CFB has been open for about 2 years now, but you've been involved with the Fly Fishing Industry alot longer than that.  What did you do before CFB?

Well, I have been a commercial fly tyer for most of my life, starting when I was about 12, and tied flies for most of the shops in the Denver area at one time or another.  For several years there I tied between three and five thousand dozen flies per year.  It gave me a great chance to become a very fast and efficient fly tyer.  As odd as it sounds to the average tyer, I really enjoy a big order of flies...I like to sit down and just go on auto-pilot for a few hours to unwind.  Weird, I know. I was also a guide on the South Platte and Colorado Rivers for about 12 years, I have taught fly tying classes for about twenty years or so now and I worked in a few different fly shops along the way, so opening CFB was just a natural progression for me.  I have always dreamed of having my own shop and now I do. It’s great fun and I am very proud of how it has turned into such a success.. Read the full article 


How did you get into fly fishing and what was it like growing up fishing on such famous rivers as the Henry's Fork, Teton, and South Fork?

I started fly fishing when I was too young to remember.  My grandfather on my mother's side fly fished the waters in the Ashton and Island Park area.  He died when I was only about 6 years old but I was really close to him.  My other grandfather also fly fished and so did my father.  There really wasn't any other option for me.  I remember getting a spinning outfit as a gift when I was about 12 or so.  I tried it a couple of times but I didn't enjoy it and eventually gave it away.

Who had the biggest influence on your angling career and why?

My father.  He was the best angler I ever met.  I don't think anybody enjoyed it more.  Yet he had all of the other responsibilities of life.  He made fishing count among the finest hours of his short life.  He died when I was 21.

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Where are you originally from and where did you grow up?

I am originally from Albuquerque , New Mexico , and grew up in a small suburb of Albuquerque . Living in the desert Southwest wasn't quite as trout-deprived as it may seem. We had good small stream trout fishing about an hour from my house, and my dad would take me on impromptu day trips when I was young. Being a native New Mexican, I was lucky to have the world famous San Juan River only three hours away from where I grew up. However, my subtle fly fishing beginning was spent on the rivers and creeks of the Jemez Watershed where a seven-inch brown trout was a trophy. Read the full article

 

This month's 'Rocky Mountain Profiles' interview features Cody, WY resident Gene Hall. Many of you know Gene, or at least know of him, as he is a frequent visitor to the Rocky Mountain Fly forums, where he posts under the handle 'wyldgene.' Gene has been fishing for over 40 years and has guided for 16. He is a FFF certified casting instructor and avid spey caster who especially enjoys fishing big dries to native cutthroats in backcountry streams, something he learned to do at a young age while growing up in Northern Idaho.

What do you do for a full-time job?

I'm a forester by profession and have spent the last 25 years or so cruising timber, doing forest stand inventories and land exchange cruises, usually past the end of the road and along some of the nicest streams in the northern Rocky Mountains. Read the full article





Born and raised in a small farm town in northeast Montana, guide Jeremy Gilbertson of Big Sky Fly Fishers is a soft-spoken individual who has guided on the Bighorn River in south-central Montana for over seven years.  His energy is readily apparent when you start talking about anything related to fly fishing.  Spending a few days on the water with him would no doubt improve your fishing skills.  I still recall how Jeremy kept after me for using my Colorado taut-line 'high-stick' nymph technique. 'Drag, drag, drag," he said. I became much more proficient at mending my line that day.

As Jeremy prepares for the upcoming guide season, he graciously sat down with me and spent a few minutes discussing his experiences and answering some questions related to guiding and fly fishing for the readers of Rocky Mountain Fly .   Read the full article