Q: What goes through your head when you first wake up in the morning?
A: A plan of attack to fool the fish I am hunting that day.
Q: Where is your favourite place to fish?
A: Home waters of the South Platte River under the shadow of the great Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Q: Tell us a favourite story from a day out fishing.
A: My favourite example of this was the adventure I had with my wife Michelle on Valentines Day 2016. Being that our way of life is from the water we decided early in our relationship that holidays are best spent on the water, and this day would forever prove that. The day started off with plenty of sun and a projected forecast of 60 degrees with few clouds and wind. This is the best winter conditions for large trout because the warming air temps heat up the water causing big fish to migrate and feed mid to late in the day. We chose a window from 12:00-3:00 pm because this would be the peak of the heat in the day. The first hour was productive with a few fish in the net, but we did not see a lot in the river. We then saw what we hoped for the night before, a large male that was now holding at the the shallow shelf dipping into a run. It was a big male, but we could not make out the girth. Michelle crawled into casting position, swung a soft hackle pheasant tail into the tanks viewing lane and the fish took the fly. It was a moment that I will never forget, a 29 inch male cuttbow with a 22 inch girth, the fish was so round that Michelle’s hand disappears in the photo when she is holding the fish.
Q: Who are your heroes?
A: John Barr, one of fly fishing’s greatest anglers and master fly designer. Everyone who believes in being an ambassador to fly fishing and gives back to protect the resource.
Q: What haven’t you accomplished that you aspire to do in your lifetime?
A: Share a day guiding with my son River Mayer.
Q: If there is any love-hate relationship with any aspect of what you do, can you describe what that is?
A: Yes I love tying flies, but I hate the fact that guiding full time prevents my boxes from staying full.
Q: What sound or noise do you love?
A: “Gulp!” the sounds of a tank brown trout sipping dries.
Q: What would be your day job if you weren’t doing what you currently doing?
A: Teaching. If I couldn't teach people to fly fish, I would probably have become a teacher of something else.
Q: If you could bring anybody in the world with you to do what you love (dead or alive), who would it be?
A: Fly fishing with the “Duke” (John Wayne).