that this is it for me. Personally, the tedium and melancholy that go hand in hand with working a typical 9-5 corporate job simply does not exist when I’m on the water. And I don’t expect it to be a walk in the park either. I am very aware that this is not an easy path to venture, but I have never been afraid of a challenge or hard work.

We don’t see fly fishing guides towing their drift boats with Ferarri’s, so clearly it’s also not the hefty pay checks that have drawn me in, like a moth to the flame. Being outside, meeting people from all walks of life and creating a memorable angling experience for someone is absolutely priceless. I could go on and on, but it simply comes down to the fact that at the end of the day, I cannot imagine doing anything else. There has never been anything else I have wanted to pursue as much as becoming a fly guide (career wise… or pretty much anything else actually, except maybe more fishing….).