Guide Flies: The Beginnings
By Dave McKenna
Photo by Rixon Media.
We want to start a fly company out here,” Steve said to me just as my panga from Jones Caye to the airport was about
to pull off the dock. I grabbed my fly boxes, and started handing him my flies. These had landed countless bonefish and proved to be way better for those technical permit than any of the commercial patterns that anglers were trying out at the
Faraway Cayes. “I’m in, let’s start with these, I’ll call you when I get home.” Could this really be possible down here? There were a lot of things that had to line up just right if this was going to work. But, that was pretty much the conversation
that kicked off Guide Flies for Steve Brown and me.
I passed the next three plane rides home filling my notebook with business ideas that had been in my mind for years. I had been in the fly fishing industry for a few years now, but I had been tying and designing flies since I was a young kid. As a manager of a popular fly shop, I had experience stocking shelves with all sorts of high and low end commercial flies. We were starting our own fly company from scratch. This wasn’t going to be any regular fly company importing flies from Asian or African factories. These were our custom flies that were landing some of the toughest fish in the world. Making the flies
right at the lodge meant new jobs for our friends on the island, and would provide excellent livelihoods. Saltwater and trout flies would be the starting point. This wasn’t going to be easy, but it was going to be a hell of an adventure.
Steve had over 20 years guiding some of Colorado’s most technical trout rivers and he already had a few of the lodge employees trained to tie flies. Guanaja has some of the most beautiful and technical flats on the planet. It took years to get
these flies just right and rarely did a client ever bring the right flies—they just weren’t commercially available. There was a problem with commercial flies and Guide Flies was going to be the solution. We had a big vision and now it was time to make the dream a reality.
The year before that conversation took place was when the real inspiration for Guide Flies began. I had trusted Steve Brown enough to jump on a 38’ snapper boat with Noah Thompson and a crew of fourteen Honduran guys I didn’t really know. This was after our helicopter ride fell through. After a lot of work and backup plans, we headed 160 miles east to the Faraway Cayes. I had no idea what we were getting into, other than there was going to be a lot of fish and some good stories when we got back. No one had really ever thrown a fly to these mythical bonefish schools or eagle ray surfing permit. We were going to be the first, basically writing the fly fishing field manual for the Faraway Cayes. The pressure was on. There was a film crew a week away from coming, a season full of anglers including personal friends booked to stay at this remote new fishery and we had no idea what these fish were going to eat.
Archey and the crew kept telling me that these bones are so big they eat lobsters! Ok, we’ll see about that. He wasn’t kidding! It turned out they wanted giant, lobster sized mantis shrimp. Probably because they resemble the lobsters those bonefish spend six months a year eating when the lobster boats are docked at the islands. Noah and I had filled a 5-gallon bucket with two vises and all the saltwater tying materials we could fit. We’d pass the nights and rainy days sitting on
lobster traps teaching the guys to tie and tying flies to match the big local shrimp and crabs. The bigger the better, but they had to land soft and move right. There’s a lot that goes into designing a successful new permit fly. We had a lot of shots out there to test flies on and these fish were the ultimate test. Flies like the Psycho Mantis and Predator Mantis were born out here. They get to the target fast, cast easy and fool big fish. The permit needed to see them off a ray so visibility and a realistic movement are essential without being too crazy.
Patrick and Deron were learning the Faraway Cayes waters as guides and had designed a few of their own killer flies out there. That was three years ago. Today Patrick, his wife Claudia, his brother-in-law Johny and sister-in-law are some of the best fly tiers at Guide Flies. I first met Nathalie when she was working in the kitchen at the island. She’s now our head manager and a mentor to every person who works at Guide Flies. I had no idea at that time what we were laying the groundwork for. Those vises on 5-gallon buckets on that little Heli-Salt basecamp turned out to be the inspiration for
what we’ve done from then through today. The experiences you share with people when you are truly in the middle of nowhere and off the grid have significant impact.
