PRM wrote:
Pretty simple question.

Do you prefer to have a guide or not?

I've never been out with a professional guide, nor even given the
matter any serious consideration. As several people have pointed out
(quite correctly) in the "Personal Economics of Fly Tying" thread,
these things are really a matter of individual preferences.
Justifying preferences in these matters is simply not an issue for many
of us.

That said, for some of us it isn't much of a secret either. Finding
the fish and figuring out what they might be interested in (or, trying,
anyway) is, for me, as much a part of the total experience as wading,
casting, setting the hook, playing the fish, etc. Why would I want to
pay someone to do for me what I am already paying a good deal to do for
myself because I enjoy it? On the other hand, watching and getting
advice from a friend on waters he or she knows intimately is a hoot and
a half. Reciprocating is even more fun.

Wolfgang