Guests may not realize this but guides and outfitters are SUPER competitive and a little like ninth grade girls (although that may be a bit of an insult towards ninth grade girls). They are always scheming about how they can get the better of their competitors/friends/frienemies-it’s slang. These sneaky fish stalkers are constantly trying to figure out clever new floats where they get their boat in ahead of everyone else while staying point and therefore getting to all the fresh fish first.
Most of the time it’s just a tough competitive nature. Teasing each other, some mild fishy trash talk. They also lie to each other. One guide, we’ll refer to him as Emmett would not only lie to other guides about his whereabouts, he would pay the shuttle drivers extra to say he was fishing in completely different locations (extra lies).
Another sneaky Emmett move I’ve heard about happened on the Missouri River a few years ago. While the guide boat ahead of Emmett was having a killer day, double rainbow trouties all day…until about lunch. Emmett was not having such an epic day. He then quietly rowed up to the other boat to see what flies they were using. Unable to help himself Emmett clipped a couple of the flies from the setup rods leaving the stike indicators blowing freely in the wind. Unbeknownst to the pirated boat whose guests and guides where behind a bank unseen having lunch, Emmett floated down the river. That night Emmett worked away tying a whole hatch of his own copycat flies to use the next day. Indeed, his day was much improved by his sneaky behavior.
Some of the other guides have caught on by now, they may nip off the flies at lunch or bring their rods with them. At other times when another boat is rowing by they may have their guests hold their flies cupped in their hands to conceal their secrets.
Another evasive maneuver I’ve heard about I believe takes place all over far and wide froth the Bitterroot to the Clark Fork, to the Missouri: deceptive casting. It’s when you ask your guest to cast in odd places or just all over even where there might not be any fish to throw off following boats. It can make other guests question their guides decision making and overall throw a monkey wrench in the works.
So far, that’s the gossip of the day. I’ll keep my ears open for new news. Thanks for reading.
Sandy