Quick guide search question. More defining questions

[FRfisherPC]

Hello,
im new to this forum. so please bare with the bad habits that may come up. I wish to explain i situation before i ask my questions. I started fly fishing 4 years ago and was instantly hooked. Gathered all the info, book, podcasts, dvds, magazines i could fine. I wanted to gain more knowledge that i needed at the beginning stages. My brother and fishing buddy died in 2012 and i stopped going out. it took over two years for the urge to really push me to go out again. I bought my license and dusted off the gear and just went before anything told me not to. Now here is where the issues begin. In all the years i have been fly fishing, i cant seem to catch a reasonable size fish or any fish consistently! i do mean almost never. I fish a difficult area of the California to begin with but i know where there area fish because of spin and bait fishing expeditions of my past. so, i have recently started to toss around the idea of getting a guide to help me with whatever im missing. When i went to a local shop near the areas i fish...they offered me a clinic. here are my questions:
What is the difference between a guided trip and a clinic?
what should some one look for in a guide?
if i am trying to learn to fish a tough area, is it better to try and find a guide that knows the area to help me out in the area?
Maybe im over thinking this, or not board enough in my search, or just a hard @ss about the definition of a clinic versus guide. any ways. thanks ahead of time for any information. ill check regularly to try and keep a good conversational response going.
thanks
FR

[fly addict]

Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear about the loss of your brother. Good to hear finally you want to get back out on the water.
The difference is the emphasis of a clinic will be on teaching predetermined techniques first and catching fish second, and it could be run by guides. A guide will take you fishing with the emphasis on catching fish and teaching techniques second, although you could setup a trip with a guide teaching you certain techniques, and hopefully applying them to catching fish. Which one is better, well there are great flyfishing clinics put on by some very knowledgeable people, and there are also some great guides who also are great teachers.

You didn’t say where you plan on going so I can’t recommend any clinic or guides for you. I have done both and from a learning standpoint I think a clinic is better and I caught a lot of fish. I have used few guides before where I wanted to learn something new and I was impressed with how well that went also.

Mark

[WanderingBlues]

Several shops have trips where the AM is a teaching focus and the afternoon is focused on catching fish. Also, welcome aboard. There are too many amazing folks to list that are on the site that are incredible resources that are more than happy to help.

[midger]

First off, welcome to this forum.

Second, welcome back to flyfishing with all the joys (and occasional frustrations) that it brings.

Mark and Curtis gave you good advice about the difference between clinic training and going out with a guide. I also feel you'd get more from a clinic in your beginning stages of flyfishing as a clinic is more into teaching you certain aspects which are important to become somewhat proficient at before you'll consistently catch fish, be they casting, reading water, selecting equipment, some insect/fly identification, etc. There's a lot to learn but the learning can actually be a lot of fun. Beware though, this is a sport that can rapidly become very addictive. Of course you're on a forum where there are lots of folks addicted to flyfishing, but also a lot of folks willing to share their knowledge.

Other options for learning are to join a local flyfishing club. Not knowing exactly where you're from in California, I can't recommend any, but there a great many clubs throughout the state, and most are very welcoming of new fishers who want to get their feet wet. Most clubs also sponsor outings where new fishers can be paired with experienced folks to help you lessen your learning curve.

Enjoy the journey and sorry to hear about the loss of your brother. Hang in there.

[FRfisherPC]

thank you all for the information. i live in Quincy ca. i like to fish around the area up here. but i do make it to Chico frequently. this is where i was offered the clinic. I have been looking into local clubs. (need to really find one for at least Chico) at least the clarification between a clinic and a guide trip has been cleared up. They would have been with a guide either way but with a large difference in price. My concern with the clinic is that it isnt clear where we would be finishing, given the crazy Feather River...im not sure how helpful the clinic would be.(transferable concepts) From what i would guess it would still be helpful. I guess the more frustrating part of the whole ordeal is, my brother in-law just started about a month ago. he helped me keep pushing forward with all his wonderful questions. From the mass knowledge gain i did in the beginning stage, i was able to help him with where to go and what books to get/borrow and even how to correct his casting. He has now caught more fish regularly than i have in my entire start in this past time. rather annoying but helpful in knowing that my knowledge is applicable to what i want to do. Anyway, i digress. thanks for the information. any more on the questions will be gladly accepted and processed completely.
thanx
FR

