I found a love for the outdoors and fishing at a very young age and luckily, I have never lost the passion for it. After moving to Oregon many years ago, fly fishing became an obsession and a driving force in my life. I have enjoyed the opportunity to enhance people’s lives by passing on the experience I have gained over the years. Helping anglers get started in this wonderful sport has been the most rewarding part of my job. I love traveling the world chasing saltwater fish on the fly, as well as steelhead & trout in our local waters and tying flies when not on the water.
Growing up in Montana I began fishing at an early age. In the 9th grade I took a fly tying class and that started a long journey down that fly fishing road and I've never looked back. Family and work as will happen got in the way but in the mid-80s we were invited to spend a week in Central Oregon fishing. Having fished rivers and streams in Montana the high lakes absolutely intrigued me. Now after some 60 years after that first fly tying class, I find myself in the envious position of working weekends in a Fly shop and fishing during the week.
I started out gear fishing when I was a kid for small cutthroat in the volcanic landscape and headwater streams of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. After high school, I moved to Government Camp, bought a fly rod, and began what has now been almost a decade of feverishly fly fishing for trout all over Oregon. I have a passion for native trout, and I've been nearly everywhere in the state of Oregon looking for them. Ask me about redband! Or coastal rainbows! Or westslope cutthroat! Or Lahontan cutthroat! Or coastal cutthroat! Or bull trout! Peter hired me on at the shop in the fall of 2019, and since then I’ve been looking forward to coming in to work and helping people enjoy the fantastic fly fishing of central Oregon and beyond.
I grew up in Southern California fishing the Sierras for trout, local lakes for bass and saltwater for tuna. My interest in flyfishing and flytying began over 40 years ago on a vacation to West Yellowstone, Montana. Since then I have learned all different aspects of flyfishing on various waters throughout the west. My favorite technique is the dry fly on rivers and lakes. I started fishing central Oregon in 2006 and moved here full time in 2022. Since then, I enjoy fishing local stillwaters using indicators, stripping leeches, and dry flies on top. I look forward to sharing stories and knowledge with our customers.