(Dale Osthoff is also now guiding in the Driftless.
Trips with Dale can be booked through Rich, or Rich can put you in
direct contact with Dale.)
* The Best
Guiding Value in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area
* A Uniquely Educational Spring Creek Experience
* My Most
Popular Guiding Option
NEW:
Split-Fishing is now available for Two Anglers
I
originally offered my Split-Fishing
option for one angler only. Due to considerable demand Split-Fishing
is
now also available to angling pairs, so you and a fishing/traveling
partner can spend the day fishing and learning together at a bargain
rate.
One Angler (8 Hours) -- $300
Two Anglers (8 Hours) --
$350
Split-Fishing
is a superb teaching tool for our challenging spring creeks and is a
tremendous guiding value for clients who already have basic
fly-fishing skills and are looking to dramatically improve their
small-stream skills and insight.
Guide and angler will split fishing time.
You’ll do the bulk of the fishing. But you’ll also have opportunity to learn spring creek
angling at a more visual and advanced level than in traditional
guiding as you see how I adjust water choice, casting position,
casting stroke, length of drift, fishing pace, and other variables to
the conditions at hand. Anglers drive the amount of demonstration fishing they want from me or Dale.
Too often in the traditional angler/guide arrangement,
valuable time and opportunity slip away as the angler only vaguely
approximates the presentations that the guide is after, and a day
winds up being far less productive than it could have been in fish
caught, skills learned and insights gained. Too much is sacrificed to
the notion that it’s bad form for the guide to fish a bit. That’s
unfortunate because I can better teach the many skills and strategies that are highly specific to
fly-fishing small spring creeks when I have a fly rod in my hands
part of the time.
Demonstration is particularly valuable on small streams
for two reasons:
#1.
On small streams water type changes
quickly
requiring you to constantly alter your presentations as you travel.
Periodic demonstration by me will help you quickly zero in on
productive presentations for the many different water types you’ll
encounter in quick succession as you travel small streams.
#2.
Small-stream currents are highly
compressed,
and most fly-fishers make small-stream angling much more difficult
than it needs to be by routinely working from too far out with too
much uncontrolled fly line on too many conflicting currents. In
Split-Fishing you’ll quickly learn the value of working from the
shortest possible ranges (and the most advantageous angles) to limit
line/leader contact with the water toa
single current speedas
much as possible. That dramatically improves your control of the fly
and sets you up for consistent success.
Driftless
streams do present long-line opportunities, but you should be working
to most Driftless trout with less than 20 feet of fly line beyond the
rod tip. And in many common Driftless scenarios you’re better off
working with little or no
fly line on the water. Split-Fishing
will open your eyes to the many advantages of fishing a short line on
small water. We’ll also hone your short-line casting, which
requires a shorter stroke than casting a long line.
Ironically,
Split-Fishing
often results in clients catching more
fish than in traditional guiding. For starters, with a rod in my
hands I can quickly determine if a given fly and presentation will
produce, which keeps you, the angler, locked in on productive
presentations and covering water at a productive clip. Knowing when
and how to speed up and fish aggressively, and when and how to slow
down and fish thoroughly, is vital spring creek knowledge that you’ll
absorb through Split-Fishing,
especially if you book multiple days and face a variety of
conditions.
If
traditional guiding services don’t square with your fishing budget
or have failed to improve your spring creek skills by leaps and
bounds, Split-Fishing
could be your perfect fit.
Split-Fishing
is best suited to anglers who already have basic fly-fishing skills
and are looking
to boost their spring creek presentation and savvy. My
Instructional Guiding
option is better suited to teaching basic fly-fishing skills.
