Why Some of the Best Fishing Guides Are Also Artists

Guides are cut from a different piece of cloth. I did that job for twenty years. I’m not saying I’m odd or different—though plenty of people might—but most guides I’ve known marched to their own beat.

Guides as Artist

It’s not surprising, then, that many guides have a creative streak, and some of them produce truly impressive artwork. This past summer, I fished with two such guides: one who paints, and another who makes Japanese fish prints and works with natural materials to weave baskets.

Life Becomes Art

What intrigues me about guides who are also artists is their proximity to their source and how they interpret it. Their life is immersed in the very environments that inspire their art. They don’t visit these places—they live in them, study them, learn their moods, and come to understand their rhythms and subtle details.

The Fusion of Fishing and Art

A guide with an artist’s temperament has a rare advantage. Living inside the landscape day after day deepens their understanding of it—and that depth shows up in their art.

Mandy Hertzfeld - Colorado Guide and Painter

I fished with Mandy Hertzfeld while I was in Colorado. It was one of my better days of fishing this season. We threw streamers, and she put me on big fish. In fact, she guided me to my largest trout of the year—and that includes my fishing in Alaska.

A big trout being released in a Colorado river. — The reward of being guided by Mandy Hertzfeld. | Photo provided by Ken Baldwin

Guiding With an Artist’s Eye

I wasn’t surprised to learn she’s also an artist. I saw it in the way she scouted the water, and in how she spoke on her observations. She paid attention to subtle structure, light, and movement. Her read of the river and of the landscape had a creative twist to it. It wasn't anything over the top or "touchy-feely," just an awareness and interpretation that conveyed a deep understanding of the nature around her.

A fly fisherwoman casting while standing in a small stream. — Colorado guide and artist Mandy Hertzfeld. | Photo by Daniel Milchev

Carried by Energy

Her paintings are an energetic interpretation of the world she lives in. Bright colors, vivid details, a celebration of nature, and fly fishing. It’s the same energy that carried her from Ohio to become a guide in Colorado, and the same energy she brought to the day we fished together. Her paintings will brighten any room they hang in.

Paintings and Guided Trips

If you are looking to expand your art collection or visit Colorado to get some exceptional fly fishing in, check out her website, where you can view her paintings and book a guided day on the water.

Capt. Troy Perez - The Guide

It's a pleasure to fish with a guy who has 40-plus years of guiding experience. Guides that have been doing it that long become efficiency in motion; they know what works and what doesn’t, and there is very little “show” or “false bravado.”

Artist and fishing guide Capt. Troy Perez operating a skiff boat early in the morning on the Florida flats. — Capt. Troy Perez has helped anglers set more than 70 fly-fishing and line-class IGFA world records. Saltwater Sportsman selected him as one of the top 50 fishing guides in the world. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

A Lifetime on the Water

Capt. Troy Perez is that guide. He's guided Florida waters for more than 4 decades, has held 12 line-class IGFA world records, and when he applies his craft, there is no BS about him.

Two grass baskets and a fly reel made by guide and artist Troy Perez — The baskets are made from longleaf pine needles that Capt. Troy gathers. The needles are bundled, coiled, and stitched by hand into functional forms. It’s a traditional method, rooted in the Southeast. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Showing Up Ready

I fished two days with Capt. Troy on Mosquito Lagoon in Florida. Fishing with someone of his caliber adds a certain weight to the day.

A fly angler with a Moonlit fiberglass fly rod under his arm, while holding a redfish just before he releases it. — Capt. Troy Perez easily got me into some good red fishin'. | Photo provided by Ken Baldwin

A Good Day

He put me on fish, kept us out of the wind, and made the right adjustments when things needed to change. There was no fanfare in any of it—it was simply how he operates. What stood out most was the absence of ego. No yelling or barking out orders, not heavy on instruction. He let me fish, laughed good-naturedly when I botched a cast, and casually got me re-positioned for success. It made for a great experience.

Capt. Troy Perez – The Artist

By the second day, the formalities had faded, and we got to talking about things outside of "catching fish." We traded guiding stories, found common ground in how years of guiding had led us toward other creative outlets, and I learned about his work as an artist.

Gyotaku Print of a snook by Capt. Troy Perez | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Art Rooted in Place

Capt. Troy's art is deeply grounded in the environment he’s dedicated his life to. Finding creative expression in baskets woven from natural materials, and practicing gyotaku – Japanese fish printing, in the same way traditional Japanese fishermen did, feels like a natural extension of his time on the water.

Longleaf pine needle baskets with antler and seashell made by Capt. Troy Perez. — Longleaf pine needle baskets with antler and seashell made by Capt. Troy Perez | Photo by Ken Baldwin

After spending two days fishing with Troy, I learned that his baskets and the gyotaku prints are his way of staying connected to an old Florida—one made of water, fish, open spaces, and the Indigenous people who lived off the land—art that comes directly from the landscape.

To book a day fishing with Capt. Troy Perez, and contact information for his art can be found on his website.

Artistry in the Wild

Fishing with Mandy and Capt. Troy reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time. The best guides aren’t just good at putting you on fish—they’re good at paying attention. And if they have art skills, that awareness carries over. Whether it shows up in a painting, a basket, or an ink print, the art comes from time spent immersed, watching closely, and allowing what they see to move them.

"If you know the way broadly, you will see it in everything," Miyamoto Musashi

In that sense, the art isn’t separate from the guiding. It’s simply another expression of the same skill. Ken Baldwin