It has been about a year since I started The Curious Angler. The Curious Angler is a fly fishing blog where I share what I learn fishing in the Yellowstone region. I still can’t believe it, but a few people read and keep up with my articles and content. It means the world to me, and I have enjoyed the first year of The Curious Angler.
With a year gone by, I wanted to share more about myself. Some readers know me on a personal level, but many do not. I want to connect with you and learn together in this sport, and you may want to know me better. In this article, I go into my fishing preferences and who I am outside of fishing. I hope this creates a stronger community around The Curious Angler.
As A Fisherman
I started fly fishing in 2016 when my soon-to-be father-in-law handed me a fly rod. He has taught me much of what I know about fly fishing and we still often fish together.
I love fly fishing for trout. It’s hard not to here in Southwest Montana, surrounded by some of the most famous trout streams in the world.
While I love all techniques in fly fishing, I prefer dry fly fishing. Not in a snobby way, but because I enjoy being in tune with nature and the visual take of a dry fly eat. Observing the river and being part of the ecosystem makes me feel more present than anything else in this world.
I could fish an egg or a worm almost any day and catch fish, but that doesn’t do it for me. I would rather flip over a few rocks, watch the river, and find actively feeding trout. There is an equation to solve on each day of trout fishing. I love solving this equation and fooling trout on what they are actively feeding on. Doing it on the surface is the cherry on top.
My favorite river is the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. The number of insects is unbelievable, and it seems on any given day, an angler can catch a fish on a dry fly. I also love the Madison and Yellowstone Rivers. There is so much to learn when fishing these rivers, which is why I have fallen in love with the big rivers of the West.
While these familiar waters are special, I love being on a new trout stream the most. A place where I have no expectations for what is around the next bend.
I prefer to wade fish, as I feel part of the environment when the water flows through my legs. I enjoy fishing from boats, but it would be on my feet if I had one more day to fish.
I enjoy my fishing to be challenging in some way. I structure long hikes, difficult techniques, picky fish, or bad weather into my fishing. In society, we have structured our day-to-day lives to be so easy. We rarely do hard things anymore. Fly fishing is my outlet to challenge myself and incorporate hard into my life. A satisfying day of fishing for me usually ends with sore muscles and knowing that I worked for the experience.
Almost all the flies in my boxes I tied myself. I get more satisfaction in fooling a trout when it is on a fly I tied. Fly tying allows me to continue fishing off the water and acts as a creative outlet. I started fly tying in 2019 and will continue through my fly fishing journey.
Off The Water
I grew up in Star, Idaho, a suburb of Boise with a small-town feel. Like many small towns across the West, it doesn’t feel that way anymore.
My passion was football. Like fly fishing to me today, every waking moment of my childhood had something to do with football. I miss my days playing high school football and still love to watch the games every fall. I would follow it more closely if the fishing weren’t so good in the fall.
In 2018, I was incredibly blessed to receive a scholarship to Montana State University, and my now fiance and I moved to Bozeman to start our own life. Fishing wasn’t as big of a consideration as you may think, but more so, it was a place both Kameron and I could see ourselves living.
I paid my way through school, graduating with a degree in finance. Personal and behavioral finance is another interest of mine. Understanding how people think about money and what money means to each one of us fascinates me. I am starting in the financial planning industry here in Bozeman and look forward to a career in the industry.
My fiance and I met in our freshman year of high school. We have built a strong relationship through the many ups and downs life has thrown at us over our nine years together. We get married in September, and I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side through this life journey.
I am working to create deeper and more meaningful relationships in my life. I haven’t had many longstanding relationships with many friends in my life, and I often feel like the odd man out in my friend circles. I believe relationships are the most important aspect of the human experience, and I am working on creating deeper relationships in all areas of my life.
Some other things about me:
- I enjoy exercising and going to the gym 5+ days a week.
- I have a Siberian husky named Kenai. He is not a fishing dog, but he makes my life better.
- I do not drink and never have. Seeing its negative effects on my family and friends, I choose not to.
- I have worked as a cashier at a frozen yogurt shop, a transporter of shingles and sheetrock, a fishing associate at Sportsman’s Warehouse, and crew leader of mow and shovel crews.
- I am mechanically challenged not knowing much about cars, tools, or building things.
- I can be hard on myself. Struggling to feel like anything I do is good enough. This has helped me succeed in certain areas of life, but it can sometimes be unhealthy.
Since I started the blog, one could say I am a writer. While I don’t feel like one, I write almost daily. Writing is something I never thought I would do. Looking back on my life, I have always enjoyed writing, whether in school or for myself. I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper and publishing an article each week, even if nobody reads it. I plan to continue running this blog for a long time, enjoying the ups and downs along the way.
I hope this article gives you more insight into who I am as a fisherman and person at 23 years old. I would love to get to know you more and invite you to email me. The better I know you, the stronger The Curious Angler community is. Thanks for your interest in The Curious Angler, and I hope to meet you on the river someday.
2 thoughts on “More About Me”
Hey Nick, really enjoyed this article. It was a nice change of pace and nice to get to know a fishing buddy a little better. Hope all is well!
Thanks Isaac! I appreciate the feedback and look forward to the next time we get to share the river together.
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