We met TJ in Portland, OR during a Sportsman's Show. Immediately we knew this guy had the "right stuff", maybe it was the way his eyes lit up when we started talking steelhead or maybe it was just his outgoing and approachable personality.  We soon learned that TJ spends his summers guiding for a lodge in Alaska, and his favorite river in the fall is the Klickitat.  TJ expressed some interest in guiding for us on the Klickitat and after doing a springtime float on the Yakima and getting to know him a little better, and seeing the way he fished and handled a boat, the decision was easy!  TJ will be on of our "go-to" guides on the Klickitat this year and we feel lucky to have such an awesome and experienced guide on the Red's staff.

Growing up in Oregon as a child of an avid outdoor family, there are few waters that TJ hasn't fished.  At the age of one in 1981, he hooked his first sea run cutthroat trout on Siltcoos Creek with a technique called "Banging the Rod on the Boat". Many believe this technique has given rise to today's popular and effective method of boat fishing called side drifting.

With family connections in the Willamette Valley as well as living on the Oregon Coast since he was eight, TJ has had many opportunities to fish the state's lakes and rivers.  TJ honed his skills on the Willamette and the Clackamas Rivers and continued to develop his ability to read the water as he fished many coastal rivers, such as the Nestucca, Siletz and Alsea.  Catching steelhead and kings was the name of the game on these productive waters.

Family outings took him to Canada where he fished out of saltwater salmon ports such as Uchlete and Long Beach on Vancouver Island, as well as Pender Harbor on the Sunshine Coast.  Many trips to Seiku, Washington also contributed to TJ's knowledge of fishing and fish behaviors. Several trips to the Kenai and Homer encouraged TJ and contributed to his love of fishing.

While attending college in Sitka, Alaska, TJ learned how to fly fish and tie flies. TJ became a successful guide at a prominent lodge out of Dillingham, Alaska where he guided for two years.  He took his latest challenge and love of fly fishing to Central Oregon where he successfully guided on the Deschutes for red-side trout and steelhead.  On his days off he chased rainbows and bull trout on the Metolius River.  He learned not only to match the hatch, where insect identification is a must, but also to observe the water and to then match a technique to the river.  His goal is to always
keep the clients in fish, which means fishing on his days off for
information.  For the past several years he has guided rivers in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska for Trout, Salmon, Dolly Varden, Grayling, Lake Trout, Char, and Northern Pike, using all methods of fishing (fly, artificial lure, and bait).  Still, fly fishing for rainbows is his favorite thing to do and
his passion.