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Steelheadbum.com
As the angling thought process, technology, and products advance, steelhead fishing is no longer considered a game of chuck and chance. We now have rods designed for specific fishing situations. Open up any fly rod company’s catalog and you will find a vast variety of Spey rods, single hand rods, and now switch rods. As anglers, we can find a weapon perfectly suited to our fisheries. Additionally, the fly line companies have stepped up to the plate with lines built to perform with the new rod designs. Skagit shooting heads for sink-tips and big flies, Scandinavian tapers for a more efficient casting stroke, multi-tip lines for versatility. Additionally, the fly companies have finally realized the need to offer flies designed by the cutting edge anglers of today. More so, the outerwear available today is more advanced than ever. Manufactures are producing more comfortable, longer lasting garments designed with the steelheader in mind.
With all of the new advances in our sport, quit frankly, it can get a little intimidating. If you’ve ever been to a spey clave, you would’ve heard many folks talking in what may seem like a foreign language. Phrases like grain weight, tip deflection, weight windows, & constant motion casting buzz around circles of casters. Our goal is to cut through that buzz and make sure you get the right product and information for your needs... Without having to learn a new language. If you do speak the foreign language of the planet steelhead, we can do that too.
Our online fly shop offers a huge selection of everything you'll need to chase steelhead from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Lakes. Additionally, we have developed relationships with the most talented guides in the industry to give you field tests and valuable product information. More so, we keep you up to date on the hottest rivers and what you'll need to fish them with on the Destinations page. If you've ever pursued steelhead, or are thinking about taking the drug, you will enjoy this site.
Travis was born and raised in Hood River Oregon, where he still resides.Growing up with some of the best Steelhead fishing in the world, Travis’s love for pursuing Steelhead started at an early age.This passion for the sport of fly fishing and chasing Steelhead with a fly rod developed into a career in 1992 when Travis opened the doors to Gorge Fly Shop. Shortly after Travis started guiding clients for summer and winter Steelhead on many of the great tributaries to the Columbia River in the area.For the last 15 years Travis has operated Gorge Fly Shop and guided clients from all over the world, helping them fill their dreams of catching Steelhead on a fly rod.
Tom brings 15 years of experience to the table. He started his career working in a small fly shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the age of 22, he started WestShore Guide Service, providing anglers with his knowledge of Lake Michigan’s west shore tributaries. Shortly there after, he began spending his summers guiding for the big rainbows of Alaska. After two years of running his own show in Wisconsin, he moved to northwest Michigan to guide the fabled waters of the Century Circle. In addition to guiding, Tom worked in the outfitter’s fly shop and tied flies commercially. After spending four years living in a trailer in the north woods, it was time for a change. Obsessed with two-handed casting, he couldn’t stop wondering about the big rivers of the West. He had spent a couple of summers bumming around the Columbia Gorge when he was younger. (Seriously, he collected cans and returned them for deposit so he wouldn’t have get a real job... More time to fish.) He knew he would return to the Gorge at some point in his life, and the time had come.
After guiding for an outfitter in the Maupin area of the Deschutes, he moved to Hood River and started Larimer Outfitters five years ago. He now guides the Deschutes, Klickitat, Sandy, & Clackamas Rivers, and is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on two-handed casting. More so, he has served on the advisory staff and pro staffs for the CF Burkheimer Fly Rod Co., Ross Reels, Airflo Fly Lines, Loop Tackle, and Costa Del Mar sunglasses. Furthermore, Tom is a contract fly designer for th Solitude Fly Co. Additionally, he is a member of The Native Fish Society, Wild Steelhead Coalition, and The Hood River Watershed Council.
The Team
The Gorge Fly Shop is the backbone of this operation. Outside of running the fly shop while Travis is out chasing steelhead, elk, or his children, they are the folks who keep the wheels turning. This site wouldn't be possible without their dedicated work.
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