Wade Deep Ambassadors
Erik Svendsen
How long have you been fishing?
Since I was a boy, but only the last 4 years with hooks.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
Usually being out of cell phone range. It helps to set life in perspective. It's about getting outdoors with the family or by myself and enjoying nature. Catching a fish or two is also fun.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
It's one I feel a little bad about... After driving 5 hours to go small mouth bass fishing, I was first up in the front of the boat. I casted towards the bank, strip…strip… set! And I watched this 2”, Rapala sized, small mouth bass fly up out of the water, and up and over the boat to the complete other side. Apparently I was way too excited to be out fishing, and have a hit first cast. The face of the man on the oars was priceless.
Favorite Karaoke Song?
Any classic rock with high pitch vocals that I can’t hit.
John & Katie Demuth
How long have you been fishing?
Both: 3 Years
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
Katie: Sharing my experiences and what I have learned with others.
John: Meeting people who share the same passion, and the art and beauty of fly fishing.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
Katie: As I was trying to manage three surf rods, one was washed away as a rough high tide was coming in. I chased it out into the water, but couldn't catch it. I watched as it washed out to sea. I was so bummed. The next day my husband John was wading out in waves, throwing a casting net and found it---we cleaned it up and it still works just great!!
John: I was Halibut fishing in Alaska and I got seasick and couldn't fish. When the day was over and everyone had finished, I decided to give it one last shot and caught the biggest Halibut of the day. The guide had to shoot it with 410 shotgun before pulling it on board!
What's your favorite karaoke song?
Katie: Closing Time - Semisonic
John: If I Had a Million Dollars - Bare Naked Ladies
Heidi Lewis
How long have you been fishing?
Fishing since I was 2. Fly fishing started in 2012.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
Being on a river! They are magical. I love the surprise of catching a fish and I also really enjoy the quiet time focus and being in the moment. There are so many pieces of the fly fishing puzzle, and trying to figure that out each time I fish is really challenging and fun.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
I caught a steel head on a floating line swinging a traditional fly in a river with very few fish in the system. Everything came together and it was unbelievable. I cried. in fact, I bawled my eyes out. It took 3 years to catch that fish.
What's your favorite karaoke song?
Karaoke is my least favorite thing in the world. I really LOVE music and you may find me singing along to John Denver and Stevie Wonder on occasion, but not in front of a mic.
Joe Jackson
How long have you been fishing?
I started fly fishing in November of 2015, started fishing in general when I was 4, in 1988.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
The daily puzzle of finding the fish, figuring out what they want, getting them to eat something I created and sharing my collected knowledge and experience with others.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
While fly fishing one of the local steams near my house, I hooked a 16 inch smallie. When I went to net him, he was spooked by my net and came out of the water like a rocket hitting me in the groin. I buckled over and dropped my flyrod. It took my rod down stream about 15 yards tangling about 30 yards of tippet, leader and fly line in a mess of a log jam. After collecting my composure and my flyrod, I spent the next forty minutes trying to untangle my line. The current and fish had gotten my line so mangled under the log jam that I had to cut the fly line and pull it out in sections. I did get my fly back, but the smallie that assaulted me got away unharmed.
What's your favorite karaoke song?
Youth Groupsone Wild - Skid Row
Peter Steen
How long have you been fishing?
Fly fishing for 7 or 8 years, tying for 4 or 5.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
I often ask myself this, and I think it's the split second when a fish grabs my fly - not the fight or getting the fish to the net or even the release, but that moment when the fish makes its decision and gives me the opportunity to set the hook, whether I am successful or not. That, and stopping at the gas station for snacks along the way.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
You wouldn't believe me even if I told you.
Favorite Karaoke Song?
I tie flies, I don't do karaoke.
Paul Beel
_______________________
How long have you been fishing?
I have been fishing since I was 6 or 7 years old. My grandpa taught me how to fish with artificial lures he made himself.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
I like many aspects of it. I like the challenge of catching something with a fly I tied myself. I like casting a fly rod and the great feeling of making an accurate cast. Being out on or in the water is a joy and relaxing in itself. I also have met many great people in the fly fishing world, that I wouldn't have known otherwise.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
My wife doesn't fish, but she did fish a little when my son was younger. We were fishing a pond and she was fishing with a Barbie fishing pole. The short pink little kid kind. She hooked into something big and we never saw the fish and it broke her line. A little over a week later I was fishing the same pond and was stripping a streamer and it got hit hard. I hooked the fish and pulled it in. It was a 10lb catfish and when I pulled it up to the bank to unhook it, I noticed it had the same lure in its mouth that my wife was using a week before. So it's not often you get to see a fish that broke your line in deeper water. But I was able to see that one. I'll never forget that.
Favorite Karaoke Song?
I definitely do not do karaoke, but I love music and sing along when I'm in my truck.
Rebecca Lentz
_________________________
How long have you been fishing?
Since July 2019.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
What I like about fly fishing the most is the bond it has created between my fiancé and friends. It’s a special niche that draws us closer through frustrations and victories. I also love that I have gotten better at filling trail to take my artificial fly just so I can thank them and quickly release them back into the water.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
Unbelievable fish story is the fact that I still haven’t landed a brown trout. I’ve caught two but could not get them into the net. However I have caught Brooke trout, cutthroat and tiger trout. But the brown eludes me.
Favorite Karaoke Song?
In Spite of Ourselves - John Prine
Joshua Baker
_________________________
How long have you been fishing?
27 years... ish
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
The anticipation right before the first cast, then feeling the pull after a successful set… and the places that fly fishing can take you.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
While fishing a small beaver pond in Montana as a kid I managed to land my first fish on a fly…. An 11” brook trout, completely full of color, that's what sealed the deal for my desire to chase fish on the fly.
Favorite Karaoke Song?
You Never Called Me By My Name - David Allen Coe
Dana Harrison
How long have you been fishing?
I have been fly fishing since I was 23.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
Exploration without a doubt. My brother and I would always rather find new water than return to an old spot.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
I think every one of my stories are unbelievable. Growing up in the South East corner of British Columbia surrounded by pristine rivers, glacier capped mountains, and alpine lakes full of fish seems pretty unreal to me. Every time I am out chasing fish is pretty unbelievable in my eyes.
I think every one of my stories are unbelievable. Growing up in the South East corner of British Columbia surrounded by pristine rivers, glacier capped mountains, and alpine lakes full of fish seems pretty unreal to me. Every time I am out chasing fish is pretty unbelievable in my eyes.
What's your favorite karaoke song?
Doomsday - Architects
Tanner Renshaw
How long have you been fishing?
5+ years.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
The bond and connection it forms with friends, family, and nature.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
Catching a 180 pound marlin on my honeymoon in Mexico while my wife was seasick and puking over the side of the boat.
What's your favorite karaoke song?
Welcome to Atlanta - Jermaine Dupri
Chase Smith
How long have you been fishing?
3 years.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
Catching fish on flies; tied or designed myself.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
I caught a Texas tarpon on a GameChanger off the jetties on my first day targeting them. People can spend years trying to catch a Tarpon from the jetties in Texas but I was fortunate enough to land one my first time.
What's your favorite karaoke song?
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
Sylvan Rathfon
How long have you been fishing?
8 years.
What's your favorite part of fly fishing?
I enjoy the hunt for the next fish and matching what they are feeding on.
What's your most unbelievable fishing story?
This summer I watched a 32 inch bull trout smash my streamer 4 feet from me.
What's your favorite karaoke song?
I don't do karaoke.