Guide Tips

Playing Fish

When playing a fish, protect your light tippet and the fish, by using the full length of the fly rod as a shock absorber. To do this, keep your cork grip at a 90 degree angle to the fish. This can mean straight up in the vertical position, or parallel to the water right or left of your body if you need to apply side pressure to keep the fish away from obstacles or currents. This will not only allow you to land more fish, but also to land them more quickly. Keep in mind, the success of catch and release fishing depends on the angler’s ability to release fish healthy enough to survive.

Brian and Jenny Grossenbacher operate Grossenbacher Guides in Bozeman, Montana. They have been guiding personalized and educational fly-fishing trips on the Yellowstone, Madison, and Gallatin rivers for the past 15 years. Jenny has competed in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games, the ESPN Team Flyfishing Challenge, and both Brian and Jenny have been featured on ESPN’s Flyfishing America. Brian is the author of the Tying Flies Workstation, which has sold over 60,000 copies, and Brian and Jenny are currently writing the No Nonsense Guide to Flyfishing Montana. Brian and Jenny moonlight as fishing models, and that has allowed them to travel all over the world in search of spectacular scenery, perfect light, and of course great fishing.