I don’t usually make posts like this. But if people want to know what to get you for the holidays, and you’re struggling with gift ideas, here are two suggestions.

Book a guide trip with me for 2025. There’s no real gift certificate, but there is the promise that we’ll go out fishing for four hours next year. Your gift giver pays now, but it’s at my 2024 rate (rates usually go up every few years). I build a 20% gratuity into the price, so all you have to do is show up with your gear on a mutually-agreed-upon date and time and we have at it. If you’re interested in wet flies, we’re looking at a May-Juneish window. Because of the book writing process, I will be limiting my guide trips in 2025, so this is a great way to lock in. Easy-squeezy…

Take a “Classes With The Experts” with me at the Fly Marlborough Fishing Show. With this, you get almost instant gratification. Two choices: Saturday, January 18, 2pm-4:30pm, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies with Steve Culton:  Watch Steve tie classic North Country spiders, winged, and wingless wet flies that trout can’t resist, and learn how to rig and fish them. The course also covers basics like leader construction, matching the hatch, fly selection, where to fish wet flies, and how to fish them. All levels.

Or, Sunday, January 19, 8:30am-11am, Beyond Cast & Strip – Presentation Flies for Stripers with Steve Culton:  Learn how to tie (Steve will demo) presentation flies – traditional New England-style flies that create the illusion of life even when at rest – and how and where to present them. All Levels.

For the Fly Fishing Show classes, you cannot register and pre-pay through me. You do that on the Fly Fishing Show Site, which is here.

I’m hoping to be offering the same for Edison on January 24-26, but that schedule has not been released. Stay tuned for my full Marlborough and Edison schedules.