In this episode we WadeOutThere with Mike Wilson, from Florence, Montana.  Mike was born and raised in Indiana.  Unable to afford college tuition during the Vietnam War, Mike dropped out.  He was drafted into the Army, and served three years, including one combat tour as a rescue helicopter pilot. When he came home, he and his new bride left Indiana, determined to find a new home and make a life.

They moved from spot to spot… searching.  Canada, Montana, California, Las Vegas.  Eventually, they landed in Boulder, Colorado where Mike bought his first fly rod and learned to cast in a mud puddle in front of their apartment.  

The streams and lakes of Colorado became Mike’s fly fishing classroom, until he decided to try his luck at college again.  They moved back to Montana, where Mike studied forestry, and worked for the forest service. He built a life surrounded by nature and continued to enjoy the therapeutic and challenging nature of fly fishing over the decades he has since lived in the Bitterroot Valley.

We discuss the pros and cons of complicating fly fishing versus keeping it simple, lake fishing in southwestern Montana, and the crossroads between pressure, restrictions, blame, and empathy when it comes to protecting our natural resources.

Learn More:
READ: How two exploratory mining projects could shape the headwaters of iconic Montana rivers

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In this episode, we WadeOutThere with Christopher Teas from Bal Harbor, Florida.  Christopher was born in Wisconsin, where he was introduced to fly fishing, before moving to Colorado at an early age. He eventually began guiding as a teenager to make money before attending college in Oregon, where he continued guiding for steelhead as well.

Christopher went on to build a career in business and investments, but his passion for fly fishing never left. He continues to travel and fish all over the world.

We discuss Christopher’s perspective on the evolution of the fly fishing industry, why he believes water and fly fishing can be the ultimate equalizer, and some of the tactics and lessons he’s developed over a lifetime on the water.

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Tanner and Morgan Barbeau from Buena Vista, Colorado.  Tanner learned to fly fish from his father at an early age on the famed tailwaters of the San Juan river.  Morgan graduated school and took a nine to five job in corporate America having never fly fished before.  The pair met in Buena Vista and fell in love with each other, while Morgan was falling in love with fly fishing.

Tanner had been guiding for several years when Morgan lost her job.  Together they made fly fishing their priority, growing together as anglers and eventually turning their passion for videography and storytelling into their own production company and YouTube channel, Mopfly Productions. 

We discuss how Morgan and Tanner have managed to stay connected to each other, fly fishing and the art of story telling through patience and passion.

Learn More:
MopflyProductions.com
Instagram: @mopflyproductions
YouTube: Mopfly Productions

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Ben Wilcox, from Essex, Vermont.  Ben was introduced to fly fishing after college when he and his friends traveled to Maine to support a friend going through hard times.  Although he struggled to catch any fish for the first couple years, something  about the process of learning kept Ben coming back. 

Book by book and tactic by tactic, Ben worked his way from novice angler to competitor for team USA.  Now, Ben has a guide service called Maple Country Anglers.

We discuss dry dropper tactics Ben has developed to target trout in his home waters of Vermont, the value of exploring trout waters, and how confidence plays a key role in a fly fishers progress early on.

Learn More:
MapleCountryAnglers.com
Instagram: @benwilcox_maplecountryanglers
AmberRidgeMaple.com

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Jesse Alberi, from Dillon, Montana.  Jesse grew up dunking grasshoppers for trout in his homewaters around Dillon, and on his family’s ranch in Red Lodge.  After attending school in North Dakota, he took a job in Alaska, where he fell in love with fly fishing and his wife.  They moved back to Jesse’s hometown of Dillon, to raise their young daughter amongst friends and family.

In October of 2008, Jesse rolled his truck on an icy road, and suffered a spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.  Recovery was a long road, but eventually, with the help of friends and family, Jesse moved forward and began his path to not only break through the limitations that his disability presented, but help bring others hope… through fly fishing.

We discuss Jesse’s journey back to fly fishing after his accident, how friendship and adventure gave birth to his organization Access Unlimited, who with the help of the High Fives Foundation, is bringing the healing power of fly fishing to motivate and encourage those with disabilities to overcome limitations.

Learn More:
High Fives Foundation.org / Access Unlimited
Instagram: @Accessunltd

Mend Documentary Film (Jesse's Story)
Instagram: @mend.film

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Taylor Todd, from Helena, Montana.  Taylor began fly fishing almost immediately upon beginning college at Oregon State.  He was a volunteer firefighter and paramedic there, and his roommates at college and Lieutenant at the firehouse left him nowhere to go where fly fishing wasn’t a source of learning, camaraderie, and fun on the river.  

After school he moved to Wisconsin where he continued to pursue a career as a paramedic until one summer he decided to head west to the Rocky Mountains and immerse himself in his love for fly fishing.  He landed a spot at a guide school on the Bighorn and a job at a fly shop in Montana.  He and his wife made the move and have been living happily in Helena Montana ever since. 

