Living in a resort area like The Roaring Fork Valley has it’s own challenges, above and beyond many other places to live in the world. It is inconsistent, weather contingent and most of all, tourism dependent. There is no guarantee that anybody will show up, that the rivers will be fishable, and/or your job will even still be there for you, especially if your work is seasonable. So you learn adapt.

So my what’s my game plan? (if I can ever say I ever have a game plan) is to fill my quiver with as many skills/talents that I can muster. Fortunately, I seem to be lucky enough to have a few that I can always fall back on: Artist, Chef, Builder, Comedian, Cooking Instructor to list a few, I have been called a Modern Renaissance Man, Jack of all trades.

I prefer to refer to myself as “My Major is Generally Undeclared”… I think it suites me well.

I think it would be safe to say that I have made the best use of my ADHD, O.C.D and A.D.D, or what I like to call acronyms of success! As a guy that takes interest in everything, it’s very hard to have hobbies, I turn my hobbies into jobs: I likes to cook, so I became a Chef. I was always the class clown and a decent sense of humor, so I became a stand up comic. Creating things and building them is something I always have done pretty well, so I followed my long time passion of being an artist and sculptor, and that’s going well.

As far as being a professional Fly Fishing guide, this was inherent. I had an uncle that was a very, very good fisherman, when I was very little, probably 8 or 9 years old, he would take me fishing every weekend to Evergreen, Colorado. We would fish for hours on the reservoir catching small trout on spinning gear, catch and keep with stringers and all. I loved it, cleaning their guts out and all. As I got older, I would enter fishing competitions as a kid with some success but little satisfaction. I liked the chase and not so much that catch and kill.

Enter the introduction of Fly fishing. It blended with my attention span perfectly, it’s complicated technique (so I thought)…All the variables of leaders, flies, knots rod stiffness and lengths, how beautiful the reels were crafted…all of it. Perfect for a guy with a personality like mine. I loved it, as they say, “If The Shoe Fits”.

What made it even more interesting, the sport is always is a state of flux, always changing; the water levels, water temperature, time of year, location, nothing is consistent much like living in a resort town. As I became older and moved to the Roaring Fork Valley and became a guide. It was great fit as well, more variables, every client is different, some good some not so much, but every day is different. Perfect.

Sure, my resume may never get me a second interview in the “real” world, but as a guy with a varied skill set and the belief that I can really turn any or all of them into a career is not unrealistic. So I do what I do.

I like to think back to my high school years when my college councilor was doing his best to direct me to a college degree or trade school that would give me a “good start” to a future career…what was never mentioned was that I could make a living fly fishing, cooking, doing stand up, construction, and visual artist. In my mind, that is one career. My advise to anyone who feels misplaced, Follow your interest to the very end.

Tight Lines