The Importance of Mentors
On a summer day in 2012, I met Cameron Rhodes in Gunnison through a mutual friend. The next day, I found myself on his boat floating the famed Gunny.
Over the course of the next several years, Cam became a friend and mentor to me in becoming a better angler and guide. We would share ideas on and off the water, and I always felt like I could reach out to Cam for help regardless of the situation.
Mentors like Cam are an extremely important part of any fisherman’s path to improvement. Mentors help push us toward our angling goals, and hold us accountable when we become complacent. Mentors also see our potential that we might not have known existed otherwise. In short, the value of fishing mentors is directly correlated to how much enjoyment you will get from your time on the water.
For those of you who have fished with Cam, you understand what qualities make an outstanding fly fishing mentor. First, they want to see you succeed. When you accomplish your goals, they win too. There is a mutual success akin to a coach celebrating a big win – you and your mentor are now a team on the playing field of a trout stream. Secondly, mentors are patient. As teachers, they understand that learning new skills the right way (without shortcuts) takes time. A patient coach will allow you to make mistakes, because they understand the importance of learning from screwing up. And lastly, angling mentors push you to improve. When you become proficient at a skill, whether casting dries or playing trout efficiently, that is exactly the time to look forward to the next challenge. A great mentor will present the next step to you by challenging you to up your game to the next level.
If you’ve yet to find yourself on Cameron’s boat, I’d highly encourage you to make a point of it. The mighty Gunnison has its days when fishing is easy and everyone is catching piles of trout. But like any river, there are more days when your skills will be challenged to convert opportunities into fish in the net. Its those days when a great coach like Cam will not only offer up those golden opportunities, but will also help you improve as an angler. By embarking on this journey with a patient and thoughtful guide on your team, you will become a noticeably more confident fisherman, and will glean much more joy from each day between the banks.
For a little more inspiration, check out my newly released eBook in the link below, which goes more in-depth about the Angler’s Journey, and offers practical tips to improving your skill-set. I wish you a wonderfully productive fishing season in 2023. Hopefully I’ll see you on the pointy end of Cam’s boat this season, enjoying the journey with your own personal fly fishing mentor.
Patrick Blackdale is a guide and fly shop operator in Almont, Colorado. He is a frequent guest of The Guided Trip podcast, and a contributing writer to several fly fishing blogs. You can find him on instagram at @pblackdale.
