Good Guide Criteria
by Tim Loomis
Word out is that I enjoy fishing with a guide. Must be true due to the amount of calls I receive asking for my advice or opinion on this or that guide. Truth be told, yes I enjoy fishing with a good guide. If you have ever had a bad experience with an ineffective guide, you come to appreciate the good guide. These are my guidelines (no pun intended but it works anyway) for determining a good guide.
They must:
Be on time.
Have a positive attitude from start to finish.
Be prepared with the proper gear (all that's advertised).
Provide lunch and liquids (if advertised).
Be patient and calm (hangovers are for bushleaguers)
Be prepared to be a teacher.
Know the water they are guiding on unless an agreement is established between customers that the water will be new. Can be an adventure!
Be polite. (if the guide has habits like smoking) ask permission from the clients prior to lighting up.
There is nothing worse than having a rude, crude hick for a guide that makes your $350.00 to $400.00 day on the water with him seem like an audit with the Internal Revenue Service. I've had a few and believe me, once is enough. I have a horror story of a guide that I had to lead out of the woods (he was lost!).
A day with a good guide usually goes too fast. A day with a good guide even if you don't catch many fish is still fun. If you find yourself wondering if you have paid the guide enough money...thats usually a sign of a good guide. Good guides are those people you want to hang out with. Good guides are the type of people that you would gladly introduce to your family. Good guides are most always busy during the heavy fishing months so book them in advance.
When I am asked to recommend a guide for the Redding area, I always provide two names of guides that fit the requirements I have listed above. Brian Bommarito is the first and Chris Kennedy is the second. Brian might not be the most experienced guide I have fished with but he has put me on more fish than some of the other more seasoned guides. Its also a plus that we know each other and respect each othersŐ skills and faults. One episode stands out in my memory.
Brian and I had been fishing unsuccessfully for a few hours when he stopped rowing and asked if it would bother me if he smoked. I was in the bow and the wind was at my back. I said yes, it would bother me with the smoke blowing right at me. Brian was cool and just turned the boat around dropped anchor and directed me to pull out my streamer rod. He had me get out of the boat and cast streamers out and across the seam. I landed at least six rainbows in the 14-16 inch range on this river where other guides have said that fishing with streamers was ineffective. Thank you Brian.
More on picking a guide next month.
Fish On!