Straight answers
Questions people ask before a trip
These are the answers I would give you before a trip, written down in full. If your question is not here, email me at greenvillefishing@gmail.com and ask it. I would rather answer one more email than have you guess and show up in a red shirt.
Do I need to know how to fish?
No. Beginners bank lessons are a trip type of their own, and most guests learn something regardless of level. You do not need to be a caster to catch a trophy bass with me. Most of the job is stealth, and I can teach stealth in ten minutes on the bank. We get close to these fish: short casts, simple presentations, and I rig everything before you show up.
Fly or spin?
Either. Tell me which you want to fish and the day gets built around it. Fly rod or baitcaster, your call.
See: Trophy Largemouth
Can I bring my kid?
Yes, and teens do well on these trips. Mt. Yonder books children aged 7 and up with a paying adult. Beginners bank lessons are the trip built for a first fish.
What do I wear?
Drab colors that blend into the bank, or light blue to blend into the sky. Bass see reds and greens very well, so no red, orange, bright white or highlighter green. Long sleeves and pants, for the bugs and the poison ivy more than the temperature. A hat for the glare. Low light polarized glasses are the one thing that is not optional, because we are mainly sight fishing; I carry spares if you do not have them.
See: Trophy Largemouth
What do you provide?
Rods, tackle, flies or lures, bug spray, and spare polarized glasses, including fit-overs that go over prescription glasses. I rig everything, I net the fish, and I handle the photos. You bring a real breakfast and more water than you think you need. It is a hike around the lake.
See: Trophy Largemouth
What if it rains or the water blows out?
Rain does not hit every creek the same. One tributary blows out and the next runs clear, so a wet forecast usually means a different spot, not a cancelled day. And if your day is not worth your money, I will tell you before you drive out. When conditions are genuinely bad, we move the trip. I would rather reschedule you than guide you through a dead day.
See: Trophy Largemouth, Summer Creek Smallmouth and Bartram's Bass
Will I catch a giant?
Straight answer: fewer opportunities than a numbers day, but a legitimate shot at an exceptional fish. Nobody can promise what a particular bass will do on a particular day, and I will not. What I can promise is that we will be standing where the big ones tend to be, at the time they tend to eat.
See: Trophy Largemouth
Do we keep the fish?
No, and here is why. The bass we hunt took eight or ten years to get that size, and there are not many of them in any one piece of water. So we keep the fight short, take one quick photo, and get the fish straight back in. I have caught the same bass three seasons running, at 9.12, then 10.03, then 12.05 pounds. That fish is still out there because it went back every time.
See: Trophy Largemouth
Do I need a license?
Yes, a fishing license for the state we fish. I confirm which state before the trip and walk you through buying it online; it takes a few minutes.
See: Trophy Largemouth
Do we need a boat?
No. Most of my trophy days are on foot: bank, wade and small water where a boat would be in the way. The biggest bass I have caught around Greenville did not come from the famous lakes. They came from the ponds and overlooked stretches everybody drives past on the way to the ramp, and a bass that has never seen a lure tends to be a lot easier to fool. I caught my personal best, 12.05 pounds and almost 27 inches, in exactly that kind of water. My best on a fly rod, 11.35 pounds on a 9 weight, came off the bank after work, still in my work clothes.
See: Trophy Largemouth, Summer Creek Smallmouth and Bartram's Bass
How does a trip actually run?
I scout the water before you show up, so we are not guessing with your day. A half day is four hours and a full day is eight. Meeting spot and start time are set the day before, once I have read the water. Once we meet it is boots on the ground: we walk, we look, and we hunt a specific fish, usually one we can see, and work out a cast that should not spook it. I rig everything and I net and photograph the fish, so your job is the cast and the fight. Tell me beforehand about any physical limitations and we plan the day around them; there is always water that fits.
See: Trophy Largemouth
How do I make sure I get you as my guide?
Trips book through Mt. Yonder Fly Fishing, and their checkout cannot pick a guide, so an online order with no note does not tell them the trip is meant for me. The phone is the sure way: call 864.816.0506 and ask for Taylor. If you would rather book online, choose the walk and wade trip and put Taylor and the trip name, Trophy Largemouth for example, in the order note. Either way, say fly or spin when you book, and I bring the right rods.
See: Trophy Largemouth
Still have a question? Email me.
Guided through Mt. Yonder Fly Fishing
Ready to fish?
Trips book through Mt. Yonder, and their checkout cannot pick a guide. The sure way to get me is the phone.
864.816.0506. Choose the walk and wade trip, then put Taylor and the trip name in the order note.
Not ready to book? One short email a month on where the fish tend to be in the Upstate. About a three minute read. Get The Water Report.