The Best in Fly Fishing Travel: Getting what you want.
I have been involved in the fly fishing travel business for thirty six years. During that time I have learned, both as an angler and a travel agent, that there is no substitute for experience, and knowledge. The more of this you have, the better your understanding and advice will be. And the better these are, the better the experience will be. For both sides.
For some time now, my first thought has always been this: no matter what the brochures, web sites and blogs may claim, there is no absolutely "perfect" destination. Even "the best of the best" are subject to circumstances which require informed consideration and evaluation. The most common issues are weather, water conditions and any cyclical movement of your target species. These issues almost always combine to create what are usually referred to as "prime weeks," and "shoulder weeks."
So, this is where you should start, and it is no accident that prices can vary according to the specific weeks or season of the year.
Once timing has been chosen, the agency can fill in the rest of the critical details: guides, accommodations, meals, necessary and appropriate clothing and equipment, travel arrangements, personal documentations, cancellation policies etc.
In addition it is important to know that you can't have it all: quick and easy travel to and from the destination, lots of hungry fish, including trophy specimens, easy wading, perfect conditions, exclusive access to all the best water, perfect guides, meals and accommodations. The best way to manage these issues is to have an honest dialogue in which the client states what matters most, as well as those things which are less important.
This kind of prioritizing enables the agent to then select the destination or destinations which will closely mirror the most important issues. This brings up an ancillary point: one advantage of planning an important and oftentimes expensive fly fishing trip with an agent is that the best agents will have a large, on-going "bank" or "reservoir" of feed-back, information and knowledge gained not only from their own experiences at the considered destination, but from all the clients they have sent to the lodge, guide or outfitter being considered. This feed-back does two things:
(1) It provides the broadest possible spectrum of information from a wide variety of anglers and
(2) It keeps fishing travel agents informed and up to date, because things can and do change.
In the end, it takes time, experience and a little hard work, but for most of us it is a genuine pleasure. There is indeed a world of great angling out there. You just have to know where and when to go. For more information on the kind of fly fishing travel, I love and know, you can contact me by filling out the contact form below.
Sincerely,
Lani Waller
For further information on Lani's fly fishing destinations, including hosted trips, his books and films, please contact him using the form below.