THREE IN A BOAT BY JOHN BERRY

For most fly fishing guides the maximum number of clients that they will guide in a boat is two. Fly casting in close proximity to other fly casters is problematic at best. With two anglers in a White River Jon boat, the casters are approximately twelve feet apart. That distance is reduced to six feet apart, when you add another angler. The problem generally occurs, on the back cast, when the line of one angler crosses the line of another, resulting in a monumental tangle.

You can also encounter a major tangle, when one angler hooks a fish and it swims into the line, of another angler, resulting in the dreaded “Arkansas Double”. This is where both anglers are hooked to the same fish. This usually results in a lost trout or several minutes on the bank trying to untangle the two lines without having to rerig both lines.

In addition, most fly fishing guides have changed over to jet motors to allow them to navigate through shallower water. The problem here is that the jets are much more effective when running wide open but are not as well suited to making small steering adjustments, when the guides are drifting.

As a result, most of the fly fishing guides that use jet motors have mounted oars on their boats, so that they can steer effectively, when drifting.  With the oars mounted on the boat, the guides sit near the center of the boat (usually on a Yeti cooler) to row thereby eliminating the space in the boat, where a third angler could fish.  There is now only room for two anglers.  There are still a few guides that use propeller driven motors and do not use oars.  I am such a guide.  I get requests from time to time to guide three anglers in the boat. They are usually family groups that want to fish together. I charge more for a group of three to cover the additional expense for lunch, flies and terminal tackle.

I got such a request to guide three college buddies last Saturday. My partner, Dennis Schule, originally received the request but passed it on to me because he has a jet boat with oars and cannot accommodate three. It was with a bit of trepidation that I accepted the job. Guiding here is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. 

 

I met Pat, Brian and Scott the next morning at 7:30 AM at a house they had rented just off Denton Ferry Road. We loaded up their gear and chatted about their skill levels as we drove over to Rim Shoals. They agreed that three in a boat would be challenging and decided that they would fish two at a time. We started quickly and we were into trout almost immediately. After studying the situation they thought that they cast well enough to all fish at the same time. After observing them for a few minutes, I agreed. They were all accomplished casters and anglers.

It went flawlessly and we caught trout after trout. They would let the others know, when they were casting, to prevent foul ups on their back cast and took care to stay out of the way, when someone else was fighting a fish. It worked like a charm and turned out to be one of my best days on the river this year. We landed well over eighty trout (up to eighteen inches long) and had several doubles. We tried for a triple but just couldn’t get the last one in. There were a minimum of tangles and no drama.

We ended on a good note and planned to spend the next day wading the Norfork. Three in a boat can work but it requires that all three be skilled casters and constantly aware of what was happening.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide for Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.