One of those facts that every new guide is horrified to learn his first season. How clients never bother to practice casting before buying a fly fishing trip of a lifetime, and how the guide has to teach a heavy handed neurosurgeon how to cast more than ten feet, often simply thrusting a beadhead  Bobbercator combo into their hands to get clients into the proximity of fish.

Unfortunately, guides are now subject to new forms of lumps and contusions, and like the NFL are having to sit some of their marquee talent due to the increasing number of concussions …

Most clients quickly become skilled in bead-bobber fishing, and no longer content with brass or copper, quickly opt for the increased density of Tungsten and the softball sized indicators needed to keep them aloft. As a result,  guides are showing  symptoms of brain scarring akin to lifelong boxers and NFL quarterbacks.

Protective gear has been needed for years, and the Easton–Bell Corporation gives us a sorely needed helmet, while continuing work on as yet unreleased flak jacket.

Given the countless hours a guide sits in peril, it’s nice to know he’ll only have to cut two small holes in his cowboy hat to ensure a couple of extra decades to his career … nerveless and unflinching as 4X long and 3X heavy flits by earlobes and soft body parts.