utah

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Steve Schmidt, from Salt Lake City, UT. Steve moved to Utah to pursue his love of skiing while attending college. He quickly became a die hard fly fisherman, spending almost every free day on the Provo River, skiing in the evenings, and spending his summers on some of the west’s most storied fisheries. Steve’s hunger to progress and learn fostered relationships with fly fishing mentors that not only helped him as a fisherman, but also opened the doors to a life and career in fly fishing. Steve opened his fly shop, Western Rivers Fly Fisher, in 1986 and although he’s recently retired, you can still find him in the shop helping others progress on their own fly fishing journeys. We discuss dry fly tactics and why doing the hard work matters in all aspects of fly fishing.

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Heidi Lewis from Salt Lake City, Utah.  Heidi started fly fishing when her two daughters were little as a way to get out of the house and spend time in nature.  After taking a women’s fly fishing class at her local fly shop, she immediately fell in love and became a dedicated student of the sport, spending most of her free time on the river and in the fly shop.  We discuss wade fishing the Green River, techniques for swinging wet flies, Utah’s cutthroat slam, and finding time to go fishing alone and with family.

In this episode we WadeOutThere with Devin Olsen, from Midvale, Utah.  Devin grew up fly fishing from age nine and has been casting and catching fish ever since.  He has a degree in fish ecology and a master’s degree in fisheries science, has worked as a fisheries biologist, fly fishing guide, and is now the creator and owner of Tactical Fly Fisher where Devin shares gear, videos, and articles designed to help fly fishers follow in his tactical footsteps.  

In Episode 175 we WadeOutThere with Thi Nguyen, from Salt Lake City, Utah. As long as Thi can remember he has had a love of all kinds of games. Thi was raised in California, studied philosophy in school, and moved to Utah to work as a philosophy professor at the University of Utah. He started fly fishing to help counteract some of the negative aspects of the new remote teaching environment that arose during the pandemic, and fell in love with the sport and its congruence with his work in the philosophy of games. He is the author of the book, Games: Agency as Art. This episode is a deep dive into the philosophy of fly fishing. We discuss why we play the game of fly fishing, how fly fishing can be an infinite game, and a little bit about Thi’s experience learning to fish on the Provo River.