Before I knew it, I was dragging a dozen Regal Revolution Vises in my backpack and two 50lb+ cases of materials through Newark Airport, Houston, Roatan and finally to Guanaja. TSA and Customs officers globally do not love a brass Regal Pocket Base or seven in your carryon luggage. This had gone from a concept to a real-life trial run for Guide Flies in less than a year. Steve and I were all in at this point.
to pull off the dock. I grabbed my fly boxes, and started handing him my flies. These had landed countless bonefish and proved to be way better for those technical permit than any of the commercial patterns that anglers were trying out at the
Faraway Cayes. “I’m in, let’s start with these, I’ll call you when I get home.” Could this really be possible down here? There were a lot of things that had to line up just right if this was going to work. But, that was pretty much the conversation
that kicked off Guide Flies for Steve Brown and me.
I passed the next three plane rides home filling my notebook with business ideas that had been in my mind for years. I had been in the fly fishing industry for a few years now, but I had been tying and designing flies since I was a young kid. As a manager of a popular fly shop, I had experience stocking shelves with all sorts of high and low end commercial flies. We were starting our own fly company from scratch. This wasn’t going to be any regular fly company importing flies from Asian or African factories. These were our custom flies that were landing some of the toughest fish in the world. Making the flies
right at the lodge meant new jobs for our friends on the island, and would provide excellent livelihoods. Saltwater and trout flies would be the starting point. This wasn’t going to be easy, but it was going to be a hell of an adventure.
Steve had over 20 years guiding some of Colorado’s most technical trout rivers and he already had a few of the lodge employees trained to tie flies. Guanaja has some of the most beautiful and technical flats on the planet. It took years to get
these flies just right and rarely did a client ever bring the right flies—they just weren’t commercially available. There was a problem with commercial flies and Guide Flies was going to be the solution. We had a big vision and now it was time to make the dream a reality.
The year before that conversation took place was when the real inspiration for Guide Flies began. I had trusted Steve Brown enough to jump on a 38’ snapper boat with Noah Thompson and a crew of fourteen Honduran guys I didn’t really know. This was after our helicopter ride fell through. After a lot of work and backup plans, we headed 160 miles east to the Faraway Cayes. I had no idea what we were getting into, other than there was going to be a lot of fish and some good stories when we got back. No one had really ever thrown a fly to these mythical bonefish schools or eagle ray surfing permit. We were going to be the first, basically writing the fly fishing field manual for the Faraway Cayes. The pressure was on. There was a film crew a week away from coming, a season full of anglers including personal friends booked to stay at this remote new fishery and we had no idea what these fish were going to eat.
Archey and the crew kept telling me that these bones are so big they eat lobsters! Ok, we’ll see about that. He wasn’t kidding! It turned out they wanted giant, lobster sized mantis shrimp. Probably because they resemble the lobsters those bonefish spend six months a year eating when the lobster boats are docked at the islands. Noah and I had filled a 5-gallon bucket with two vises and all the saltwater tying materials we could fit. We’d pass the nights and rainy days sitting on
lobster traps teaching the guys to tie and tying flies to match the big local shrimp and crabs. The bigger the better, but they had to land soft and move right. There’s a lot that goes into designing a successful new permit fly. We had a lot of shots out there to test flies on and these fish were the ultimate test. Flies like the Psycho Mantis and Predator Mantis were born out here. They get to the target fast, cast easy and fool big fish. The permit needed to see them off a ray so visibility and a realistic movement are essential without being too crazy.
Patrick and Deron were learning the Faraway Cayes waters as guides and had designed a few of their own killer flies out there. That was three years ago. Today Patrick, his wife Claudia, his brother-in-law Johny and sister-in-law are some of the best fly tiers at Guide Flies. I first met Nathalie when she was working in the kitchen at the island. She’s now our head manager and a mentor to every person who works at Guide Flies. I had no idea at that time what we were laying the groundwork for. Those vises on 5-gallon buckets on that little Heli-Salt basecamp turned out to be the inspiration for
what we’ve done from then through today. The experiences you share with people when you are truly in the middle of nowhere and off the grid have significant impact.
