Fly Fishing Trips

SOMEWHERE IN OREGON - We are in an early 90s mud-covered Pathfinder 4x4 on a half frozen, snowy, logging road making our way into a canyon in the heart of a 60,000-acre forest. It's still dark and snowing pretty hard -- big spring flakes.

"I'm not sure if you guys are into this sort of thing, but there have been quite a few big-foot sightings in this area," says Jakob, bouncing a bit from behind the wheel.

We slowly push deeper into the forest and mud goes flying everywhere.

My fishing buddy and I were on a guided fly fishing trip on an Oregon coastal river well known for being not well known. This would be a special outing on one of the Pacific Northwest's best wild steelhead rivers. We would be accompanied by fly fishing guide Jakob Lund, who would help us find, and maybe catch, a particular strain of steelhead that ranges from 12 to 25-plus pounds.

WE'VE FLY FISHED throughout the Caribbean and have a few favorite spots that we would return to on a moment's notice. On the top of that list is Belize, a country no larger than Massachusetts but with one of the richest coastlines in the Western hemisphere. Permit don't live in ugly places, and there are lots of permit in Belize. And bonefish. And tarpon. And even snook.

With our Belize guide, we're launching a new series of electronic handbooks for travel to fly fishing destinations all over the world. All our guides will feature map "mashups" that show key locations and give you a way to place a destination geographically. We'll try to distill as much information as possible -- costs, fly and gear selections, lodging and travel info -- and hopefully give you a jump-start on preparing for your next trip.

A STORY I like to tell about tipping involves a gentleman known among his friends, appropriately, as Wild Phil. Phil used to place a $100 bill in plain sight on the console of my skiff, and whenever he jumped a tarpon, he would get down and hand me the hundred dollars. One day, after we had jumped 9 tarpon in just a couple of hours, I was struck by the relative absurdity of this relationship, and I said, "Phil, you don't need to be so generous."

Phil thought about this for a few seconds, then said, "You're right. I want you to know that I'm grateful. But I don't want you to think I'm stupid."

And so it is with tipping and fishing. Understand a little bit about how your guide, or lodge personnel, or captain are compensated and, within general expectations, follow your instinct.