The Dylan Rose Interview

A week or so prior to conceiving Traveling Angler Tuesdays, I asked Dylan Rose of Fly Water Travel LLC if he'd be interested in interviewing on 411#3 as part of the lead-up to our upcoming trip to Belize. Dylan, myself and two more anglers are spending a week aboard the Meca, a 45' cruiser with two skiffs towed along for good measure.

I'm really excited about this trip for a number of reasons, but especially for having the chance to meet and fish with a good internet buddy in real life finally!

Once insomnia and toxic fumes from too many mosquito coils took hold in Alaska, Traveling Angler Tuesdays came to me in a vision.

Lo and behold, I already lined up the perfect person to kick off the proceedings: a guy who travels to, and books travel for, fly fishing destinations around the world. Aces, I tells ya. Aces.

The interview took place over a bunch of emails back & forth. Here's the outcome.

Thanks again, Dylan! I can't think of a better dude to start off Traveling Angler Tuesdays!

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Mr. Dylan Rose, of Fly Water Travel LLC.

Hey Dylan! Let's start by telling us a little about yourself, where you're from, where you live, and how you got started in fly fishing.


I grew up in a sleepy Seattle suburb north of the city known as Lake Forest Park, WA. The same neighbourhood as Rainn Wilson from The Office actually! Before a total mind, body and spirit fly fishing addiction unleashed its fury on me in the mid-nineties my life was fully focused on playing Jazz and mastering the saxophone. As you can imagine a fly fishing saxophone player made me a real hit with the ladies in high school!


After high school I followed through on the musical side of my life and scored a partial scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. During the summers home from Boston I started working at the Avid Angler fly shop, which led me to guiding for Emerald Water Anglers, repping, my own online retail store called Skate the Fly, and now amazingly enough a 15 year career that has led me to Fly Water Travel in beautiful Ashland, Oregon. Through it all my amazing wife Chrysta (the “ladies in high school” I spoke of earlier was actually just her…) has been there through the thick and thin of it. Let’s just say I married above my grade….

What rivers did you guide on for Emerald Waters? How long did you guide for?

I guided on and off for the better part of 10 years. Sometimes between jobs, sometimes full time, sometimes part time. Guiding out of Seattle is a tough, tough business. It means dealing with the masses on a daily basis, long drives and constantly trying to out-duel a populous of 3+ million. So we would guide literally anything if it meant we had a chance to get our clients into fish. That meant days on the Skagit, Sauk, Yakima, Cowlitz, Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Cedar or anything!

I really got into the sea-run cutthroat and salmon scene on Puget Sound which is a blast by the way. That was probably my favourite fishery along with the plethora of the little secret westslope cutthroat streams that dot the Cascades within a day’s drive of town. I would routinely take 0-2wts to those streams, fish bushy dries all day and have a blast hiking and catching 6”- 12” long cutties in pure solitude. Most of the Seattle public refuses to walk further than 15 minutes from their car, so as a rule guidable water started after a 20 minute walk.

What was your first reaction when you discovered you were guiding John Gierach? Did you know you were making a cameo appearance in his recent book (No Shortage of Good Days)?

Honestly, my first reaction was… CRAP, now I need to clean my truck and fix my broken grill! Then the realization that I’d get to spend the day with one of my heroes set in and immediately got to work rereading the 5 books I had of his. Spending the day with John was just awesome. I think when you meet him, the basic feeling is that he is everything you hoped he would be. Completely hilarious, down to earth, intensely smart and one badass angler through and through. I definitely now think of him as an angler first and a writer second. If only I could have put him or his good buddy Vince into a steelhead!

I had no clue about the book though. It’s interesting now that you bring it up because John mentions a brief conversation I had with him about Harry Lemire, who we saw fishing the Sauk River that day. Harry has passed away in the last week and it brings back many memories I had of encountering him on the Sauk and Skagit and talking with him when he would come in to the fly shop. He was truly a steelheading pioneer, a gentlemen and one hell of a good angler and fly tier.

Were you pulling the jazz star at night, fly guide by day routine? Do you still play the sax often?

For several years I had a regular Tuesday night gig at Fado Irish Pub in downtown Seattle. In those days smoking was legal in the bars so I would play my brains out sucking in a mountain of second hand smoke for 5 hours, and drink my nights pay in beer until 2:00AM, crash out for a few hours and meet my clients at a downtown hotel at 7AM. I would now officially like to apologize to all my clients that ever fished with me on a Wednesday during that time… Ouch…

I don’t play much anymore, unfortunately. I hope to get back to it here in Ashland. I truly miss it and it was such a huge part of my life that it kills me that I don’t play anymore. I routinely look over at my saxophones in the closet and can hear them screaming at me, “Why are you doing this to us!?” I really find the opportunities for intense creativity to exhibit themselves in both fly fishing and jazz. Whether it’s tying flies or creative casts, rigs, presentations or water reading, I find the parallels striking at times (no pun intended).

How did working at Fly Water Travel come about? Simms-clad hired goons showing up at your door, requesting a 'sit down?'

http://www.flywatertravel.com/

I actually received a call from Ken Morrish wondering what I was up to one day. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as my eCommerce site I had been working so hard on was shut down and I was seriously in need of a gig. These jobs don’t come along that often so I was very flattered to be considered for a job that would allow me to work for an extremely successful company with such a talented crew and have the opportunity to travel the world chasing fish. It truly is a family here at Fly Water and quickly you learn that it’s really ALL about our clients and doing our best for them every day.

How has the move to Oregon been? More importantly, how's the fishing? Much different than Washington's fishing scene?

