A couple of years ago the fishing died in the summer months. Rumors circulated heavily that the lake was fished out. The First Nations were accused of netting it out and the local grocery stores were selling Rainbow Trout at premium prices. Obviously, such harbingers of doom have never worked on a fisheries project where even five and six day projects with numerous nets would fail to intimidate a lake the size of Barbe. None-the-less, the rumors persisted although fall fishing mysteriously rebounded and changed the tale to "Hush, Hush! Don’t tell anyone, but Barbe is really cooking."

A later infusion of Brookies disrupted the foodprint again and drove the rainbows to feed more often and for longer periods, rendering them more catchable. Even before that stocking, however, the simple truth was that the lake had filled with bloodworms and midge larvae. The specimens I extracted from 35-foot depths with a straight down sinking line technique filled a stomach pump until I gave it up. Their bellies were bloated with the easily captured forage. Why would they chase spirited minnows around a broad flat when they could suck down something that moves like an octarian backing a car onto Richelieu Boulevard during rush hour? From what I saw, feeding periods must have lasted all of twenty minutes and I was fortunate to hit them at all.

The year before, they were on crayfish. Before that, it was snails. Huge snails and in an abundance that made stomachs crackle when one plucked them from the water onto the tube apron. They foraged them from coontail clumps in scores until they spilled from their mouths. I eventually mustered enough courage to deploy one of the snail patterns that I keep carefully hidden from prying eyes, and with resounding success. Enough so that I now carry them in public and will show them to people who ask to see them.

Nevertheless, how does one who is traveling a thousand miles or more know what to tie, what to bring, or what comprises the current flavor of the week?

That brings up that nasty word--the guide.

Now, before we go an inch further, this is not a promo to suggest that I'm looking to expand a guiding business. I guided sporadically for twenty-five years, thank you, and quit. Now my "guiding" id more or less restricted to on-water fly fishing instruction with fish being caught in the process. But more often I just fish by myself.  Believe me, when I'm doing research for videos, books and articles, no one in their right mind would EVER want to fish with me. It seems that most people that I know who fly-fish are still under the strange impression that fish are caught in the lake.

Moreover, I freely admit if I were to travel to another area, I wouldn’t hire a guide either, because I couldn’t afford one. However, if I was to go back to New Brunswick to fish the Miramichi, or Ireland to fish a trout lough and I could afford to do so, I definitely would! People who live in the area and who fish a lot, generally, know what is going on or what to start with during a visit to the lake. It's true that they cannot influence weather, cold fronts, or feeding cycles, but they can get one started in s manner that recently worked. Even spending a day with a guide makes sense for someone who is expending as many dollars as some do for gasoline, motel rooms and food. The rewards reaped make the difference between a successful trip and, "I don't know why they say that lake is so hot. I couldn't buy a fish."

When Tony Dean made a stop on Silver Beach Lake and shot a TV segment with me, I was amazed at the number of people who showed up in the region. Many fished Silver Beach, a lake that fell onto hard times two months after Paul's Camera quit rolling. The algae bloom went toxic, sixty-percent of the fish died and visitors were very disappointed until we had enough information to update the web site—last June!

Any guide in the area would have steered any one of them to another lake such as Gull which fished hot throughout the season. In the Spring of 1999, Spear Lake, usually maligned for the same reasons, fished so hot that even veterans chuckled from the experience. Tony and I fished it almost exclusively during his visit, but no TV cameras were present.

Still, I caught the biggest fish of my year on Tokaryk's lake, another lake-in-transition, and heading for a major peak, but not noted for large fish, being supposedly, "Fished out".

A guide can cut through all of this and knows what is doing good that month, that week, and that day. He can take you there, show you the patterns to use and, yes, you can do as good as did Tony and I, simply because we knew that there was a damsel hatch in progress.

The next day's shoot made them work, until Tony got the notion that the forage fish would be taking chironomid larvae as well and began to sniggle TV-oriented, photogenic specimens off the bottom outside of the weed-edge.

However, not many have the insight into the piscatorial world that Tony Dean has accumulated over many years. Or that which I have attained in 45 years of doing little else. However, neither of us are generally available as a guide. Just the same, there are a few available in the region, some of who advertise off this very website.

More than a few who came returned home with mixed feelings. They knew that there were large fish available, because they saw others release them, but they couldn't score. Understandably! Trout are very wary—especially the larger specimens and they can be very selective. To crack the ecosystem, one needs time, or a guide who has done it and is current.

Another area is in fly selection. This is one area where we are constantly asked to help and we do, even here on the web site. Any visiting angler I know, very quickly pulls out his fly box and shows it to us. They are mystified because we shake our heads and indicate two or three that "might work."

Understandably, patterns like the Golden Muddler, The Prince Nymph, the Hair’s Ear and the Zonker work universally, but there are other and better flies and modifications that can make a trip rather than make it home.

This is one area where we have helped many with the fly patterns on the website. However, arrivals are shocked to find that they are only a fraction of what we use. Amazingly, they insist on a full disclosure of all of our patterns, electronically, free of charge and post haste.

Now, I know of no other site that gives more information than this one. We have instructed, displayed and graphically educated up to 70,000 readers (not hits) in a year. Yet we do sell books on the subject and do not feel at all obligated to give them all away. In fact, shore side people who demand hours of instruction and ad hoc tutelage are being unreasonable and are the least likely to get assistance.

None-the-less, coyly grinning faces at the launch sites suggest, "Yeah, but you should tell us. After all, we came all this way!"

"Indeed. So for less than half a tank of gasoline, you could have had a book that would have prepared you far, far better than I can in the next five minutes that we’ll stand here."

The point is usually well taken and priorities set—even if the point wasn’t to sell a book—which likely isn’t present anyway. It would have meant a great deal at the end of the day, for as much as we've revealed in countless articles, it's still a tiny fraction of what is on those pages. But even then I'll still wager that many will want to, "get a few flies", "fish with me today" or "take me to the best spots and drop me off."

Come on guys. You pay for lodging, travel and food, but the most important aspect you ignore? What spawns such mentality? Really, stop and think, how much information can one expect in a 30-word email, or a five minute conversation when compared to 240 pages of instruction that comes in the form of a book? We’re hardly being unreasonable!

None-the-less, we will continue to update the E-magazine as time permits, give away fly patterns and educate the visitor along the lakeshores. We travel all over North America to seminars, shows and events and speak for hours to those inclined to listen and learn. The sharing and pooling of knowledge remains the very essence of the sport and sets us apart from our worm-dunking brethren who horde information to the point where all remained stunted in the logarithmic, one-dimensional learning curve.

Just remember, you're seeing only a fraction on these pages and remember that those who have excelled in the fishery will be taking your abbreviated estimate of the Big Seven with large dosages of salt. The fish remain, but you'll have to use the correct techniques and fly patterns to reap them, photograph them, pat them on the head and watch them swim away.

So the next time I get yet another email asking, "What did I do wrong?", you won’t expect me to answer, that "You didn’t do your homework", or "if you could afford it, hire a guide". You can save yourself an "I told you so".

In the meantime, if we’re on the same lake, drop by, say "hi", and get all the help you need free.

Just don’t bring a boat into the zone and spook everything big for both of us...

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