Montana

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Jan Axtell, from Livingston Montana.  Jan grew up in Wisconsin, and started fly fishing with a friend at sixteen years old.  His first experience on the river was on a spring creek in the Driftless Region, which he continued to fish through high school and college.  After school, Jan moved to Vermont and started guiding.  He fished spring creeks in Vermont and Pennsylvania until a job opportunity took him to Livingston, Montana.  By then, Jan’s love for spotting and stalking trout in spring creeks was deeply rooted, and even though Jan also guides on the Yellowstone River, and in Yellowstone National Park,  his passion remains the challenging spring creeks in the Yellowstone Valley.  Jan is also a commercial fly tier.  We discuss finding success in casting through angles, spring creek observation and sight fishing tactics, how to tie flies fast, and fishing through the learning curve.

In this episode we WadeOutThere with David Payne, from Helena, Montana.  David grew up in Lewistown, Montana, fishing the small towns local stream, Big Spring Creek at age 8, with no fly shops and mail order materials, on a homemade vise.  That was in 1964 and he’s been fly fishing ever since. In 1995, David started guiding on the Missouri River after moving to Helena in 1982, where he still guides today.  We discuss spinner fall tactics on the Missouri River, why you should fish all four seasons of any river you are trying to learn, and how observing others in the boat can make you a better guide and fly fisher.

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Evan Keene from Livingston, Montana.  Evan fell in love with fly fishing after his father took him on a fishing trip to Alaska after high school graduation.  From then on he was learning all he could about the sport while making the drive from his home state of Tennessee to fish the Little Red River in Missouri as much as possible.  Finally, Evan took a job in Montana, that got him out on the river more often, and eventually into the guiding business.  Now, Evan is in his first year of running his own fly shop, Hatch Finders, in the Yellowstone Valley, with his close friend and business partner.  We discuss summer hopper fishing, adjusting to dramatic weather changes that bring snow and rain, as well the Yellowstone River.

In this episode we WadeOutThere for Part Two of our conversation with Kubie Brown from Southwest Montana.  Kubie grew up with an obsession for fishing that often led to solo fishing excursions in the streams, rivers, and lakes of Vermont and New York.  His literature and creative writing studies led him to work as a reporter and later an editor for a local newspaper.  Kubie quit his job as editor to take a job as a sales associate at Orvis, which later led to casting and fly tying instructing.

In this episode we WadeOutThere with James Mugele from Livingston, Montana.  James started fly fishing while attending college in Vermont.  After befriending a retired fishing guide from out west, James found his introduction to fly fishing grounded in tying big flies and casting for Muskies.   James’ dream became to move to Montana and fish big Western rivers with his black lab Bo as his faithful companion.