Romain Quiles, fishing guide instructor in the Pyrenees

Discover the portrait of Romain Quiles, fishing guide instructor in Ariège in the Pyrenees and specialist in salmonid fishing in rivers.

Hello Romain, firstly, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Hello everyone, my name is Romain Quiles, I am a naturalist fishing guide and technical advisor, specializing in Salmonids in Rivers. I live in Foix, so I am from Ariège in the Pyrenees. My guiding sector goes from the Salat watershed to that of the Aude, passing through that of Ariège.

Where did your passion for fishing come from?

A sure bet is my father who from my 8-9 years old took me Toc fishing in the Pyrenees streams. Today we still fish together ...

What fishing techniques do you teach?

I teach the techniques TOC (Nymphs and Natural Baits) and WHIP (Nymphs and Dry).

Looks like trout is your favorite fish? What excites you the most about trout fishing?

Trout are the most wary and fearful freshwater fish in France. Difficult to approach in the mountains and difficult to lure in the plains. It's technical research and this ultimate need to analyze fish behavior that makes this my favorite fish.
The trout has a magnificent dress !!

Why did you originally choose to do this job?
 

The need to get up in the morning without telling myself “I'm going to work”. When you make a living from your passion, you don't count the hours or days.
I do not work. I live.

What do you like most about guiding today?


Create a “connection” with my interns. They choose me from a vast offer, they trust me. Some people save to afford 1 day in their entire life. I have to create a unique moment of sharing. I remember each of my 300 Guiding Days and I hope they too will remember their experience for a long time.

What qualities do you think are required to be a good guide?

The technical prowess, anyone can have it. This is certainly not what makes a good guide.
Look… Some great soccer players make mediocre coaches.

Knowing how to transmit… Pedagogy is important…
But above all empathy. It doesn't work. It is more of the order of the innate than of the acquired. It is an essential quality to guide. It is by knowing how to anticipate and perceive the unspoken needs of a person that we manage to satisfy the greatest number. That would amount to saying that you have to be attentive, but a lot of things pass in the looks, the gestures and in the silences.

How do you see the profession of fishing instructor-guide evolving?

I hope that Rodmaps will contribute to the promotion of guides and that one day maybe, when someone outside the fishing industry asks me what I do for a living and I answer “Fishing Guide”, they won't retort not “What is this?”
There are a lot of BPJEPS Pêche graduates but unfortunately not many people manage to live on them so I have nothing to complain about. The profession is poorly known and ultimately little recognized… “Well yes, fishing cannot be learned, you dip a line attached to a bamboo rod, sit next to the cooler and then you fish… it's simple, isn't it?” . Unfortunately, this is what we still hear today.

What is your type of clientele? What are they looking for behind your offers?

I attract adult fishermen in personalized courses, confirmation and improvement as well as non-fishermen in Initiation course.
I think they are looking for a real learning, not just a catch of fish. I leave the pleasure of accompanying at the water's edge to other guides.
I offer theoretical courses on understanding the aquatic environment and the behavior of the desired fish. Also, I offer personalized technical lessons for up to 2 fishermen that I coach throughout the day.
In July, I am also responsible for organizing weekly stays for teenagers, such as a fishing colony.

You also fish a lot abroad. What is the best trout fishing destination for you?

There are so many rivers where Lady Salmo Trutta Fario likes to live…
If you can't go to New Zealand, Montana, Patagonia or Slovenia, just come and indulge yourself in Ariège-Pyrénées! The landscapes are beautiful and the rivers welcome beautiful populations of trout in number and size.

Any future projects you would like to tell us about?

An anecdote to tell us about a guide?

On guidance… not particularly. But this year I trained my first future guide during these BPJEPS training courses.
It was a great experience for me.
I liked to transmit, not my technical vision but this time, my way of transmitting.