Danny Frank of Colorado Trout Hunters is a Colorado-based guide who takes anglers to some of the state’s most prized trout waters. Frank recently sat down to take on some questions for the Venturing Angler:
Why do you guide where you do?
Denver, Colorado has been my home for the past ten years. I love that I can live in town with two of my best buddies but then still make a living as a full-time fly fishing guide. Within an hour or two of driving, I can be at some incredible water. Anything from small meadow streams to technical tailwaters to high mountain lakes.
What is your favorite fish specie?
I have three favorites — brown trout, roosterfish, and triggerfish.
What is your favorite thing about guiding?
I love teaching beginners. As fly fishing continues to grow at such a rapid rate, I want to share my passion with others and also feel like I can influence these new anglers to help make sure the sport grows in the best, most sustainable way.
There is also something special about working hard with a client to achieve a goal together. Most of the time I feel I want the client to catch the fish just as bad if not more than they do. It is a pretty awesome feeling when you get that “hug it out” moment together after you help release a client’s fish of a lifetime.
What is the most memorable trip you’ve guided and why?
My most memorable trips are the ones where I have taken my family members fishing. No one else in my immediate family fly fishes so the couple times I have taken them, I have really appreciated sharing my passion with them and showing them what my life is like.
A close second would be the trips that I guide for Casting for Recovery. I have been guiding for CfR for ten years and each retreat is unique and meaningful. It really is a powerful experience to see firsthand the healing powers that come with fly fishing.
What is the funniest thing you’ve experienced while guiding?
I once had a client who felt bad about losing so many of my flies in the trees. He got another full rig stuck so I took the rod from him to break it off. Before I could break the line, he had picked up a large fallen stick to try and swing it at the branch and knock it down. He missed the branch and instead hit the rod breaking that! It surprised me so much that all I could do was laugh.
I also once had a client hook a horse …
What makes your guide service great?
Our focus on quality not quantity. We are not out there trying to guide as many trips as possible. We only employ the best guides who can not only get results on the water, but can also keep you smiling and help create memories to last a lifetime!
If you had only one day off all year, where would you fish and what fish would you target?
I would head to Baja to chase roosters from the beach. In my opinion it is the ultimate sight fishing experience. Just getting a reaction from a rooster is something worth celebrating and a moment you wont soon forget.
What are your favorite three flies?
For trout I would say a small (#20) Barr’s Emerger BWO variation, the classic pheasant tail, or my “mullet fly” a streamer that I tie to imitate a small trout.
What is the one piece of gear you couldn’t bear to leave at home?
When guiding I would say my Nomad net. I have three different sizes of net depending on what river we are fishing. They are the lightest, most durable net on the planet that can also double as a wading staff.
Do you have any other passions?
Fly fishing really consumes my life. When not guiding I am thinking about fly fishing or doing something related to fly fishing. The only thing that can honestly keep me off the water is an Ohio State football game.
To check out more from Danny Frank and Colorado Trout Hunters, please click here.
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Disclosure: Colorado Trout Hunters is in a professional relationship with the Fly Fishing Guide Directory and the Venturing Angler. Though potentially benefiting from this relationship, we do not post what we do not believe to be true. To read more, click here.