There are some questions your fishing guide really doesn’t want to hear. Bill Bean offers a sample of those.
Perry Backus
My buddy and I pulled up to the fly shop about 7:30 a.m. in great anticipation for our guided fly-fishing trip.
It was late in the fishing season and the fall hatches were supposed to be happening. That’s why we booked our trip for the last week in August. We tried to get a September trip but the guides that were still working were booked and we guessed that late August might be the best time for us this year.
As we pulled into the fly shop there were a few guides waiting for their clients and as we went inside there were a lot of quiet and dog-tired guides and fly shop workers. I should have known that this was the end of the dog days of summer in Montana and the guides were also dog tired from the summer heat and rowing every day since March.
The only time off so far for a guide was the high water days in June and early July. The guides tried to look chipper and make it appear that this was their first day on the water for the year but we all knew that this was going to be a tough day again for them because the temperatures were going to be in the low 90’s.
After 40 or 50 days of continuous fishing guides get tired and cranky. It’s okay to ask them a few questions before getting started to drive to the river but there are questions and comments that you probably shouldn’t say this late in the season.
One question not to ask is “how many fish do you think we are going to catch today?” It is a reasonable question for the fishermen but the guide has heard it every day and the standard answer comes out. “It all depends on the fish if they are taking insects or not.” The guide means how the heck should I know it. It depends on whether you can cast or not or at least leave your fly in the water long enough to make a good float toward the fish.
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