Not my kind. Was I to pay someone to guide, the pay would be to ensure high success rates. No need to pay someone in order to practice techniques.

Would much rather catch fish all day as opposed to getting any lessons(not saying I don't need them). If I wanted to get lessons, well, that is what I would go do. But I also agree with silsbyj, if I was paying to go fishing and my guide was an a#$hole, he would probably end up going for a swim.

Sounds like a perfect day on the water to me. I could definitely use some help on my dry fly fishing and marching to see what's around the next corner is fun. A day of fishing is not measured with numbers.

The thing I dislike the most in a guided trip is when there is a sense of pressure from the guide to live up to some impossible standard. Sure, I want to learn, or I'd go by myself, but I don't want to feel that every aspect of my performance is being graded. The best guides are those who never forget that I'm there to have fun, and it sounds like you fit the bill. The worst give you the feeling that you are somehow in competition with them, and that ruins the trip for me. Work is competitive enough for me, and I hire a guide to get away from it. I want to catch fish, but one, two, or "a bunch" is fine. I went on a great trip in the Smoky Mountains were my biggest fish barely spanned the palm of my hand, but I learned how to fish nymphs, and my wife caught another wild trout slightly bigger than mine. The most important aspect of the trip is that she wants to go again, and that's well worth the guide's fee and a little extra at the end.

I think if I paid a guy to take me fishing and he yelled at me because he didnt like my cast.......I would punch him square in the nose. Every hunting/fishing experience is about learning something new and being with good people. Sounds like you are on the right track.

I'd love to fish with you one day Deet. Not counting fish and not flogging the same water to death is right up my alley. If I catch a nice one I like to sit back and enjoy a cigar. Fishing is like deer hunting to me. You shoot one nice deer and it makes your season. All I need is one nice fish and it makes my day.

Do you also provide sandwiches?

Most definitely my kind of guide. I think part of hiring a guide is the learning, be it technique, how to read water, what works and what doesn't where we are. I would want to learn as much as possible while I have the attention of someone who really knows their craft. Now, I am not so Zen like that I wouldn't want to land a few fish for the obligatory "grip and grin" so I could plaster it all over the internet (just kiddin' guys), but my goal would be to be a better fisherman for the experience. That and the fact that typically I am going to see and experience places with a guide that I probably wouldn't on my own.

You sound like a king of guide that I would use. I like guides who correct my form and such. As for a big fish on the line that gets away, you can leave the getting pissed part up to me when It comes to that. I have some of the same views as you too... I just hope I loose track of the fish that I have caught which is somewhere between 5 and up

"I guess the point is that there are "how to" guides and "how many" guides... "

Excellent point made - in any sales position, it's your responsibility to understand exactly what the client wants.

I can vouch that Deeter is a great teacher. He gave me and my son several great fly casting tips last summer at the Cabelas Summer Extravaganza in Dundee, MI.

Thanks again Deeter!

Scott in Ohio

p.s. You going to be there again this summer?