“It isn’t the experienced seasoned angler that says ‘okay, now I will guide’. It is the enthusiastic passionate angler that makes the leap into the life of a fly fishing guide.” -Dec Hogan
If you’ve ever met Dec Hogan you know that his love and passion for steelhead fly fishing is a constant part of his life and completely interwoven with chasing steelhead with two-handed fly rods.
Dec is a master of all facets of the sport: two- handed casting, reading water, presenting flies, fly tying etc. Lucky for us he is also equally a master at teaching all of these facets.
An accomplished writer and exquisite photographer, Hogan has penned numerous articles for many of the America’s leading fly fishing publications and is the author of the highly acclaimed, must have fly fishing book, A Passion for Steelhead.
Dec was a fulltime steelhead guide from 1989 to 2003 guiding fly anglers on the beautiful Pacific Northwest waters of the Skagit, Sauk, Skykomish, Grande Ronde, and Deschutes Rivers. Like many guides of his generation, Hogan also did 5-seasons guiding the famed Bristol Bay region of Alaska.
He is a pioneer of two-handed casting in North America and continues to be a highly sought after spey casting instructor. As if one dream job weren’t enough Hogan’s had two: Dec has retired from guiding and is now a full time firefighter and EMT in Utah.
Dec’s schedule at the fire department allows him the time to stay active in his fishing career. In addition to teaching casting clinics, Dec works closely as a rod and line designer for Echo and Airflo.
Dec and I were able to cover a lot of ground in today’s episode. We attempt to demystify two hand casting, make sense of choosing a line for your two handed rod and what we are going to cover in the Clinics Dec is going to teach here at the Reno Fly Shop.
Listen to this episode for details on the upcoming clinics Dec is going to teach a few lucky participants and information about the Happy Hour event April 7 we are going to host here at the shop where you can come down hangout, meet and talk about everything fly fishing with Dec Hogan.
So let’s dive on into todays episode with Dec Hogan I hope you enjoy.