Best Guided Trip You've Ever Done?

[jgib01]

Friday afternoon dreaming here, and wondering what the best guided trip(s) are that you have ever taken. Still very much a novice to the world of fly, I have yet to do a guided trip. However, would like my destination list to shift to include lots of great fishing, in my years approaching retirement (only 10 to go!) and beyond. Appreciate that it may be hard to pick just one, so will indulge you to to spin tales of the best salt and freshwater trip ever.

[ÜberFly]

This past January in Punta de Mita Mexico!! Great guide, lots of fish. Only problem I had was we (the guide) kept everything, but that is his livelihood. or one of our trips in Belize. Salt water is awesome fun!!

 

P

[screaminreel]

Geez there have been a few.

 

Bow River with Terry Johnson from Fishtales. Nobody works harder in my opinion. I watched Terry today pulling his boat up to the top of a run multiple times so his clients could get another drift through a productive run. Class act!

 

Christmas Island hunting the GT's and Blue Trevally. Fly water travel. Set up through Fishtales fly shop.

 

Cowichan River BC. Old Fred now retired from guiding. Damn!

 

Turneffe Flats Belize. Years ago but very relaxing and lots of fish.

 

San Jose Del Cabo Mexico. Barter with a panga guy, buy some Sardina and head out for Dorado. What a blast. 8 wt. was not enough rod!

 

Loretto Mexico for Roosters and Dorado. Forgot the company but I still think there is only one. This was a great vacation for my wife and I.

[fishinglibin]

Sail fish in Quepos Costa Rica up to 135 lbs but most 60 to 90 lbs

[northfork]

Not flyfishing I guess but just returned from a guided trip for white sturgeon on the Fraser with Fraser River Lodge. Absolutely 110% worth the value price. Lots of big fish and pound for pound your best inshore man vs fish scenario in western Canada. Will go again 10/10. I'm hooked! My best on the trip was 7 and a half feet long and just a hair under 300 lbs.

[jpinkster]

Not flyfishing I guess but just returned from a guided trip for white sturgeon on the Fraser with Fraser River Lodge. Absolutely 110% worth the value price. Lots of big fish and pound for pound your best inshore man vs fish scenario in western Canada. Will go again 10/10. I'm hooked! My best on the trip was 7 and a half feet long and just a hair under 300 lbs.

I'm headed up that way in 3 weeks to get into a few sturgeon with Cascade Fishing Adventures with my dad and brother. Should be a fantastic experience!

[BurningChrome]

Destination - a week at Alaska West a few years back. Awesome guides back then but not sure if things have changed with the new ownership.

Locally - overnight float on the Bow with Aaron Caldwell from Fish Tales.

[Vitalshok]

Hopefully on Sunday when I go out with out fly fishing and naoto on Sunday

[trailhead]

Boy those all sound like great trips. One of these days when I win the lottery.

[bigfry]

DITTO Trailhead

[northfork]

I'm headed up that way in 3 weeks to get into a few sturgeon with Cascade Fishing Adventures with my dad and brother. Should be a fantastic experience!

You're in for a great time, pinks are running hard and the sturgeon are ON!!!

[darrinhurst]

Last year in Terrace, BC, we hired a guide for some remote river salmon fishing. Stayed for three nights and four days. Easily 20 fish days every day. Lots of beer, stayed in a cabin on the shore to the channel. Was awesome watching the tide come in and out, and even had a couple orcas come through the channel too! Spey rods, and fresh Coho. The guide had his deep water license and treated us to some amazing fresh crab for dinner one night. Easily the best guided experience I've ever had. Mainly because it's the only one lol

 

Locally, Maxwell Robinson is a great guide who will get you into fish. I float with him once or twice a year and it's always a good time.

[jgib01]

You're in for a great time, pinks are running hard and the sturgeon are ON!!!

 

I guess I sorta lied in my initial post... I have been open-water salmon fishing twice, so those would count as guided trips. I've just never been on a guided fly trip. The pinks were plentiful in the Juan de Fuca in July when we were there. We even managed a couple of hatchery cohos, but no kings. I was really contemplating the Fraser sturgeon trip this summer too, but never pulled the trigger... on the list for sure.

[mikeo2]

Ive been lucky, Ive been on numerous guided trips that were all fantastic. The best is probably sailfish and marlin in cabo though. Our annual salmon every year ranks right up there as do some of my ice fishing trips. I think I will have a new winner though, I spent 1 day fishing the Skeena river in terrace with my spey rod that I just learned to use. We only caught a few pinks but ive always wanted to catch steelhead so I will be back out there for them sometime.

[jpinkster]

You're in for a great time, pinks are running hard and the sturgeon are ON!!!

Is fall the better time to go? Most of the folks I talk to go in August, so I hope October isn't too late in the season.

[mikeo2]

What guide did you use in Terrace Dhurst?

[northfork]

Is fall the better time to go? Most of the folks I talk to go in August, so I hope October isn't too late in the season.

