James Garrettson - Professional Fly Fishing Guide

James Garrettson, owner of About Trout Fly Fishing Guiding Service in Chama New Mexico joins the podcast to talk about his life as a professional guide and how to up-level your game as a new angler.

James and I talked about his career and how he got into professional guiding in the first place. James grew up on the East coast and worked for both Orvis and L.L. Bean before most anglers even pick up their first fly rod.

I asked how to find a great fly fishing guide in any city, how to be a great fly fishing client and what does James look for in a fishery when he’s fishing for himself. He gave me tons of great advice, chief amongst those was the tip to work with your guide as a team, to communicate your expectations and your skills honestly and to have realistic expectations.

One thing that really impressed me about the owner of About Trout was his dedication to the entire echosphere of fly fishing. James shares a story about a day on the water when he was younger, fishing with a professional guide. That guide took time out of their day to assist another guide that was struggling to put his clients on fish. This generosity made an impact on James and he’s done his best to pass on that kind of “we’re all in this together” attitude in his business which I really appreciate.

We finished up the episode talking a little about some other guides that James recommends arounds the country and if you are his buddy and didn’t make this list, don’t take it personally, I put him on the spot to come up with names and we all know how hard that is.

I’m super grateful to James who took the time out of his day to talk to a guy like me with a much smaller channel and a LOT less experience on the water.

I’ve said before that fly fishing has given me a community to belong to in my adult years and James is another example of how inclusive the sport is if you are open to learn and humble in your approach.

To check out James, his guiding service About Trout, some awesome merch and some of the best stickers in the game…visit www.Abouttrout.com

Guides James Recommends:

William Faulkner - South West Florida - Website Instagram SWFLFlyGuide

Casey Cloud - Los Angeles California - Website Instagram CloudFly805

Doug Walker - Northern New Mexico - Website Facebook Just Drifting

John Lagow - Salida Colorado - Website Instagram JohnnyLoLo87

Matt Miller - Salida Colorado - Website Instagram OldBluntMouth

Norm Maktima - Northern New Mexico - Website Instagram NMaktima_FlyFishing