Looking for tips on how to plan a great fly fishing trip?
Then this article is tailor made for you. Read on, dear friend.
There’s always one. There’s always that guy or gal in the group that spearheads all the memorable events, parties, group getaways… what have you. They’re all about people and good times. They hate isolation. They love coming up with the idea, ginning up the interest, nailing down the details and dates, tying down the commitments, and generally getting the ball not only rolling, but rolling with unalterable momentum.
Truth be told, they’re motivated by a strong desire to do something fun themselves. They don’t want to do it alone, and have long since learned that if something’s going to get done, well, they’re the ones that are going to have to do it.
Whether a day trip, a camping / fly fishing escape on the cheap, a multi-day destination angling vacation with friends, or a first-class fishing adventure to some ritzy or exotic locale, when it comes to planning great fly fishing trips, whether you’re “that person” or not, you certainly don’t want to blow it.
With that in mind, let’s jump in.
Years ago, I shared a wall with one of the only bosses I ever really liked, respected and, yes, admired. He was, at least in my mind’s eye, the embodiment of Ernest Hemingway in both visage and manner. A man’s man, he had a mouth on him that would embarrass even the saltiest of sailors, but spoke with such raw and appalling honesty that it somehow came off charming, even in mixed company and, perhaps more amazingly, irrespective of setting. He was a maverick. He had a successful business, a kind and beautiful wife, kids who adored him, good friends, and he was a damn good fly fisherman.
As a young, motivated and diligent advertising salesman observing his boss’ daily patterns, I was fascinated by what I often saw and heard. He’d roll in at about 10:00 A.M., start with a review of the books, take a quick walk around the office to make sure everyone was hard at it, and then settle in for some focused event planning.
Sometimes it was nailing down a tee time at that hard-to-get-on golf course. Other times, he’d be lining up a catered dinner party at his home or arranging a night out at a fancy steakhouse with customers and friends. This would comprise the bulk of his work day — a reward for years of long entrepreneurial hours and plain hard work.
A couple of times a year — the ones that made me jump off the phone for some blatant eavesdropping — he’d swerve into planning the next big fly fishing extravaganza.
Reserved for close friends and big customers only (no jealous whipper-snapper sales people allowed), the fishing trips he’d plan were nothing short of epic in scope and legendary in lore. He was, indeed, a master who spared no expense and left no detail to chance.
During these educational eavesdropping sessions, I learned just about everything that goes into great fly fishing trip planning. Who knew it would one day be the grist for a revelatory FFF post on the topic.
And, Dick, if you happen to stumble across this article, what follows is both an outline of what I learned from you and a tip of my cap to your genius.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we will receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you click through and make a purchase.Do Your Homework On The Destination
Before you put yourself out there as the point person on a great fly fishing trip, thoroughly scouting the destination is, of course, essential. At the outset, you probably have a good idea of the kind of fishing you want to do: mountain river, lake, ocean, etc., and that has probably served to determine the general location and time of year.
From there, it’s doing the research on the body of water you’re planning to fish, and when it’s going to best lend itself to the kind of fishing you and your group most want to do. For one obvious instance, if you’re jonesing for a lot of dry fly fishing with dries and terrestrials, a winter trip isn’t going to be your best bet.
It’s also a good idea to know the fly fishing proficiency level of your group. For example, it’s generally a bad idea to plan a trip on a difficult river at a challenging time of year when most of your group will be made up of novices.
Driven by your time-of-year target, the next thing on the list should be the accommodations, and availability thereof. Considerations include whether you’re looking to arrange an upscale trip or if a more affordable option is preferred.
Additional things to think about include food and beverage. Often remote, many of the best fly fishing destinations don’t offer a plethora of restaurants so, unless you’re going for an upscale lodge and outfitter that supplies all of your meals, you may need to bring your own food and beverage. Furthermore, you’ll need to know the situation when it comes to refrigeration, storage, cooking facilities, dishwashers, and so on.
Don’t forget to research local regulations on things like alcohol, fishing licenses, motorized vehicles and the like. Do not leave these things to chance; they can make or break an otherwise well-planned trip.
Another part of this research stage, it’s essential that you know your group’s general plan when it comes to using local guides and, if the body of water requires them — and you’re not planning to engage guides — boats.
Of course, looming over all of the above is the ever-present question of cost. You, as the point planner, should have a decent idea of your group’s budget tolerance. That said, during this part of the research process, try to arrive at a general overall cost on a per-traveler level. That way, when you lay out your awesome plan in your invite, you’ll be able to tie in the critical piece everyone will need to know: how much?
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Target The Group You Want To Include
This may be the hardest step of the whole process… Just ask any wedding planner! But now that you have your sweet trip mapped out, it’s important that you invite people you like and want to be around for the duration of your trip. It’s just as important that the people you invite happen to be people all the other people you’re planning to invite enjoy too. This seems like an obvious rule, but it’s a tricky proposition. I’ve been on enough trips with a difficult person or two to know that inviting one can ruin the whole shebang. Spending a short time with someone is one thing, spending several days on what’s supposed to be a fun and relaxing fly fishing vacation with a putz is quite another. Invite carefully.
