Dollar Wise Fly - on Versus do you watch ??

[1:11]

Ive watched a couple episodes. The first was the guy catching blue shark from SD on the Fly. Then the most recent episode was striper on the Fly at the California Delta. Ooooh man that one had me drooling.

I got excited about fly-fishing last year then dropped the ball because i bought a boat and started fishing Lake Mead. Now i have this burning desire to build my own 7 and 9 wt fly rods and use them at Lake Mead to catch striper on the fly. Looks like fun and im sure they will bite it good too.

This show, Dollar Wise Fly sparked my interest in fly-fishing again. Hopefully this year will be a different result.

[unskunkable]

have not seen it myself but that guy is giving a talk at the fishermans spot in van nuys april 12

[Mingo]

It's a great show. Bowman knows his shit and he's got the perfect personality to host a show like this. He acts pretty much just like my buddies and I.............except he's a hell of a lot better at the game than we are. Seems like a cool guy to hang out and fish with. I know a guy who he put into a huge, 600+ lb mako shark out of San Diego.

[Fog Ducker]

I watch it and its a great fishing show but hes not dollar wise in my book, 3 day trips usually cost him 1200 to 1500 for everything and that normal for a trip like he took. The last one I saw I think he was in New Orleans and he paid $125 to rent a kayak and $200 for someone to drop him off at the fishing grounds, that seemed like a lot for what he got. The next day it was really windy so he hired out a small bass type boat and captain for the day for $500, again that seemed like a lot. David Bacon charges $850 in SB but thats a 6 pack and he includes everything.

[1:11]

Well its a great show, for those that have never watched, check it out. Bowman is cool, he can fish. The thing i like about the show is that they show him fishing for most of the show. Whereas most of the other shows are info-mersh. At the end of the striper on the fly episode he covers the rod type, 7wt with sinking line, although he mentions 9wt in the show. He also shows the best fly and the special bent hook. i did not see him pimp any tackle, so its a fishing show, not an infomersh al.

[IFSteve]

I like the show as already stated its mostly about the fishing. But I aslo agree about the cost part of it. While he does do it cheaper than toatlly guided the show on New Orleans was a bit hard to say that it was pretty cheap. If it costs $125 for the kayak rental PLUS whatever you have to pay a guide to tow you out and drop you off and then the return why not just hire a guide. I just got back from there and our guide was $450/day. When split two ways that is probably cheaper than the kayak rental approach.

And the guide we had really knows his stuff.

Still I really do like the show and Conway seems like somebody that us normal peons would really enjoy spending the day with.

[1:11]

i like the fishing and the catching. As far as the money, i dont pay attention to that. Im too cheap to pay what he pays.

[Fog Ducker]

Originally Posted by Lend-a-Fish

i like the fishing and the catching. As far as the money, i dont pay attention to that. Im too cheap to pay what he pays.

when it comes to fishing and catching i like his style and technique but i started watching because it is called dollar wise, no bargains here.

[Drydocked]

Originally Posted by Fog Ducker

when it comes to fishing and catching i like his style and technique but i started watching because it is called dollar wise, no bargains here.

Before I say anything, I need to disclose that I run Conway Bowman's guide website (BowmanBluewater.com) and also Capt. Gregg Arnold's website (FishInTheLandOfGiants.com) (Capt. Gregg is the person who shuttled Conway around). But I have nothing to do with the Dollar-Wise Fly show, and I've never talked about specific episodes of the show with Conway, just about the show concept before the show was filmed.

So..I'd have to say that you guys got the right impression of Conway from the show. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and something very rare in the outdoor TV world - an excellent fisherman without a big ego. He knows his stuff, and doesn't make a big deal about it. He's working the Fred Hall Show in Del Mar today - if you haven't been to the show yet, go and stop by the booth. As someone mentioned earlier, he is going to be at the Fishermen's Spot in Van Nuys (San Fernando Valley area of LA) in April, talking about his favorite topic - mako shark fishing on the fly.