Before I knew it, I was dragging a dozen Regal Revolution Vises in my backpack and two 50lb+ cases of materials through Newark Airport, Houston, Roatan and finally to Guanaja. TSA and Customs officers globally do not love a brass Regal Pocket Base or seven in your carryon luggage. This had gone from a concept to a real-life trial run for Guide Flies in less than a year. Steve and I were all in at this point.
“If you build it, they will come.” It was a line from Field of Dreams that I used to watch as a kid and it must have stuck with me. We had the confidence in our flies, a network of fly shops and customers that wanted to support us and we knew our flies were proven. With a space to start up at the new lodge it was something we had to try. Honestly there were some moments in the days before the first trip down I started questioning my own sanity. Organizing and packing down all the materials, regular travel gear and fishing gear was no small task. I had no idea how fast we would initially tie through our supplies. At least our friends and families believed in us.
For me there were still a few big questions to answer like who our tiers would be, if enough people even wanted to be fly tiers in Guanaja for us to start a sustainable company, and what potential challenges had I not planned for. It was going to take a three week trip to the new Fly Fish Guanaja Lodge and Guide Flies Headquarters to see what we could achieve.
I actually had a really good feeling that finding great tiers wasn’t going to be our biggest challenge. Steve and I came up with the initial selection of flies to supply the Fly Fish Guanaja and Faraway Cayes Heli Salt clients. Custom
boxes with a selection of custom flies was the plan.
Months ahead of our initial trip I sent a box of materials down with some vises and tools for Patrick to get familiar with the catalog of flies. We knew Patrick loved tying for the lodge and would be the best person to get a team of tiers interested in the new jobs we would be trying to create. I could see from the pictures they were sending me back that we already had the most important parts covered, leadership and talent. Patrick was teaching his wife Claudia, Rankin’s son Oddy and lodge staff who were interested in the finer points of fly tying. Together they were learning and building each other’s skills.
The flies were already better than 95% of the stuff you could ever buy from a commercial fly company. They were getting the local guide’s touch—just the right amount of weight, shade of color, rubber legs—all those components that just get standardized for every single “catalog fly” and never get matched to the local bonefish and permit behavior and preferences. That’s where the name for Guide Flies came from.
They were motivated to learn and naturally held each other to very high standards. These were the flies that their family members or fathers would be making a living fishing with. These were much more than just flies to them. Each one was being treated like a reflection of their reputation. If eyes or legs pulled off the fly you tied, you could be very sure that Rankin or any of the other guides would be giving you some real honest feedback! If the hook ever flattened out and caused a missed hook set, there was going to be something to hear about when they came in. It was all the difference in the world to start a fly-tying company with some of the best flats guides in the game sitting at the table as we refined each fly for the new catalog.
After three planes and a short boat ride, we were at the new Fly Fish Guanaja lodge property in Mangrove Bight. As it turned out, we had no shortage of interest in jobs at Guide Flies.
We got all the gear set up in the downstairs office until the beach “cabin” was cleared out for us. It was time to test my fly
instructing skills. This wasn’t any old Saturday morning tying class at the local fly shop. This took every bit of skill I had ever acquired in instructing, communicating, listening, patience and leadership.
It was time to see who just wanted a job and who really wanted to work. I had chosen right off the bat to start off with a complex but important fly for the lodge, the Kung Fu Crab. Our version uses a body wrap, instead of cross tying EP material like is usually called for. I also used a different material to harden and shape the claws so there was definitely a learning curve with expensive UV resins. I was quickly learning that not every material behaves the same in tropical humidity as
it does in our cool, dry tying rooms at home.
