SerpApi.Org
There’s a river in Wyoming that’s full of cutthroat trout, and of course they’re willing to rise to dry flies for most of the year. The river is easily accessed by a dirt road (although the road’s quality varies significantly year-to-year) and it’s also the only river I know of in Wyoming where any form of guided fishing is banned. No float trips, no walk-and-wade, nothing.
This river isn’t far from the Snake or the Green-two rivers that see immense guiding pressure. While perusing the internet to understand why this river doesn’t allow guided trips, I kept seeing a similar sentiment expressed in forums and comment sections, dating all the way back to 2011.
Among some in the fly fishing community, there seems to be a firmly-held belief that guided trips significantly decrease the quality of a fishery. Guides are all about numbers of fish in the net, the logic goes, so they’ll fish by whatever means necessary to give clients 20, 30, or 40-fish days. The long-term resilience of the resource doesn’t matter, only the size of the tip at the end of the day.
Of course, that’s not the attitude of every guide, and most are great stewards of our fisheries. I know there are bad eggs in every group of people, but why do guides get such a bad rap?
Sure, more pressure on a fishery can result in smaller fish, or a severe boom-and-bust cycle of trout populations. I can think of a half-dozen rivers that get “discovered” once a decade or so. The crowds increase, and within a year or two, the fish size drops off. The crowds then thin, and the process starts all over again.
But if pressure-guide pressure in particular-is so detrimental, why do fisheries like the Green below Flaming Gorge exist? Or the Missouri near Craig? Or the Delaware?
I think guides get an unfair amount of criticism for rivers that are currently being loved to death by everyone. There’s a fine line between making an honest living and exploiting the resource, but most guides are out on the water because it’s what they love to do. And in the vast majority of places, especially in the West, guided trips are regulated, either by the state or the Forest Service. Only a certain number of guide trips are allowed per day on the Green below Flaming Gorge, for example. Montana has regulations in place for the Madison that restrict both the number of guide trips and the sections guides can float on certain days of the week. In many places, private boats and walk-and-wade anglers outnumber guided trips by a wide margin.
More fisheries should probably adopt regulations like what Montana has in place on the Madison, if only to balance the boat and wading angler traffic. But so long as the rivers flow through public land, you have to balance the right of everyone to access and recreate on the water.
I don’t buy the argument that banning guides saves fisheries. What I think saves fisheries is a collective spirit amongst all river users who truly want to see the place stay in great shape. That includes guides, out-of-state anglers hauling their own boats, the locals, and yes, even recreational tubers. If one group truly doesn’t care much about the resource, that’s when it’s hard to take care of what you have.
Most important, though, is to remember why you’re on the water in the first place. You’re out there having fun, and with the rare exception of anglers who seem to extract joy from complaining about the good ol’ days, everyone else is out there for the same thing. That doesn’t excuse bad river etiquette or abuse of the resource. But it should be a good reminder that, to borrow a phrase from Norman MacLean, the rivers aren’t full of bastards. Why does someone else’s opportunity to have fun-through a guided trip-impact your ability to enjoy it? Unless the guide rows over your line, insults you and your mother, or doesn’t treat fish well, they’re not taking away from your time on the water. Most rivers, especially in the West, are big enough for all of us.
Like so much in life, this really boils down to personal responsibility. That’s a rare commodity these days, but we ought to lead by example.
