Meet Shelen Scout Boyes | Fly Fishing Guide

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shelen Scout Boyes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shelen Scout, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
For me, I just grew tired of feeling like I was in a never ending cycle of starting new jobs and then quickly realizing I had no passion for them. That is until one day I was walking along a river (fishing by myself has always been my means of therapy) when a couple of Australian fisherman started walking downstream towards me. They were on their way back from fishing the section above me and we swapped stories on how their day went. Neither of them had landed a fish, whereas I had brought 6 to the net. I showed them some of the flies I used, discussed techniques etc. before one of them asked if he could book me as a guide the following day. I had always thought about becoming a guide but never fully had the confidence in myself to fully pursue it until now – I mean who wants to pay some mid-20’s American gal to tell them what to do all day? I’m so grateful I decided to take a chance on myself and believe in my abilities, because now I feel like I’ve found the path I was destined to be on. The pursuit of happiness is possible, but not without a little trial and error. 

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Trout Scout Ltd. is the name of my business and it is a guided fly fishing service I provide here in Queenstown, New Zealand. My full name is Shelen Scout Boyes, and because I’ve always used the name ‘scout’ for different social media platforms, I thought it’d be very fitting to incorporate it into the name of my business. Although New Zealand is fairly small, there are a large number of fly fishing guides throughout both islands. Due to it being a fairly male-dominated industry, I am one of only a handful of female guides in the country and I’m also one of the youngest coming in at the ripe age of 27.

It almost doesn’t feel real sometimes, discovering a career path while getting the chance to share your passion with others. As a young girl, I grew up in Northern California and had a need to go out into the world and leave small-town USA behind. It just wasn’t for me, so I moved around a lot after I graduated high school. First, I moved to Colorado for University, then I studied abroad in New Zealand, next I chased steelhead in British Columbia and finally, I went and backpacked around Southeast Asia for a while.

When you spend so much time wandering the world, it’s hard to see yourself settling. In saying that, something I didn’t know back then was that each new adventure actually brought me a step closer to finding my forever home which I’ve made here in the South Island of one of the most beautiful countries in the world. As fate would have it, it also just happens to be a bucket list country for anglers.

The task of starting your own business is never an easy one, and might even be a bit daunting to the majority of others, but it’s been an amazing journey so far. The enjoyment I get out of watching someone else catch a trout on a fly rod for the first time is just indescribable. Something I discovered very early on in my own journey is that for a lot of people it’s not even about catching the fish, but rather the experience. To be on the water and feel so in tune with your surroundings is something special and I think it helps people develop a deeper connection to nature – something I believe we could all use a bit more of these days.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, there’s so much to do around Queenstown, the list is far too long! If I had a few days to take some of my favourite people around the area, firstly, I would take them out to The Boatshed Cafe for brunch. It’s absolutely delicious and located right next to Lake Wakatipu, but I highly recommend calling ahead of time because they get so busy! If you can’t get in there’s always Yonder just in town. Next, I would drive everyone out to Glenorchy and hike up either the Caples or Routeburn track. It’s one of my favourite places in all of New Zealand with some of the most stunning scenery and the opportunity to see a couple of Keas! There’s also a lodge called Kinloch Wilderness retreat close to both tracks that travelers can hang their hat at in case they want to stay in the area overnight.

For dinner, there’s a restaurant called Aosta located in Arrowtown just 10 minutes outside of Queenstown. It’s Kiwi/ Italian with the freshest of ingredients used for their signature dishes such as the Pāua Pasta. There’s also jet boating, lakeside walks and incredible eateries just near the center of town. Finally, if the fishing isn’t going all that well, you can always take a day off either go bungee jumping off the Kawarau bridge or a little further down the road, one could find themselves wine tasting through the Gibbston region where some of the best Pinot noirs in the world come from.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m incredibly grateful to many members of the New Zealand fly fishing community, people such as Tony Entwistle, Andrew Burden, Johnny Gummer, Chris Dore, Kristina Placko and my partner Connor Andrew . These are a few names of the people who always believed in me and have supported me since the beginning. I’m grateful everyday for the names above because this is an incredibly hard career to get into all on your own so to have friends and peers you can rely on throughout the process is worth its weight in gold. I’d also like to acknowledge companies such as Flytackle New Zealand and Patagonia. Flytackle is a distributor of different high-end fly fishing products throughout the country and I’ve been with them since I first arrived back in 2017. The owners and employees took care of me in so many ways and not only lent me gear and fixed the few rods I broke, but they also helped me find my sense of community within the industry. Finally, I was lucky enough to work for the brand Patagonia at the start of last year and I feel like I am very aligned with the company’s ethos and values. As a fly fisherman, I have a spiritual connection to the stunningly beautiful environment I spend most of my time exploring, which only further drives me to take extreme care of it. We want to keep this planet going because it’s the only one we’ll ever have.

Website: https://www.troutscoutlimited.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/troutscoutlife/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/troutscoutlife/