A big focus on teaching production tying is the steps and prep. I also wanted to make sure we set small, achievable goals for the new tiers so that I wouldn’t overwhelm them. If you took 45 minutes walking them through their first Kung Fu Crab and told them they should be able to tie 45 in a day, you’d have some major stress. It takes years for most people to tie a dozen of anything perfectly, let alone an entire catalog of saltwater and trout flies.
These students were showing that they could go from basic tying 101 to PhD level fly tying in a matter of days. Granted, some people did learn that this might not be the best fit for them and that’s ok too. There were other people that immediately stood out to us as natural learners and mentors. Nathalie Moore was one of the people. In particular she has an eye for fly design. I could tell the main difference between her and some of the guys that initially showed up was her attention to the details. Each Kung Fu claw wasn’t just getting painted red tips, it was getting a French manicure if Nathalie was making them. Eyes were painted perfectly, bodies trimmed to perfect proportions.
We had a blast getting to know each other. You get to know people very quickly when you hover over them for 8-10 hours in the heat. There was endless laughter and sweat. Long, extended training sessions were better with frequent breaks for stretching and refocusing. It gave us time to talk about big picture ideas and the long-term vision we shared for Guide Flies. We needed to keep a sense of humor across the team. Heat, sand fly bites and random power outages could get to you if you let them.
The flies were already better than 95% of the stuff you could ever buy from a commercial fly company. They were getting the local guide’s touch—just the right amount of weight, shade of color, rubber legs—all those components that just get standardized for every single “catalog fly” and never get matched to the local bonefish and permit behavior and preferences. That’s where the name for Guide Flies came from.
They were motivated to learn and naturally held each other to very high standards. These were the flies that their family members or fathers would be making a living fishing with. These were much more than just flies to them. Each one was being treated like a reflection of their reputation. If eyes or legs pulled off the fly you tied, you could be very sure that Rankin or any of the other guides would be giving you some real honest feedback! If the hook ever flattened out and caused a missed hook set, there was going to be something to hear about when they came in. It was all the difference in the world to start a fly-tying company with some of the best flats guides in the game sitting at the table as we refined each fly for the new catalog.
After three planes and a short boat ride, we were at the new Fly Fish Guanaja lodge property in Mangrove Bight. As it turned out, we had no shortage of interest in jobs at Guide Flies.
We got all the gear set up in the downstairs office until the beach “cabin” was cleared out for us. It was time to test my fly
instructing skills. This wasn’t any old Saturday morning tying class at the local fly shop. This took every bit of skill I had ever acquired in instructing, communicating, listening, patience and leadership.
It was time to see who just wanted a job and who really wanted to work. I had chosen right off the bat to start off with a complex but important fly for the lodge, the Kung Fu Crab. Our version uses a body wrap, instead of cross tying EP material like is usually called for. I also used a different material to harden and shape the claws so there was definitely a learning curve with expensive UV resins. I was quickly learning that not every material behaves the same in tropical humidity as
it does in our cool, dry tying rooms at home.
A big focus on teaching production tying is the steps and prep. I also wanted to make sure we set small, achievable goals for the new tiers so that I wouldn’t overwhelm them. If you took 45 minutes walking them through their first Kung Fu Crab and told them they should be able to tie 45 in a day, you’d have some major stress. It takes years for most people to tie a dozen of anything perfectly, let alone an entire catalog of saltwater and trout flies.
These students were showing that they could go from basic tying 101 to PhD level fly tying in a matter of days. Granted, some people did learn that this might not be the best fit for them and that’s ok too. There were other people that immediately stood out to us as natural learners and mentors. Nathalie Moore was one of the people. In particular she has an eye for fly design. I could tell the main difference between her and some of the guys that initially showed up was her attention to the details. Each Kung Fu claw wasn’t just getting painted red tips, it was getting a French manicure if Nathalie was making them. Eyes were painted perfectly, bodies trimmed to perfect proportions.
