The Fish Whisperer Guide Service, located in Baldwin Michigan and local to the famous Pere Marquette River, is one of Michigan’s PREMIER guide services.  Tom Lynch, owner, with over 20 years of guiding experience, and almost 30 years of Fly Fishing under is belt, has stayed well ahead of the pack by becoming an innovator and not a follower all while being a great instructor which really is the backbone of being an Elite Fly Fishing Guide in Northern Michigan, or anywhere for that matter; ones ability to instruct and teach what they know of good fly fishing practice, not just being able to catch fish or be a good angler!

Whether you’re interested in Stripping or Swinging Streamers for Browns & Steelhead, tightening your Indicator/Nymphing Skills for Trout or Steelhead, or even pulling “Creature-like” patterns through and on the water for Larger Browns that go “Gulp” in the night…  Tommy has taken it to the next level and can keep you into the fish while keeping you out of any traffic which becomes harder and harder as Northern Michigan’s Fly Fishing Opportunities become more and more evident.

Specializing on The Pere Marquette River, as it is his stomping grounds, he also frequents the Ausable River, Manistee River, White River, and even the Muskegon River if duty calls.  While the “Trophy Waters” of the Ausable are tough to beat for Big Browns, places like the Upper Manistee can “Mouse Fish” well… And though Tommy knows the Pere Marquette like the back of his hand, Swing Fishing for Steelhead and Stripping Streamers for cycling Brown Trout on the Muskegon River and White Rivers might be other places you will find him per client and fish persuasion.  Licensed, Permitted, Insured, and CPR certified… Tommy has all the right access for all the right water and will get you on the fish while you’re learning or improving your Fly Fishing techniques in different corridors and watersheds with his arsenal of different watercraft.

Tommy is a Fly Fishing Instructor as much or more then he is a guide every time he gets into the boat; you will not meet another guide that wants you to become a better caster more than Tommy.  CHUCK & DUCK is a technique Tommy DOES NOT TEACH ADULTS; as it isn’t a Fly Fishing Technique as much as it is a Spin or Pin Technique performed with a fly rod.  As a guide it is easy to put such a rig in a client’s hand and just let you start lobbing away with little to zero instruction, but as a Fly Fishing Guide he wouldn’t be doing his job if he did.  Casting, Mending, Line Control, all while using a Tapered Fly Line are all components of Fly Fishing, and Tommy can help you use, improve, and distinguish the lot of them.  For little ones and little ladies Tommy has been know to rig one up to add potential where there sometimes isn’t, but if your old enough to drive a car, Tommy prefers to teach people how to Fly Fish instead of “Bump” fish!

Dropping line off the back of a boat, lobbing guts, gear, or lead, (with or without a float), are all great techniques that catch a great amount of fish; these are also techniques you WILL NOT see Tommy using or teaching.  Fly Fishing is what Tommy is good at, and especially guiding and teaching it, as the Pere Marquette River encourages good casting, and takes flies from those that don’t!  Nobody Fly Fishes to catch more fish… If catching fish was priority, we would all just go and buy a Spin or Pin Rod & Reel and just chuck and lob a variety of guts, gear, worms, minnows… etc. into the water because they cater to three more senses then a Fly Fisherman can, that being only the visual persuasion.  Sometimes one has to ask his or herself what they want from each angling experience in order to know which way to go to get there…

What do you look for when you fish???  Do you look for a bunch of fish within your sport, or a bunch of sport within your fish???  Tommy appreciates the later, as do most Fly Fishermen:  Applying a plan of attack, tying a fly on, (one that you may have tied), wading into the river, setting up on your target water, making the right cast with a perfect presentation and making that fish bow to your will within a drift or two, and then the Take & Battle… Tommy’s soul couldn’t afford any other way!! The more fish you catch one way, the more watered down such an event is, and the less technique you put into each and every cast, is more or less paid back with less and less luster per fish caught or battled.  Truth is, Tommy like most Fly Fishermen, can have a much better day catching nothing and improving or perfecting their casts then most can lobbing a bobber or drifting a worm and catching a bunch… That said, it’s a very Blue Moon when Tommy’s not catching fish!!

The Fish Whisperer Guide service prides itself on being an instructor first, and a guide second… Sometimes you don’t need a fly fishing guide as much as you need an casting instructor, and the measure of a good fly fishing guide isn’t the one who puts you on the most fish with the least technique, (THAT IS WAY TOO EASY AND LACKS SPORT); it’s the guide who gives you a ton of technique so you can catch that ONE fish that means so much more than the lot of them.  It’s not always about the destination; the REAL sport within this grand sport of fly fishing can be found in the journey not the end result…  For Tommy that has always been clear!

Check out the “Tips & Tricks” page for new videos and set-ups!!!