My guide said fall was usually the best if you want to tie in to big big fish. Chum should be running in October which will be the same story, lots of roe and meat in the river.

[SilverDoctor]

There where a great many trips I remember but In the early 60’s as a youngster I accompanied my Dad on yet another fly-fishing trip to the Campbell River. My youthful mind at that time did not always focus on fishing but often strayed to exploring under rocks and banks with boyish glee. The trip was a joy with no school and miles of river to frolic in with bamboo rod and sketchpad. It was one of many guided trips and like others I could not give you the name of our guide, a burley French Canadian that reeked of cigar smoke but enough to say he knew how to even put a youngsters fly in front of a Salmon, which pleased Dad as he could smile at me and fish uninterrupted.

 

I do remember we stayed for 3 days on that occasion and where meeting on the second day with “Roddy” a friend of Dad’s who he exchanged occasional flies and letters with. It was a fun day drifting the Campbell and in the evening we drove into a village and had supper in a small café. Roddy looked at a ragged sketchbook I dragged around in those days and flipped through. He smiled, got up and went to his station wagon parked out front, returning with two books and scribbled on the insides. I thought they where how to books he was giving me and was delighted thanking him profusly. It wasn’t till we where home and weeks later that I started reading those books. And noticed that the scribbles where a dedication, poem and signature that matched the authors name.

 

- Roderick Haig-Brown

[flyfishfairwx]

With Wolf Creek Outfitters on the Missouri Rover from the Holter dam to Craig, and then into Izaaks for supper. Did the float with my son and we were fishing midges. what a great day!!

 

Yes it was both of our first floats and our guide was bang on the money for fish and flys ..

 

His favorite saying all day was " Blame the guide, if it goes good or bad"

[darrinhurst]

What guide did you use in Terrace Dhurst?

 

Darren Bisson

[jgib01]

There where a great many trips I remeber but In the early 60’s as a youngster I accompanied my Dad on yet another fly-fishing trip to the Campbell River. My youthful mind at that time did not always focus on fishing but often strayed to exploring under rocks and banks with boyish glee. The trip was a joy with no school and miles of river to frolic in with bamboo rod and sketchpad. It was one of many guided trips and like others I could not give you the name of our guide, a burley French Canadian that reeked of cigar smoke but enough to say he knew how to even put a youngsters fly in front of a Salmon, which pleased Dad as he could smile at me and fish uninterrupted.

 

I do remember we stayed for 3 days on that occasion and where meeting on the second day with “Roddy” a friend of Dad’s who he exchanged occasional flies and letters with. It was a fun day drifting the Campbell and in the evening we drove into a village and had supper in a small café. Roddy looked at a ragged sketchbook I dragged around in those days and flipped through. He smiled, got up and went to his station wagon parked out front, returning with two books and scribbled on the insides. I thought they where how to books he was giving me and was delighted thanking him profusly. It wasn’t till we where home and weeks later that I started reading those books. And noticed that the scribbles where a dedication, poem and signature that matched the authors name.

 

- Roderick Haig-Brown

 

Fantastic! That is one of the coolest stories I have ever read here on FFC.

[reevesr1]

For fly fishing: I'd have to say my very first fly fishing trip with Dee at Troutchasers. That trip cost me many thousands of dollars though in rods, reels, flys, etc. I had to be talked into trying the fly rod, hooked a mid teens rainbow on a streamer (suicide fish I call her) and was totally hooked (I know, embarrassingly bad pun). I ended up with several that day fishing hopper dropper setup. Great guide, but more importantly a great guy.

 

I've taken guides in Mexico as well. I always use local, I have 0 interest in taking some big boat with a north american guide. Give me a panga with a local guide every time. My favorite is a guy in Huatulco named Elias Vasquez. I've fished with him a few times now. Grew up subsistence fishing (and still does some of that) and taking out us tourists. Last time I was with him I gave him an old Shimano Chronarch reel (high end bait casting reel). He told my wife, who was with us, that it was like getting a Christmas present. After the trip, he asked us to meet him and his wife that afternoon. He gave me some local tequila (yum!) and his wife gave my wife a traditional "baby Jesus" that my wife had mentioned seeing at church the Sunday before. He knew I was leaving the next afternoon and asked if I could sneak out for a couple of hours "to show me how all the things on the reel work". I said "Sure!" Taught him some stuff about the reel, then we started drifting and casting to rocks in a "USA vs Mexico fishing contest" Only rule was I could not cast until he had the boat positioned where he wanted and was ready to cast himself. Not sure how many fish we caught, maybe 10 or so each, but I remember laughing my ass off. I have no doubt that I could find a better and faster boat with better gear and get on a sail or marlin with more frequency. But no way I could have a better time, or feel like I'm actually interacting with someone in the community. Haven't fish with Elias in a couple of years, I guess I'm due a trip to Huatulco!

[myles]

There were a few. One would be the Smith River, Montana.