[midger]

Now that I know the general area you're from I don't see you as being in all that difficult an area for trout--at least not relative to most of the folks on this forum. Many of us make day runs to the Eastern Sierra of 4-5 hours one way, fish the day, then return to SoCal the same day. You've got lots of great water near you--some of the beat Lahontan fishing over in Pyramid Lake, Davis close by, not all that far to the McCLoud, Upper/Lower Sac, the Pit, not all that far down to the Little Truckee, the Truckee, plus probably quite a few small, trout holding streams near Quincy.

You might also check out Kiene's Forum in Northern California. You'll find a lot of posters on that site from up nearer to the areas you'll probably be fishing. Get out and fish. Sounds like you already have a pretty good start. Hopefully your BIL lives close enough so that you can get out and fish some with him.

[fly addict]

You might want to check out Ralph and Lisa Cutter Fly Fishing School; it is based in Truckee and Nevada City. From what I have been told it is one of the best in the country. Here is a link to their website.
http://www.flyline.com/
And here are a few reviews on Yelp. http://www.yelp.com/biz/california-scho ... evada-city
Mike mentioned Kiene’s Flyshop; they also have some clinics and guides.
http://www.kiene.com/
Or Jeff Putnam who is a F.F.F Certified CI , THCI and at, http://www.jpflyfishing.com/
Nothing like having fun while learning something new.
Mark

[k9mark]

I see your from the Feather Rvier area. Have you spoken to Lincoln Gray who is a guide up there? Another would be Hogan Brown who is the inventer of the famous Red Headed Step Child, which I routinely slay fish with. Kiene's in Sacramento is another good resource as well. Ralph and Lisa run an awesome school in Truckee but are probably booked for the year.

Mark

[acorad]

http://www.flyline.com/

Wow, what a great website!

Andy

[FRfisherPC]

Wow! im gonna have to check all these out. i havent heard of any one of the guides up here expect jeff. i knew of him. never met him personally. Thanks for the leads of who to see and check out. this is all really helpful.
thanx
FR

[briansII]

Wow! im gonna have to check all these out. i havent heard of any one of the guides up here expect jeff. i knew of him. never met him personally. Thanks for the leads of who to see and check out. this is all really helpful.
thanx
FR

Welcome!

The NFF is one of my favorite places to fish. I lost a very close friend that introduced the river to me. My sincere condolences for your loss.

You have a good selection of guides in your araea. The ones already mentioned, and a few more that I know of. I hesitate recommending any of them, because I have no personal experience with them.

IMHO, I think hiring a guide will help you more than a clinic. The one on one, and a day tailored to your wants should help you to your goals. The key here is good communication with a potential guide, before you book a trip. A clear understanding of what you are looking for should make for a really good day. Also, it could help you decide who you want to choose.

briansII

[midger]

Here's a good guide (I've fished with him many years ago) doing a Almanor Lake clinic in June. It appears that Lake Almanor is close by and it might interest you.

http://www.kiene.com/forums/showthread.php?33253-Lake-Almanor-Workshop-Coming-Soon!

[FRfisherPC]

im still looking into this wonderful topic. Thank you all for your advice and direction. this has been a major help.
FR

[FRfisherPC]

ok so i figured everyone gave me such good advice and through research and money belt tightening. i wanted to tell everyone my decision. i signed up for a clinic on the North Fork of the Feather River. so far it will be an all day thing and it will most likely just be me and the guide on the feather. which will be nice i hope. no other person will be on the water but him and I. so i guess it would be almost like a guided trip just more based on techniques than catching fish. i wanted to let everyone know and give a huge THANK YOU! to everyone that put time in to answer my questions and linking me sites to look over.
thank you all
FR

[Wildman]

You will be making a good investment in furthering your fly fishing abilities and have fun to boot. Share your time during the clinic with us and let us know how you did. Pictures are always a bonus.