I recently had the opportunity and the time to get up to Island Park to participate in the WorldCast Anglers Western Rivers Guide School. Even though there is a ton of info on the website, I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect. The school exceeded what I though it might be. Very professional, fun, and a overall fantastic experience. This ended up being very well rounded with two days of courses form “how to teach basic casting”, conservation presentations from TU, and entomology with Mike Bias (founder of the Big Hole River Foundation)… to the economics of being a guide.
I ended up meeting a great group of guys and guides. Gaining a solid foundation in prep for getting a drift boat was my number one objective, and I came away feeling pretty solid. Each day on the river there were 2 different students paired with a different guide, and there were 5 days on the water. Getting a feel for each guides approach to fishing, client interaction, and rowing was a real plus. There was a definite progression in the difficulty of rowing from day to day. We went from less intense Henry’s Fork to a section to a bit more of a technical section of the South Fork. I ended course feeling *far* more confident in my abilities and cant wait to get that boat!
