On tuesday June 22, 2010 Lee Baermann and I coordinated a workshop for some of or captains. Although we have been working a lot that week we were waiting for a couple of groups of fly fishermen to arrive the following thursday so we took advantage of Lee being here to study up and prepare. As part of the Pescadores Vigilantes program with Eco Alianza de Loreto, we are starting to offer classes to better the service skills of our local captains so that we can attract more fly and light tackle anglers to fish Loreto.

This has been a very technical year so far so this was an excellent opportunity to discuss new techniques that we are now using this season that we have never used before. The workshop was taught by Lee Bearmann inventor of the Bullcandy fly and a fly fishing guide himself. He was able to relate the kind of anxiety that the captains may have toward their clients. Lee identified a few key points that make for a challenging guided trip from the point of view of the guide: number one being that the client cannot cast properly; number two is that the client is too caught up in the technicalities of fly fishing and they can't see the forest through the trees and relax and fish; and number three is that the communication of expectations vs. reality of the fishery. It was nice to know that our captains are not the only ones faced with these kinds of challenges.

Tuesday June 22, 2010: "Giving better service to fly fishermen" workshop participants (left to right): Victor Manuel Vallalejo Higuera, Pamela Pelger Bolles, Francisco Muñoz Tenorio, Nacho Quintero Rodriguez, Jesus Alberto Macia Davis, Bernabe Davis Davis, Eulogio Davis Sanchez, in front: Juvencio Alcaide Garcia, instructor Lee Baermann.

Written by Lee Baermann:
Finding a boat captain who knows how to find fish is one thing but to find one who knows where the fish are and how to deal with a fly fisherman is another. That is why I started the ground work a year ago to work with some of Loreto, Baja California's panga captains. It all began with a conversation with Pam Bolles, owner of the Baja Big Fish Company in Loreto last year. She agreed that it would indeed be beneficial to talk to the captains and see what they needed to know as well as to what they wanted to know.

The meeting took place Tuesday, June 22 at the Loreto Eco Alliance, known in Loreto as "Eco Alianza Loreto, A.C. They supplied us with an air conditioned meeting room decorated with pictures of great action shots of flying dorado and some gorgeous scenery pictures.

We started out talking about boat positioning, using the angles and how to deal with two fly fishermen fishing in the boat at one time. This segued to the ability of the fly fisherman to cast adequately enough to catch fish. While we all agreed that if you have a wide open dorado bite going almost no casting ability is need but if you want to sight cast to a single fish, knowledge of fly casting is desperately needed. It was here that I offered to come back in two weeks to give fly casting lessons to whichever captain wanted to give a go.

It was a well spent two hours in which the captains asked excellent questions that well only make them better while also accepting some suggestions that can only make their next outing with a fly fisherman a good one for both captain and client.