On the issue of the costs, the intent of the series is to show how you can get to world-class fly fishing while saving some bucks. It's not meant to show you what the cheapest kind of fishing is in a particular area. Don't forget that those numbers include airfare, rental car & gas, meals, lodging, and the fishing. If you were to price it out for a regular guide trip the that area:

Airfare: $300 round-trip from SD to NO
Lodging: $300 (3 nights, $80/night, plus tax) <= this could be way low
Food: $ 75 (3 days at $25/day)
Rental car: $260 (4 days, $220 + $40 fill-up)
Guide: $1,600 (3 days, $500/day, $100 tip)
Total: $2,535

So Conway's costs came in at about 1/2 what it would cost normally (for one person).

If you went with two people, and added the cost of the extra airfare and food, and assumed you'd split the single room, rental car and the guide, the total cost comes out to $2,910, or $1,455 /person, which is a couple of hundred more than Conway's trip for one.

If you had two people doing the kayak trip with the same split of the room and rental car, the cost would drop to around $1000/person, so you'd save about $450/person.

As for Capt. Gregg's day rate ($550), it's not out of line for the area and the type of fishing they do. As one of the other people mentioned earlier, he got a guide for $450/day. Keep in mind that Capt. Gregg has guided clients to 5 fly rod world records, and several state records. A couple of years ago, in one season, Gregg had 300+ fish over 20, 53 fish over 30, 5 over 40, and 3 over 50lbs (not all on fly). So his clients feel he's worth the extra cost.

You can't really compare what Capt. Walker does to what Capt Arnold does. They are two totally different types of fishing. Capt. Arnold normally poles that skiff with two people all over the place, in wind and current, so believe me, he earns the money.

The $200/day shuttle fee for the kayak includes Gregg taking you to spots that will hold fish, and giving you advice on how to fish it. This is not the type of fishing where you can paddle out from the boat rental place and catch fish. The areas they are fishing are over 20 miles away from the boat ramp. Gregg knows the spots, what tides to fish on, how the fish will behave, etc. So again...it seems worth it to me.

Gregg's boat is a Hell's Bay flats skiff, which is one of those specialty boats designed to run in as little water as possible. It's looks like an inexpensive little skiff, but it was made using all composite materials, is super light, and is actually a very expensive hull for it's size range.

[IFSteve]

The point is that why would you not hire a guide to save $450. Now I grant that is a fair chunk of change. But when you factor in that most people only have a chance to get away on an infrequent basis is it worth saving that much money. The bottom line is that you are going to have (in most cases) better fishing if you just stick with the guide than you will find on your own. Especially with the show we have been talking about. You aren't wading so you are very limited in visibility from a kayak.

If there is some wind ripple or the water is off color man that could be tough. Certainly there is some satisfaction in doing it yourself but this show is hardly what most would classify as DIY. If you have to hire a guide to shuttle the kayaks around that seems to jack the cost up to where you might as well just spend the day in the skiff.

I like the concept of the show and I REALLY like the fact that they concentrate on the fishing but to me the name of the show led me to originally think that this was going to outline how you could do great fishing trips for a lot less than going with a full guided deal and this does not do that.

Still all things considered I like this show and try to watch it each week.

Steve

[Drydocked]

Originally Posted by IFSteve

.... I like the concept of the show and I REALLY like the fact that they concentrate on the fishing but to me the name of the show led me to originally think that this was going to outline how you could do great fishing trips for a lot less than going with a full guided deal and this does not do that.

Still all things considered I like this show and try to watch it each week.

Steve

I think these are good points, Steve.

Let me throw this question out to the forum - given the title of the show, what were your expectations for the show?

Were people expecting it to be more of a how-to DIY (Do It Yourself) show?

What kinds of savings (or target costs / day) were people expecting to see?

What kinds of other things or changes would you like to see in the show?

Just curious...

[1:11]

John,
Thanks for the info. Too bad im in vegas, or i would have been to Fred hall and would have loved to meet Conway.

I think the show is awesome as is. Maybe the show is not geared towards newbs but more towards hard cores that want to have a little info about the spots, but want to do the hunting and exploring themselves. Kind of like City Limits, Bowman and iaconelli travel to places theyve never, or rarely fished and spank them.

I like that he is realistic about the tackle needed. At the local tackle shop he picked up a spool of 20# ande mono $8, and a couple cluaser minnows. He even gives local mex food suggestions and has the class to take a slug of brew on camera.

Great show. Its not called the cheapest way to fish.

It's called DOLLAR WISE FLY cant wait for the next episode.