School of Trout announces 'Next Level' class

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to help design a fair number of fly fishing classes.  The first, back in the late ‘90s, was for aspiring fly fishing guides.  It actually took place under the Hyde Drift Boat banner.  Then, after the School of Trout came into existence, we created a number of classes — the Basic Trout, the Spring Creek, the Dry Fly, the Tao of Trout and the Essential Skills — where aspiring anglers would come in, spend six or seven days, and learn a tremendous amount about a particular subject. 

It’s worth noting that all those classes had a distinct theme and that those themes were reasonably specific.  If you wanted to become a stellar dry fly angler, you took the Dry Fly class.  If you were relatively new to the sport and you wanted to create an incredibly solid fly fishing foundation, you opted for the Basic Trout class or the Tao of Trout class.  If you wanted to delve into spring creeks, you took the Spring Creek class.  If you felt that your fly fishing skills needed work, you signed up for the Essential Skills class.

It wasn’t rocket science on our part.  It was just identifying specific niches, deciding whether or not a class made sense at that particular point in time, and then doing our very best to perfect the curriculum and create an experience that leaves the students excited about their time at the school. 

What we haven’t done until now, though, is design a class where the focus is on the individual instructors.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Our instructors — including icons like John Juracek, Brant Oswald, Tom Rosenbauer, Bob White, Hilary Hutcheson, Pat McCabe, Jeff Currier, Steve McFarland, Tim Romano, Kirk Deeter and Craig Mathews — are absolutely stellar, and they’re front and center during every class.  But we’ve never actually designed a class where each instructor pairs up with two students and acts as a mentor on the water.  And we’ve never held a class where, instead of heading to the river as a group, we send everyone off in different directions for the day. 

Fortunately, the new “Next Level” class hits that target.  Which makes sense, right?  What serious angler wouldn’t want to learn from a true master on the water?  Who wouldn’t want to trade casts or discuss tactics with a John Juracek?  Who wouldn’t want to spend a day on the Henry’s Fork with a Pat McCabe or a Brant Oswald?  

The Next Level class offers students the opportunity to learn from some of the finest instructors on the planet, and to see up close and personal how those instructors approach a wide variety of situations and address real-world angling problems. The instructors will also watch the students fish a variety of water types and offer specific feedback and suggestions based to each angler.

Of course, there are always perils with a new class and we feel it’s important to acknowledge them ahead of time.  In this case, it’s vital that the students do their best to remain focused, observant and engaged throughout their time on the water, and that they don’t fall into the trap of thinking that they’re on a guided trip, or that their instructors are guides. (Any student who asks an instructor to tie on a fly or untangle a leader will be reminded of that fact in a hurry.)

At the end of the day, our hope is that the new Next Level class, which will include four full days of on-the-water angling mentorship with School of Trout instructors, will be the perfect addition to the school’s other offerings.  We believe that our students will walk away with both a deeper understanding of the sport and refined skills they can share with friends and family as well as use themselves.  

I’ll conclude with a short — and from where I sit, relevant — quote from Arnold Gingrich, who was both the editor of Esquire magazine and one of the most respected anglers of the last century.

“Fly fishing,” Gingrich said, “is the most fun you can have standing up.”  How could anyone who loves the sport disagree?

The School of Trout’s new Next Level class will take place at TroutHunter on the Henry’s Fork from May 13th to May 18th, 2026.  To learn more, click here.