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Recommendations for a Yellowstone Fly Fishing Guide?


Merkel

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Planning a trip to Yellowstone NP in early September 2022.  Mainly going to hike but would like to get some fly fishing in.  Has anyone used a Guide that you would use again?  
 

We’re planning to stay in Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake area. Sounds like trout fishing is on Yellowstone River and Madison River.  
 

Would appreciate input from folks who have fly fished out there, guides used and thoughts of trying to fish without a guide.  
 

Thanks,

Bill

 

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1 hour ago, Foggy Mountain said:

Brother why in the world would you need a guide to fly fish? Sounds like a waste of money 

a lot of advantages. sure you can catch fish without one. but the guide knows more then you. like what bugs for the time of year. not to mention the guides drift boat for a fun day fishing while he does all the work and you catch fish. and then theres the safety aspect of the trip. the guide knows the river better then you. 

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9 minutes ago, OMC said:

You can also check with some of the local shops here is NJ most run trips out there and have some connections. Tightlines in Parsippany and maybe even Shannon’s in Califon 

always have good times at shannons. only place i buy my fly rods. always get a free casting lesson/ try a few out before you buy. 

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10 hours ago, Foggy Mountain said:

Any fly shop can tell you what’s hatching. Most have charts posted with  insects, approx sizes, water temp and all. The owner could easily help I’d bet as well. The way the fish are behaving/rising would give insight to what stage or type insect they’re keying in on unless someone was strictly nymph fishing. 
I could see if the intent was to involve a drift boat. That’s prob something you wouldn’t have or at least not with you. That’s the only thing would make sense if so inclined. 
Guess I’ll just never get how the same feeling can be had from someone calling in a turkey, telling you where to cast, what to tie on, or setting your deer stand and telling you which way to look. If I personally were to reel in a fish someone did almost everything cept drag in I’d not be satisfied. 
Not to change a subject but we gotta learn to do things ourselves we aren’t any kind of outdoorsman if we can’t and that’s not pointed so please only consider the thoughts

So by your definition, a hunting or fishing mentor would be a bad thing(?). If your dad shows you how to hunt or fish, that’s a negative because he didn’t leave you to figure it out all on your own?  A foolish argument IMO. But then again, I’ve been a paid fly fishing guide for a long time. I get to see the look on a client’s face when something “clicks” and they have picked up a new skill they can take anywhere with them. I love running into former clients on the water that thank me for teaching them how to fly fish which is now something they love to do. Guides are hired for many different reasons and the amount of teaching we do varies by the client’s needs which are discussed ahead of our trip. 

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My opinion.  Bring a variety of flies (look up on the internet) and roam around the park and try various places and enjoy the entire area. Four of us were out there many years ago and had a great week exploring about and fishing.  You are not locked in to a time or particular place either. There are sporting goods stores in the area that can offer suggestions also.

Caught a native brown in the Fire Hole on a fly I tied....... highlight of my trip!

I thought, growing old would take longer ! 

I spent most of my money on shotguns and fly rods.  The rest I just wasted.

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12 hours ago, Foggy Mountain said:

Any fly shop can tell you what’s hatching. Most have charts posted with  insects, approx sizes, water temp and all. The owner could easily help I’d bet as well. The way the fish are behaving/rising would give insight to what stage or type insect they’re keying in on unless someone was strictly nymph fishing. 
I could see if the intent was to involve a drift boat. That’s prob something you wouldn’t have or at least not with you. That’s the only thing would make sense if so inclined. 
Guess I’ll just never get how the same feeling can be had from someone calling in a turkey, telling you where to cast, what to tie on, or setting your deer stand and telling you which way to look. If I personally were to reel in a fish someone did almost everything cept drag in I’d not be satisfied. 
Not to change a subject but we gotta learn to do things ourselves we aren’t any kind of outdoorsman if we can’t and that’s not pointed so please only consider the thoughts

you can speak with your guide and tell him your intentions. sometimes people just want to be on the water in another state they never been too. the guide can simply just take you down the river and let you do what you think is right already being an avid fly fisherman. or the guide is there so show you everything from a roll cast to a double haul. all situations are different. 

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I almost totally agree with Foggy's comment, as I've built my first fly rod and was fly fishing long before B&B was out of the crib. But came from a non outdoor family and everything I learned came from my mentor " Joe Brooks" article's . There were little to no books back then dealing with the intricacies of fly fishing and really wish I had a real mentor to explain some of these to me. I've been in several situation with guides, that went from horrible on the Salmon river ( not arranged by me ) , to wonderful and necessary while fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the George in northern Quebec. In a situation like the George, if  you had not fished a river that in some places was 400 yds across, it's doubtful that you could catch anything without a guide to point out holding locations. Therefore I definitely support the need for a guide in some instances, but still detest someone standing over me and not allowing me to learn some things on my own.

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