Tom Cleary reels in second consecutive Best Guide Award

By Connor Shea

It’s no secret that fishing can be a tough, frustrating pursuit.

Many anglers do the most to concoct a gambit worthy of that next trophy catch. Painstakingly crafting flies. Pouring over stream and weather data. Hitting the highway in search of a better run.

For Teton Valley Lodge’s Tom Clearly, a more laissez-faire approach has paid handsomely for him and his clients, to the tune of a second consecutive Best Fly Fishing Guide award.

Cleary’s unique approach is born from a breadth of experience, one cultivated over nearly 25 years as a guide.

“I know a lot of people that want to move to Driggs and become a fly fishing guide, all that stuff, and they think they’re good at fishing so they think they have what it takes,” said Cleary. “For me, I excel because I’ve been on the water a long time. Some of the things that contribute to it are my rowing capabilities, my water reading skills, just being out all the time, years of experience, it just starts to add up, so it’s a feather in the cap.”

During those years Cleary positioned himself nicely at Teton Valley Lodge, guiding in an area that is world-renowned for its streams.

“We’re blessed with great rivers, great fishing, big fish,” said Cleary. “We have three of the best blue-ribbon trout streams in the West all right here.”

Cleary’s territory includes the Henry’s and South forks of the Snake River as well as the Teton River. These rivers looked to be in tough condition during the

Tom Cleary (right) guides a client to a smashing Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

peak of the 2021 summer, with low streamflows and high temperatures, but Cleary observed that the fishing wasn’t as bad as people thought.

“I had one of my best seasons and one of my best seasons for helping people get fish and get big fish,” said Cleary. “I thought we had great flows and not as much adversity as maybe some people did.”

The rewards were bountiful for him and his clients. While big fish are certainly appreciated, it’s not the only sign of a great summer.

“I don’t really know how to quantify it other than smiles, fish pictures, big fish, and happy people,” said Cleary.

As a senior guide at Teton Valley Lodge, Cleary attests that his role is to be more of a coach to not only his clients but other guides at the lodge as well.

“I’m always workin’ on them to be better,” said Cleary of his clients. “You gotta work them up to get to that point on any given day to just be better than when they stepped foot in the boat. One thing I try and do while training the guides is not focusing on the fishing that much but reading people, that’s really important.”

Perhaps Cleary’s greatest strength as a guide is his patience, exemplified in his strong belief “that one prize fish is always just a castaway.”

Never pretentious, Cleary had plenty of people to thank for his success on the water.

“I gotta thank my family for sure, 100%,” said Cleary. “They miss out on having me around a lot in the summer. I have to be thankful for the whole organization at Teton Valley Lodge as well ‘cause they make it so there’s a lot of things I don’t have to worry about.”

Of course, Cleary also had to mention the clients that keep his stoke high.

“I’d also like to thank my clients because they’re my friends,” said Cleary. “They let me have a great job and a great opportunity to just have fun out on the rivers.” n