With a degree in communication, it was inevitable that I would find myself surrounded by people on the water while fishing. After spending time honing my fishing skills, I decided it was time to teach others how to fish. I love sharing knowledge and have a great passion for teaching.
From the Bay Area to the Blue Ridge
I grew up in the Bay Area of California. My dad's side of the family is Hawaiian, and they've been commercial fishing the islands for generations. My earliest memory is being on a dock with my dad, grandpa, and brother, spending all day catching catfish on circle hooks. We'd go four days a week after my dad got off work—three generations of guys just fishing. From there, I was hooked.
We did a lot of spin fishing growing up—live bait, big water. We'd chase stripers in the California Delta, king salmon in the ocean, and steelhead in the Klamath, Trinity, and Lower Sacramento rivers. Fly fishing was a once-a-year thing we did on family vacations in Lake Tahoe.
Trading Wheels For Waders
Growing up, I was also a big mountain biker. My parents met mountain biking, so it was in my blood. I started riding at four and racing at six. I ended up being an 11-time state champion and a three-time national champion. All of that led to a scholarship at Lindsey Wilson University in Columbia, Kentucky, where I raced downhill professionally. I even competed in the UCI World Cup series in Europe in 2018.
My freshman year of college, I saw a feature on Pisgah National Forest in a magazine, so we loaded up and came out here for a week. We camped at Lake Powhatan and spent every day mountain biking and fly fishing. I was 18, and it was a total epiphany. I knew right then that I wanted to live here after I graduated. I eventually moved to Brevard and worked as a suspension tech for a mountain bike company. My schedule was 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., so I could clock out and be on a bike or a river every afternoon.
Finding A Passion For Guiding
Then COVID hit, and I took a huge career pivot. I went from building bikes to building trails. I loved it because I wasn't stuck inside all day. It was around that time that I met my now wife, Meagan. Her roommate's brother was a fly fishing guide, and he took me under his wing. He exposed me to a whole other world and industry. He took me to the South Holston River, and when I saw thousands of Sulphurs hatching, I put the bike away for good. I started fishing six to seven days a week, and by 2021, I had become a full-time guide.
I love guiding because it's a constant game of chess with the river, the weather, and the fish. We learn by failing, and that’s when you learn the most—when you aren’t catching fish. With my degree in business and my experience in communication, I feel like I'm really able to understand where people are coming from and help them learn how to communicate with the river and the fish. People ask me all the time, “What’s next for you?” And I always answer, “This.” I love what I do.
