"Having Brian Wise guide for ROLF
has brought professionalism
and positive qualities to our business.
Brian's skills are tops,
his joyful personality is contagious
and I have absolute confidence in him.
Brian trains our guides, speaks publicly for ROLF
and leads our flyfishing program."
- Myron McKee, River of Life Farm

Brian has the ability to cater to what ever kind of trip you are looking for. For beginner fly fisherman he can teach you the art of fly fishing in his laid back and fun style of teaching. For the experienced fly fisherman he can help work out the bugs and fine tune your skills. If all you want to do is CATCH FISH he can do that too!

At the end of the day he often stays to do casting instruction to help "tweak" your casting stroke. Working with casting champions & Master Casting instructors has helped him become an outstanding casting teacher. Whatever you are looking to accomplish out of your time with Brian he will give you 110% to achieve your goal.

Brian was recently invited to do a 2 hour seminar on fishing the North Fork of the White River for the St. Louis Parks and Recreation's "Gone Fishin'" program, the largest outdoor informational program in the state.

The Seminar was also written up in an article for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Click on one of the links below to view the St. Louis Post Dispatch article on the Seminar: Flash Version Adobe Acrobat Version

He also be spoke to the Capital City Fly fishers out of Jefferson City, Missouri in April 2005 and is available to speak to your club upon request.

Brian is American Red Cross certified in Advanced CPR, Wilderness First Aid, and Wilderness First Responder, so your experience fishing with him will be a safe & memorable one.

Fishing Tactics

The North Fork being a large river for Missouri Trout fishing has it's "good" water and it's "not so good" water just like any other body of water that holds fish so reading water is key. Here is what I look for in any given fishing spot:

1. Seams -- Where fast water meets slow water.
2. Drop Offs in a riffle or at the end of a riffle
3. Eddys -- the slow water on either side of the fast water

These three things will produce the best numbers of fish.

I fish faster water and riffles 75% of the time....they are the better producers. But some of the slow deep pools hold some HOGS so you may not want to pass them up!

While nymphing faster water make sure the flies are deep. Split-Shot (weight) is a necessity on the North Fork.

But even with weight it is very important to get a good dead-drift to get the fly down in this fast water, and most importantly to get the most natural movement out of the fly. I focus on the riffles, in the headwaters above them, the tailwaters below them, and all through the riffle.

When using a strike indicator be sure to use one that can be easily moved up and down the line to move with the ever-changing river depth.

Favorite Flies

Fly Tactics

As for dry flies I like using Elk Hair Caddis, Griffith's Gnat, Stimulators, and Duns with the occasional terrestrial in the summer and fall.

Skating the Elk Hair Caddis through the riffles works real well, while drifting and skating everything else.

When casting to rising trout try to "match the hatch" or I like to use Griffith's Gnats because they can imitate so many flies.