We had a blast getting to know each other. You get to know people very quickly when you hover over them for 8-10 hours in the heat. There was endless laughter and sweat. Long, extended training sessions were better with frequent breaks for stretching and refocusing. It gave us time to talk about big picture ideas and the long-term vision we shared for Guide Flies. We needed to keep a sense of humor across the team. Heat, sand fly bites and random power outages could get to you if you let them.
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The tiers had a real tempo, always pushing me to show them one more fly for the day. That usually turned into evening sessions. These tended to be the most creative times for working on new fly ideas.
As the lodge opened that first week we moved our tying location to the new beachside building. This was Guide Flies home for the next 6 months. We were able to spread out and really work in stations. The team worked hard to make sure we were ready to start supplying the lodge guests with our custom Guide Flies Faraway Cayes Boxes and Guanaja Boxes. We also started to dabble in some basic trout flies. We were literally tying flies in the jungle and 25 yards from the ocean. Very ideal for fly development but horrible for equipment! I learned that things better be made of stainless steel, titanium or well coated in WD40. Also, to seal the materials like a cooler in bear country: there are critters in the jungle and they also love fly tying materials. |
Photo by Knox Kronenberg.
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We could tell that these jobs were having an immediate impact on the community and the tier’s lives. There were not too many jobs that were fun, stress free and taught entrepreneurship on the island. Each tier was taught how to run their vise and tying station like their own business. You could see their pride go up as they were given responsibility for more difficult flies or jobs. Some of them were here to make careers out of this opportunity. People like Nathalie, Patrick, Sheera and Amaya had natural leadership skills and were developedas trainers and managers.
We could not run year-round without trusted managers to oversee the day to day operations when we couldn’t be there. We communicate daily to make sure we have the inventory in materials, orders and operations running smoothly.
The real payoff for the tiers was seeing clients come back after catching a bonefish or permit on a fly they tied. Guests absolutely loved that they could stop in the cabin before going to their boat to grab flies. Faraway Cayes was also proving that our new fly patterns were world class performers. This was the first official season for the Faraway base camp and they were taking multiple permit a day on flies like the Psycho Mantis and Predator Mantis.
This was all in just the first few weeks. Our initial mission was accomplished and all expectations were exceeded. We had a lot of work to do back home and it was time for us to leave Guide Flies in the trusted hands of our managers. I’d be back in a few weeks and get to experience the Fish for Change Student Program. Over the next few months I would build lifelong relationships and learn more than any other time I can remember in my life. I was starting to get the big picture of how
our fly-fishing industry could make a bigger impact and change lives if it was willing to put in the effort.
We could not run year-round without trusted managers to oversee the day to day operations when we couldn’t be there. We communicate daily to make sure we have the inventory in materials, orders and operations running smoothly.
The real payoff for the tiers was seeing clients come back after catching a bonefish or permit on a fly they tied. Guests absolutely loved that they could stop in the cabin before going to their boat to grab flies. Faraway Cayes was also proving that our new fly patterns were world class performers. This was the first official season for the Faraway base camp and they were taking multiple permit a day on flies like the Psycho Mantis and Predator Mantis.
This was all in just the first few weeks. Our initial mission was accomplished and all expectations were exceeded. We had a lot of work to do back home and it was time for us to leave Guide Flies in the trusted hands of our managers. I’d be back in a few weeks and get to experience the Fish for Change Student Program. Over the next few months I would build lifelong relationships and learn more than any other time I can remember in my life. I was starting to get the big picture of how
our fly-fishing industry could make a bigger impact and change lives if it was willing to put in the effort.
Dave McKenna, New Jersey.
Dave is the owner of Guide Flies. He is a passionate fly tyer, angler, and hunter. Find Guide Flies on Instagram @GuideFlies on at GuideFlies.com.
Dave is the owner of Guide Flies. He is a passionate fly tyer, angler, and hunter. Find Guide Flies on Instagram @GuideFlies on at GuideFlies.com.