Austin, originally from Central Oregon, found a love for fly fishing at an early age. Bend was the perfect place to find easy access to a plethora of famous trout fishing. By age 18, he was working in a fly shop, and guiding on the Lower Deschutes.

 

While he’ll say he moved to NE Oregon for college, the truth is he moved to the wilder part of Oregon to elude the crowds and find endless outdoors pursuits. With 5 months of steelhead fishing, and remote trout streams with trophy sized fish, there were many professors asking where he was.

 

He often finds his way home each spring to make an appearance during the Deschutes River Salmon Fly hatch that he has grown to know and love, before making the rest of his rounds for the summer to the Grand Ronde, Middle Fork of the Salmon, and back to the Grande Ronde for the fall.

 

When not on the water, Austin is generally tying flies, working on his wood drift boats, or out bird hunting for chukars. The whitewater, the people, the reward of catching big fish in wild and beautiful places all keep him coming back each spring as the rivers begin to run.