Oregon is awesome. The beauty of living in Ashland is the ease of access to brilliant wilderness. I really feel that living in Seattle was beginning to suck the life right out of me. Once the big city has you in its grasp, it’s like it never wants to let you go. Getting out of town and on a river can sometimes take hours as the traffic is just intensely horrific. You don’t even really fully realize how much it affects you until you move to a small town where everything is just easier to get around. I’ve got wild steelhead running up the Rogue River 25 minutes from my front door. There’s great trout fishing locally and in northern Cali. Skiing 20 minutes away and wild Morel mushrooms are popping in the hills. Good stuff…

There were rumours of a neighbour with a 'gardening habit;' care to elaborate?

Yeah, when I began looking for a rental house in Ashland the very first one I checked out had a crop of 20 – 30 ganja plants soaking up the southern Oregon sunshine. What can I say, it’s a way of life in Ashland!

What's a typical day at the Fly Water Travel office like for Dylan Rose?

All of us are travelling very regularly but when we’re home it’s pretty much like any other office job really, except exchange most of the boring parts with fly fishing, world traveling, tackle, fly tying and fish! Basically, I chat with clients about sending them to the right destination, with the right expectations, with the right gear all day. So give me a call! I just got back from two weeks in Mexico and experienced what I think is the absolute world’s best juvenile tarpon fishery. GIVE ME A CALL!

With renowned fly designer Ken Morrish under the same roof at FWT, how excited do you get when you find out he's at his tying bench and he might soon be throwing some flies your way for 'field testing?'

Kenny is a fly tying mad scientist! He both executes his patterns and innovates on a level I can only dream of. Basically, you know someone is a bad ass tier when they don’t just have a tying room but a full on dedicated tying cabin in their back yard! Years before I came to fly water and well before I ever met Kenny I began using his Anato-May series on guide trips. That nymph pattern really changed my life as trout everywhere I guided were powerless against it. It’s been fun getting to know him and work with him every day.

So about all this travel you've been doing recently...do you have any trip highlights (or shenanigans) you'd like to share?

Almost getting eaten by a 500lb 10ft – 12ft long Bull Shark is right up there. Note to self: When taking a picture of a noisy squawking Jack Crevalle and the guide calmly says, “Hey guys, you MIGHT want to get back in the boat.” It really means, “GET BACK IN THE BOAT GRINGO, OR YOU MIGHT GET CHEWED ON!” While taking pictures of the Jack I looked up to see a massive grey shape in the water 10ft away from me. As it got within strike range, it made this huge swirl in the water right in front of us pushing a massive wake in our direction and then swam off. I think I’m still puckered up as I write this from that one…

What has been the best location, lodge and species (so far)?

Recently I spent time at a new operation north of Campeche about 50km for juvenile tarpon called Isla Del Sabalo. The place absolutely blew my mind! Unlike Campeche this operation is the only one around and essentially has what may be the most prolific baby tarpon fishery found anywhere in the world, right in its backyard. We were the first ones in for the season. It was absolute insanity fishing for 20lb – 50lb juvies on 8ft – 10ft deep turtle grass flats with surface flies! I’m not sure what hurt worse, my stomach from all the giddy laughter or my arms from the near constant tarpon warfare over two days.

"Juvenile" Tarpon, Isla Del Sabalo, Mexico

Also, Christmas Island was completely incredible last January. I got hooked literally and figuratively on GT’s. They are at once the most awe-striking, hard fighting, eerily intelligent and thuggishly brutal fish I have ever encountered…

I have to ask because people want to know this: are these trips a work expense or comped? And if so, does Fly Water need an angler with a Canadian passport and specialties & experience in international travel, logistics, bartending and other talents? I think I'd be good at traveling to fish (more than I do now)...and I tie mean Clouser Minnows...

It’s all work Mr. Trevors and alas, someone has got do it! Luckily, you will be getting your shot with me in September. Belize mothership bonanza here we come man! I’ll be at the very least looking forward the bartending portion of your skill set…

Ah, yes! Belize. September can't come fast enough! I'll concoct a delightful tropical beverage for it!

It’s going to be a WAY cool trip! The mothership route is a unique and way cool method to experience Belize. It’s really going to maximize fishing time, flexibility, and offer short runs to the fishing grounds.

Is there any chance whatsoever of a resurrection of Skate The Fly? Or a STF-TV series...complete with Coach Duff's swearing?

Ha! Unfortunately, Skate the Fly is long dead my man, never to be seen again. It was a fun ride while it lasted!

Thanks so much for doing this, Dylan. Any last words for those considering traveling the world in pursuit of fish?

It was fun! Thanks very much for thinking of me. I would just offer to everyone to not wait to plan that big fishing trip of a lifetime because in the words of the great Warren Miller, “If you don’t do it this year, you’ll only be one year older when you do.”

Everyday is like Christmas for anglers visiting Christmas Island.

Oh...and I usually post a tune at the end of my posts. What's on Dylan Rose's iPod right now that you would like to hear?

The only tunes playing on my iPod right now are sad and depressing as I just lost my fishing partner. He was a 9 year old Australian Shepherd named Fisher. He was a fantastic boy. I’ll miss him forever.

How about Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), "Just Breathe."

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Note: I was terribly bummed to hear about Dylan's pup, Fisher, while we were emailing back & forth. Of course, being in Alaska & away from my dog at that point for three weeks didn't help me. 

But I took Dylan's advice as soon as I got home: I gave Awesome a big hug and a lengthy scratch behind the ear. I recommend that process to anyone with a dog.

If you're interested in chatting with Dylan and the staff at Fly Water Travel about a possible fly fishing adventure, or wish to browse their catalogue, give them a call at 1.800.552.2729 or visit their website by clicking here.

Thanks again, Dylan. See you in Belize City soon!