Fly Fishing Founders

https://wetflyswing.com/197 Sponsor: Sawyer Oars: https://wetflyswing.com/sawyer Sponsor: OPST: https://wetflyswing.com/opst Ray Heater, the founder of Ray’s River Dories, is on the podcast today to share the story of how he built one of the biggest wooden drift boat companies for over 30 years.  We find out why the 14 Rapid Robert is Ray’s favorite boat.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/194 Sponsor: Stonefly Nets: https://wetflyswing.com/stonefly Sponsor: Anglers Coffee: https://wetflyswing.com/anglers Jess Westbrook shares the amazing stories behind the Mayfly Project that he created to help foster kids change their lives with fly fishing.  Today, we find out what is the hardest part of the program and what you can do to help some kids out.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/192 Sponsor: Stonefly Nets: https://wetflyswing.com/stonefly Sponsor: Anglers Coffee: https://wetflyswing.com/anglers Scott Hogan, the lead man behind one of the best drift boat bottom coating companies in the business.  Scott describes how Wetlander is a super slick easy to apply product that will allow your boat to slide down the river bottom.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/172 Roger Maves is here to share the story of how he started Ask About Fly Fishing way back in 2006, before podcasting was really even a word.  We also here about Roger's fly fishing digital marketing agency in the second show today.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/158 Rick Pope, the founder of Temple Fork Outfitters, is on the podcast to share the history of TFO rods and the impacts to the fly fishing industry.  We hear how Lefty Kreh was instrumental in elevating the company and how it all came to be. Rick shares the background on how he started and scaled one of the big fly rods companies in the world.  This is the perfect episode if you want to hear the past, present and future plans from one of the best and most respected guys in the fly fishing business.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/156 James Carlin shares some great tips from his competition fly fishing background with a focus on dry fly fishing.  James is also the founder of So Fly Gear who is our most recent podcast sponsor.  I’ve been wearing So Fly’s Hoodie and been loving it this summer. James has a great story and the youngest guest we’ve had on the podcast.  We hear about the youth Competitive fly fishing team with a focus on dry flies and euro nymphing strategies for trout.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/128 I sat down with Tom Ski who has become a good online friend of mine and who talks about a life outdoors in fly fishing and now as an online free lancer for a number of companies including Yamaha. Find out about his plan to hike the Pacific Crest Trail while do fly tying videos on the road.  We dig into the business side of the outdoors and get into some tips and tricks about monetizing an outdoor business.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/126 We hear the story of how John Peterka came to own Sage Brush Dry, a great company out of Kake Alaska producing dry bags for hunting and fishing.  Find out how part of the deal when buying the company was for John to become a fly fisher. John describes their process of using radio frequency welding which creates a thermal and air tight bond.  They can get more curve because they are using hot air welding via a double bond.  A lot of terminology but bottom line is they produce a killer water proof bag.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/122 I connected with Rick Saez to talk about the Outdoor Biz Podcast and some tips to help you find out more about building a business in the outdoor space.  Rick is helping outdoor adventure businesses get into podcast through his online courses. We hear about how Rick started at the bottom and worked his way up through the business via multiple companies along the way.  Tons of shoutouts to companies in people in the outdoor industry and fly fishing industry.  It was a fun chat to BS about the outdoors with Rick.

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/113 I finally sat down and had a great chat with Frank Amato who is the brains behind Salmon Trout Steelhead magazine, the Fly Fishing and Tying Journal and about 300 books relating to fishing. We hear how Frank was a key player in protecting the Deschutes River.  We also hear about the Blue Jetboat Frank has had since 1980 and how he saved my butt after flipping int he river.