A while back I talked to someone who was telling me about a magazine article they had read about what makes the perfect fly fishing guide. Ever since I have been mulling over another idea in my head.

What makes the perfect fly fishing client? This whole subject is fraught with landmines relative to my guiding business; I mean the customer is always right….right? I mean when I go to see my accountant Marilyn, my off the wall opinions about the tax code are always spot on… right?  No, and that’s the point of my hiring her expertise. It’s the same with hiring a professional fisherman and insisting on using your Lucky fly.

 “What kind of fly is that, ” I ask, “Why that’s my Lucky Fly” Allrighty….

            In a nutshell I consider that my job is to be a good host; the client is paying a wad of money to have a fun day and learn a few fishing truths. The real trick in my job is to match the client’s skill level with the fishing conditions on the day they have chosen to come fishing with me. Sounds simple, like making contact with the Mother Ship with my Tommy the Spaceman decoder ring.

            My perfect client is a person that is a student of the fly fishing game, maybe not the greatest caster or angler but interested in learning, moving there game up a notch or two.

This person would also a good listener. During our time on the water together I will be trying to tie together a few of the loose ends in your fishing knowledge. How far we get depends on how much experience you bring to the table. Remember there are no dumb questions: When you’re with the guide, this is your chance to ask all the questions you’ve wondered about. I get a lot of:”Randal, what is the purpose of the universe”? The purpose of the universe is to seek equilibrium. That usually brings them back to the more relevant fishing queries. 

 Over the years I have had some fine amateur anglers cycle through and become regular clients, they really don’t need me anymore except for the most subtle, almost unspoken advice.

 Another characteristic of my perfect client is sense of humor; this is necessary for a couple reasons.

 Number one is that a bit of levity will keep you loose and able to focus on the task at hand without becoming grim, after all were just fishing, so lets lighten up.

I learned this personally during my fling with ballroom dancing, without a sense of humor I’d have never made it through all the lessons. The truth is I still can’t dance but it does make me laugh out loud when I think about it.

The second reason is that I am a collector of funny stories; some of the things I’ve heard in the boat would curl your hair. Not the stuff for a family newspaper but really funny.

 Yes the guide needs to have fun too.

            The last thing my perfect client would be able to do is take the advice (about fishing only) in the spirit it is being given. Trust me the guide wants you to be successful, he wants you to catch fish and have fun: that is pretty much the point of the whole exercise.  We realize this fly fishing is not an easy avocation to take up, we also realize that some times people just want try something new (like ballroom dancing). Welcome to my world.