Fly Fishing Guide
My name is Dan Houck and I have been a Fly Fishing Guide with Fly Fishing Outfitters for 20 years now. I’m originally from Lake St. Clair Michigan and have lived in the Eagle Valley for 21 years.
I love the outdoors, both while working and playing, and enjoy rowing my boat and having friends fish. This is even more exciting to me than having the rod in my hand.
I got started fly fishing almost by accident. When I was 12, I found an old fly rod with an automatic reel in my neighbor’s garage and started messing around with it. Soon after, I was catching bluegills and bass on flies that I had learned to tie myself.
Besides guiding, my favorite place to flyfish is saltwater-Belize. But Vail Valley is such a good place to fish, as it has access to many different rivers to float and wade—Eagle, Colorado, Roaring Fork…
The best part of sharing my knowledge and experience with others is fishing vicariously through clients, i.e. trying to get them to do exactly what I would be doing from the boat in order to get a fish to eat. This is much more rewarding than me having the rod in my hand.
My one piece of advice to a struggling fly fisherman would be to be patient and know that the fish need to meet you halfway. We can’t control when they are actively feeding, etc. When you think that you are doing something wrong, think again, and know that things can change quickly. Don’t overthink it.