Taylor became a guide and eventually started his own outfitter, Mountain Prairie Guide Service, where he fishes the Blackfoot and Missouri Rivers, among others, and also guides bird hunting and dog training in the fall. 

In this conversation we talk matching the hatch, and no rabbit hole goes unexplored.  We cover how (and why) matching the hatch sometimes plays second fiddle to presentation, when presentation just doesn’t cut it, and of course, we take a deep, DEEP dive into the tactics and techniques Taylor uses to pick the right dry flies on his home water.  We also share thoughts on why fishing with friends is a special part of fly fishing for both of us.

Learn More:
Email: [email protected]
Mountain Prairie Outfitters.com
Instagram: @realtodd
Instagram: @mountainprairieoutfitters

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Riverhorse Nakadate, from Houston Texas. Riverhorse was born in Austin, Texas to a single mother and joyful days playing in the Colorado River and at the public library.  His adopted father was a professor of literature and steelheader, which cemented his love of books and fishing at an early age.  The family spent summers along the Oregon coast, where Riverhorse immersed himself in the ocean… fishing and surfing.   

After traveling the world surfing, playing music, and writing articles for surf and fly fishing magazines, Riverhorse returned to Texas, and fly fishing… in the local salt marshes and lakes around Houston.  Riverhorse is a musician, conservationist, fisherman, surfer, and thoughtful author, whose first book, Waterlines, shares his most treasured stories.  The beautiful and painful ones.

We discuss Texas fly fishing from a canoe for redfish and large mouth bass, Riverhorse’s love of writing and books, and how searching for our own “child’s heart,” can bring meaning and joy to life.

Learn More:
Instagram: @Riverhorse_Nakadate
Waterlines: A Life on Marshes, Rivers, Seas, and in the Rain. By Riverhorse Nakadate
YouTube: It’s All Home Water | A Northern Light
YouTube: Love & Water: Fly Fishing for Redfish and Bass and Redfish with Riverhorse Nakadate 

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with John Duncan, from Telluride, CO. John grew up learning to fly fish in Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, hiking and backpacking to access fishing in small streams and remote lakes.  His love for the mountains drew him to attend college in Colorado Springs, CO, where he fell in love with the weather, the skiing, and the fishing.  Telluride, became the perfect place for him to grow a life around the fly fishing industry.

John has been a guide, a marketing and sales rep for Scott Fly Rods in the early days of their relocation to Colorado, and been helping people enjoy the fly fishing of his beloved Telluride for years through the fly shop and guide service Telluride Angler. 

We discuss tactics for fishing small freestone streams and high country backpacking in both Southwest Colorado and the Olympic Penninsula.

Learn More:
TellurideOutside.com
TellurideAngler.com
READ: WADEOUTTHERE | We All Have Home Water
READ: WADEOUTTHERE | Six Techniques for Fishing Small Streams
READ: WADEOUTTHERE | Seven Reasons to Fish Small Streams

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Mark Raisler, from Craig, Montana.  Mark grew up in Washington State’s Skagit Valley, in an outdoors family where fishing was a distant third priority, behind skiing and hunting.  

He first came to Montana for something to do when he wasn’t skiing, but quickly found the Missouri River and fly fishing.  When he realized summers were nowhere near enough time to try to catch all the wild trout in the river, he moved to the banks of the Missouri full time.  That was 1997, and he’s been working on figuring out those fish ever since.

Now, Mark is a co-owner of Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig Montana where he has guided for years.

We discuss dry fly techniques, casting accuracy, and why “good drifts, near fish” are the keys to success when fishing to the surface on the Mighty Mo.  Mark and I also wax a little philosophy on how contextual memory is a special part of fly fishing, and life.

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In this episode we WadeOutThere with Dax Messett, from Medford, Oregon.  Dax moved to the Lake Tahoe area after college to pursue his love for the outdoors, and immediately found fly fishing as another way to explore.  He started his fly fishing journey on the Truckee River, and later began guiding in the surrounding Northern California streams and lakes.  Next, came year round guiding, winters in New Zealand, and a relationship with adventure that felt more normal with than without.

For Dax, fly fishing became his vehicle for exploring the world.  His vehicle for  traveling to exotic and remote places.  Visiting whatever mountains, lakes, rivers, and oceans that captured his attention and excitement.  Always with a fly rod in hand.

We discuss Dax’s perfect fly fishing year, covering where he would fish every month of the year and why, while Dax also shares stories and lessons learned that he takes from each fishery.  Twelve months. Twelve fisheries.  One passionate angler.  Here comes the Year of the Nomad Angler.

Learn More:
Daxfly.com
Namproducts-usa.com

Sign up for Jason's free email newsletter (WadeOutThere Wednesday) at WadeOutThere.com/Wednesday