Every season we encounter hundreds of individuals that think guiding would be an ideal job for them, few ever try it. This school is designed to give you a leg up in an industry that most certainly has a pecking order, the more knowledge, skill and passion you have can give you a leg up on the rest of the anglers entering the field of guiding. Our school is run by Vince Wilcox and his staff. Vince has been in the industry for decades as a guide, commercial outfitter, traveling fishing host thoughout the country and extensively in the Rocky and Adirondack Mountains as well as many other destinations. Over the years his experience has given him the skills and knowledge to help anglers and new guides perform at an optimum level not matter the species from Trout to Bass to Pike to Musky, Steelhead and Salmon. We will teach you to be an all around angler and guide by instructing you on how to row hard side drift boats and rafts as well as wade fishing. Unlike other schools around the country we not only focus on trout but take you to new level on the fastest growing segment in the industry, warm water floats for Pike, Bass and Musky. Being the first outfitter and guide to offer this kind of float trip in the Northern Adirondacks has given us a huge advantage to provide you with this intimate knowledge and skill set you will not find everywhere else. Other schools claim to offer smaller class sizes but we DO IT, only 4 prospective guides/session, which allows us to teach you everything we can in a short amount of time and prepare you for a job anywhere in the country.
This 7 day course includes all the training, cpr/first aid certification, manual, equipment, lodging, meals and a great time! The cost per student is $2495. Current and former military may attend one of our schools at a discounted rate of $1995/student as a special way for us top help get more active soldiers and veterans prepared for a life after the military in a field that is life changing.
A deposit of 50% is required at the time of enrollment and the balance is due at the time of your school arrival. If you cannot attend, no refund will be issued but we will let you enroll in another future class using your deposit. we don't want to keep your money because life changes and we get that.
Let's face it if you are not a proficient angler, it is difficult to help someone else that may have never even attempted fly fishing. This could even be your first time so we will work very hard to get your skill level up to snuff, making you a better angler and future instructor. How you relay information on a trip is critical to your success. Angling techniques for fishing dry flies, nymphs, streamers and rigging techniques are all extremely important to learn so pay attention, you are paying us to learn and some day clients will pay you!
Our fly tying instruction segment will be done by Umpqua Signature Tier and author, Vince Wilcox who has had fly patterns of all kinds sold around the world for decades. He will teach you some simple flies for all fishing situations that you can use for Trout, Bass, Pike, Musky, Salmon and Steelhead. While fly tying is not a must in the guiding world there is no doubt it can lead to a better understanding of the fish behaviors and diet and perhaps give you the ability to create some of your own favorites that become your go to weapons. This will also tie into our entomology portion of the school that teaches you how to identify what insects are in the water you are fishing, their life cycles and when to look for hatches.
Casting and reading water are a significant portion of your day on a trout stream so while we are wade fishing we will teach you how to perform all the necessary cast, how to read the water to find fish on any river anywhere. Where do the fish like to be? Why are they there? What is the best method to get a shot at catching them? How should I position the client? And much, much more to learn!
At the end of the day the goal is to get your clients into fish, the reality can be that isn't always going to happen so how you deal with that can make or break you in this industry. I tell all my guides that when the day comes you are not a little nervous for your clients, that should be your last. You should always demand the best from yourself and give it maximum effort, they can see that and will appreciate that on a slow day! So dealing with good days is quite easy, we want you to know how to handle all the other situations that WILL come your way out there. Most importantly you need to make sure your clients have a great time, many of them will become lifelong clients and friends and you never know where that can lead you in life.
So what will we do for the week? To my knowledge every state requires at a minimum you have CPR and First Aid training so we will get that knocked out for you and you will be certified by the end of school. We will also give you a class on water safety if available. States like NY require you complete a water safety course before being able to row as a guide, which is a great idea. We will review scenarios with you and be sure you understand what to do in the event of an emergency on the water. An emergency can be anything from a heart attack, man overboard or someone with an injury. What do you do? We will make sure you know!
A general class schedule will look something like this:
***Welcoming dinner Saturday night 6pm at Wiley's Flies. A grilling greet and meet session. Let us feed you and meet the other students before the week gets started.
***The days will vary somewhat based on conditions ie if it is a trouty day we will fish trout this day, if it is better to be out for Bass Pike and Musky we will do that and switch days around so this is simply a guideline
*** Fly tying sessions will begin on Sunday night and materials, knowledge and tools will be at your disposal during your stay. Generally the shop and classroom will be open so you can improve your skills on the vise at your leisure when tying sessions are not going on. We would like to get you tucked in by 10pm at the latest each night as most days will start at 9:00am. If you aren't 5 minutes early in this business you are late, DON'T BE LATE! If you miss a departure you will not be included that day, come late again and we will ask you to leave the school with no refund.
-Day 1: (Sunday) Arrival to Wiley's Flies in Ray Brook, NY. CPR/First Aid Will begin by 10am. This day will mostly be in the class room before we head out on the water the rest of the week. In addition to the instructional courses we will have a brief meeting on what to expect the rest of the week when your classes finish this day. We would prefer you arrive on Saturday night and stay with us. Remember this is included in your class fee.
- Day 2: It's go time! We will head to our Musky camp aprox. an hour from the shop. This base camp puts us in the middle of dozens of float and wade sections for all species and is on the banks of the Deer River Flow. It's a beautiful camp on the water and we will bring our boats along and this will be your first day to experience running an engine up the river and rowing clients.
-Day 3: New river, new sections. Drift boat/raft
-Day 4: New river, new sections. Drift boat/raft
-Day 5: Back to Ray Brook and a day on the renowned West Branch of the Ausable river or one of many great streams for a wade fishing session. Nymping, Streamers and flats fishing with dries.
-Day 6: Float and flies. We will execute a shorter float and see how you have progressed. When the float is over we will return to the shop for a BBQ and a fly tying session.
-Day 7: Now is the day to answer all your questions you may still have, provide recommendations for work, figure out what you liked and didn't like about the course and give you a final evaluation. Once all review is completed, we will go out on the water for fun. One last day of floating, this is entirely optional and is not included with your course. WE will row you on a section so you can have some fun. Check out the events calendar below to see the dates for the current and upcoming season. We only run it twice a year and it fills up so be sure to lock in your spot!
**Generally every season we are looking for at least one guide to join us here at Wiley's Flies so if you make it through the class and have demonstrated you have what it takes and are willing to continue to grow in the industry that could be you!
