Baltimore Fly Fishing

We’re getting some questions about this so here it goes….

How can you be a Baltimore based fly fishing guide service?

Yeah, Baltimore isn’t known for being a fly fishing destination, but we love living here so, here we are and here are my thoughts on why.

A little paddle at home

The idea is fairly simple. For most of eternity fly fishing guide services have focused on a particular river system and generally been based on that river. Fly shops are often ( with the notable exception of our local fly shop, Tochterman’s) based around rivers/ river systems and their guides specialize in a couple of waterways. People have to travel to those rivers to seek out the resource and the guide’s knowledge. A lot of guides move around seasonally chasing different species, but in general if you want to learn from a guide you have to go to them.

To be clear, there is zero issue with that. Guides we look up to and have learned from work it that way and we think they’re the best. Some other guides, Alvin Dedeaux and his wife Lenée Dedeaux and their company All Water Guides take a slightly different approach and have guides in different areas of Texas you can go learn from. Go check them out. This is all to say, there is no wrong way to be a guide.

Just like any other guide I have rivers I spend all of my time on. If my mentors have taught me anything it’s that time on the water is the most important thing and I spend more time on the Gunpowder, Youghiogheny and North Branch of the Potomac than can be good for a man. As we slowly and deliberately add some additional guides (who frankly have experience over me) they’ll have their rivers as well. (We’ll also be adding some private waters in the fall and spring which we’re excited about, but more on that later. Also more discussions on what “private” water means).

OK but Nick…BUT NONE OF THOSE RIVERS ARE IN BALTIMORE?!

Yes, I’m aware. I drive 3 hours almost every weekend. Some of them are definitely far from the city. Finding even more local waters we’re comfortable bringing friends and clients to is a big goal in the coming years.

The reason I’ve decided to base Fishercat in Baltimore (aside from living here) is because there is more to be learned from a guide than can be gleaned from just your 4 or 6 hours on the water. I’ve been fly fishing since I was about ten and have been lucky to have the opportunity to fish many places and put in countless hours getting to a point I would dare call myself a “guide.” But by having all of the fly fishing knowledge concentrated on rivers often far away from urban centers (and yes, there are notable exceptions. Check out Tyler Vanosdell at Mission Bay Fly Fishing in San Diego) we create an access issue.

We’ve been noting how fly fishing is too white and too male for decades now and I see this consolidation of fly angling knowledge as a huge part of the issue. If you want to learn to fly fish you have to go out to where the guides are and too often that’s on a river that might be out of reach for many people. There are a number of reasons that someone may not feel comfortable traveling out into the woods to learn our sport, not to mention the cost hurdles. Fly fishing has all of these beautiful components; fly casting, fly tying, stream dynamics, insect life, fish behavior and much of that knowledge can be passed on to people right here at home.

Before anyone reading this starts listing 100 fly guides and shops nestled in the heart of a city, yes they certainly exist. Lost Coast Outfitters is a good example located in the heart of San Francisco. They exist but for the most part they are few and far between and may not really focus on education. If we wonder why the sport looks the way it does, well let’s think about where we’re doing the educating.



I love living in Baltimore and wouldn’t want this business based anywhere else. In terms of trout fishing, yes I can’t just walk out my front door onto the river, but there are a million river systems nearby we’re getting comfortable with.

On top of that, there are people here in Baltimore eager to learn to fly fish. Being in the city allows me to partner with businesses and organizations with similar missions. Being in the city forces me to think outside of the box on programming and how fly fishing can be used as a conservation (and conversational) tool. It also allows me to use some of my own resources and privileges to help with this gatekeeping issue BrownFolksFishing so eloquently posted about ( follow them). Basically, if you live in Baltimore and want to learn to fly fish, we’re here as a resource.

We’ll still be guiding in Western Maryland but those trips are difficult for many people, especially now with COVID, so we want to make sure people can access fly fishing as much as possible. We have a bunch of classes and lessons that you can do right in Baltimore or within 30 minutes. We’ll also be working hard this summer to design exciting local trips around the region. Our goal is to keep conversations about conservation and fly fishing tightly linked so that the next generation of anglers knows what it means to protect a waterway. Maybe if we’re intentionally disruptive about where the knowledge is based we can draw more people into the sport and subsequently to conservation.

Ultimately Baltimore is home. While we were surprised to see several people reach out asking us how we can be fly fishing in Baltimore we’re pumped to be here offering guided services within reach and passing on whatever fly fishing knowledge we’ve got. Some people feel like fewer anglers means more water for them. We feel the opposite way…more people in the sport means more community and more advocacy for places we love, and that’s exactly what we need.

-Nick