You all know I have been booking and using guides most of my life.
Well, I have recently had to change my opinion on not fishing with normal folks. Now don’t get me wrong. I still firmly believe the more a whacked-out guide fishes the better he is, but there are exceptions to the rule. Henry Cowen guided a fishing trip for my son, Beau, my good friend, Chris Auflegger, and myself on Lanier. Henry is by no means normal.
After all, he is a Yankee, and he’s a Red Sox fan.
But he isn’t whacked out and overly weird either.
You just have to listen carefully because he has this weird accent.
I was scrolling Instagram one evening when I saw a fundraising campaign to fish with Henry for Capt.
Clay Cunningham’s group of high-school bass fishermen for their trip back in June to the nationals up in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Well, I have always wanted to fish with Henry, and on top of this, my son, Beau, really admires him and ties a lot of Henry’s fly patterns.
So, my buddy Chris and I went in together and bought the trip. Now, Chris and Henry go way back and fish together a lot. From what I understand, Henry carried out several small miracles by getting Chris his first striper on a fly rod several years ago and later his first bonefish as well.
That’s how Henry tells the story at any rate.
Well, the morning of the trip came, and we left Oconee around 4 in the morning. That’s not a big deal for me. At my age, I usually get up around that time anyway, for several reasons. However, if any of you have 12-year-old boys, imagine the trouble I had getting Beau out of bed. I started at 3:15 and he finally was up by 3:30, which I considered to be way ahead of schedule.
We rolled out promptly at 4 with Chris and we were up at Lanier by 5:45 because, at that time of the day, there is absolutely no traffic! Henry showed up at 6 and we were off. And oh man, it was a beautiful morning.
Here was the plan. We were going to throw Top Waters, as well as fly fish for stripers and spotted bass, which all of you know are my favorite bass species. Henry goes above and beyond with his clients. He had scouted the day before and had a solid game plan laid out on where to fish.
So, we started hitting spots and about the third one, we found stripers busting on the surface with spots mixed in with them. Beau and Chris were fishing with a Zara spook and an Evergreen Shower Blows Top Water bait, and they doubled up on a pair of really nice stripers. At around 12 pounds, Beau’s was his largest ever on artificial bait, and Chris caught a solid six-pounder that pulled him around for a while.
The day progressed along those lines. Pretty much at each spot, they picked up one or two fish ‘til 10 a.m. when it was hotter than a wool sweater on the 4th of July. And felt twice as oppressive!
Our total between those two was around 10 or 12 fish. We laughed and cut up so much that honestly, I don’t think anyone counted ‘til it was over and then it wouldn’t have mattered if the count was zero. Henry made the day so much fun.
He cared deeply about the enjoyment of each of us but, especially cared that Beau caught fish.
He was constantly giving Beau info, and lessons, and talking to him like a grandfather. I’ll say this: I’ve fished with a ton of guides; I am a guide; and I have yet to have a better time than that morning with Henry. My son is still talking about his new friend, Henry, who turned out to be the kindest, most knowledgeable guide I have ever been with.
If you want an experience like this, give Henry a chance. You can find him at henrycowenflyfishing.com. Tell him Beau sent you. (If you mention me, he might hang up.)
Tight lines and following seas, y’all!