Communicate And Entice With A Good Outline Of The Plan
Good trip planners tend to be excellent trip enticers too. At this point, the idea is to lay out your general trip plan with fairly brief but compelling and tasty content. Adding some accompanying pictures or video, say, from a previous trip you’ve taken there or from something you found on YouTube is a great idea. You want your invitees to know that you’ve done the necessary legwork — that you’ve got it sewed, but you also want them to be salivating like Pavlov’s Dogs at the opportunity!
The other key to this step is to offer only two date ranges with a preferred option and one alternative. Be sure these date ranges have been cleared for availability at your destination, of course, but let your invitees know that you need to nail down the dates within a certain number of days. It’s a good rule of thumb to keep this window open for no more than five days, within which you need commitments. People tend to procrastinate without a short-term deadline.
Impose A Limit On Spaces
In addition to the time limit you impose above, add and communicate a space limit as well. Once it’s reached, let your invitees know that the trip is filled.
It’s not only a nice thing to do, but it’s a good idea to start an alternate list for those who didn’t get their commitment to you in time. Inevitably, one or two of your initial positives will drop out before go-time, so don’t just keep an alternate list, make sure it’s set up on a first-come, first-served basis. Lastly, regardless of how much you may like the second alternate more than the first, be a person of integrity and stick to the list’s order without fail. If I need to explain why, you may not be made of true, blue fly fishing stock.
Communicate “Who’s In” Frequently
This isn’t as much of a next step as it is something you’d want to do in parallel with the previous one. As you’re getting commitments, it can help to get invitees off the dime by letting them know that other people are jumping in. I wouldn’t do this with each reservation, rather, do so only after a few have reserved and when there are still spaces left.
During these two steps, by the way, you should be zeroing in on the date range toward which most of your invitees are leaning. Yes, it can be a juggling act, but you have to be willing to nail down one of your date ranges and let the chips fall where they may. It simply goes with the territory, and the renowned trip you’re putting together will be well worth it, right?
Nail Down The Dates And Make Your Reservations Well In Advance
There’s another group of people we all know. We all have them in our lives. We may even be them. Remember the people who always turned in their term papers early? They’re the same people who arrive at the movie or show forty-five minutes early. You know who I’m talking about. If you’ve taken on the role of trip planner, channel these people, and get your reservations in as early as possible. That way, the most critical piece is buttoned up quickly, allowing you to proceed to the next most critical things.
Again, from a wedding planner (once I knew my oldest daughter was engaged), I got some very good advice. She said, take care of the big things first: date, budget, venue, dress, food, etc., then add the details and final touches later. It’s really the same when planning a great fly fishing trip. Nail down the dates, accommodations, food, transportation, guides and boats, then fill in the details around the big things.
Get Dollar Commitments From Group Members
This important but oft-ignored step is critical. One way to do this without awkwardness is to, at invite, let everyone know that you’ll be looking for their share of the trip deposit before you’ll slot them in as a “for sure.” This technique gets the subject out there, right up front, so that there’s no question about it. People appreciate directness, and it will save you gobs of trouble and uncomfortable conversations later. Additionally, having skin in the game helps solidify your invitees’ commitments.
Sharing the trip planning duties is the first cousin of getting deposit money up front. Although, as the primary trip planner, you’ve mapped out most of the key components, it helps to instill buy-in when you spread responsibilities among (reliable) trip members. Examples include soliciting help with the daily meal menu, helping to coordinate travel, arranging the specifics with the guides, making sure everyone has instructions on how to get the proper fishing license online, and stuff like that. While trying not to be a control freak, it’s important to make sure each trip contributor is following through on his or her duties. Don’t shirk that duty. You know what they say about the strength of a chain.
Build Anticipation
Just because your planning duties have been largely completed by now, don’t let your guard down. The boss I spoke of earlier always used to say, “Matty Boy (that’s what he called me… obviously), it’s easier to sell them than to keep them sold.” And while an awesome fly fishing trip shouldn’t be tough to “keep sold,” it’s a really nice touch to send out well-timed morsels as the trip nears. One of my friends sends out river condition and CFS updates. Another sends out pictures from previous trips, while another trickles out tasty tidbits, such as: “Hey guys, this time next week, we’ll all be pushing our boats out into the river for an epic day of fly fishing!”
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Tying It All Up
Now that you have some of the best tips for planning an out-of-this-world fly fishing trip, what’s stopping you from getting after it, I mean, other than taking one measly minute to sign up to get Fly Fishing Fix in your inbox?
I can assure you, we have big plans to make our members filthy rich. Oh, wait, just kidding. I meant rich in great fly fishing information, content, stories, videos, and a whole slew of other awesome angling stuff. What could be better than that? Come on aboard!
Tight lines!
