GET TO KNOW YOUR GUIDES
Erin Hale
Growing up in Colorado Springs, Erin had access to the numerous acres of creeks and lake-filled forest on the Air Force Academy. In a time when you didn’t come home until you heard Dad’s whistle for dinner, or saw the street lights turn on, helped foster a love for adventure and the outdoors.
Introduced to fly fishing when he was thirteen, the wilderness outings began to have more purpose as he learned his local waters and beyond, with the aid of great family and friends. College took Erin to Colorado State University where he spent his free time fishing the local rivers of Fort Collins and road-tripping to Wyoming and the North Platte. During college, Erin was a volunteer leader for the ministry of Young Life, where the power of relationships and shared adventure led him to join Young Life staff.
Erin thrives on teaching, encouraging, and sharing life with his clients. He loves that after a day on the water, a new friendship has been made. Fly fishing is one of the vehicles we can use to better take care of our hearts. Getting away from the daily grind helps to give us an opportunity to gain perspective on how blessed we are.
When Erin isn’t guiding fishing trips, he and his wife Adrienne, their three kids Everleigh, Finnley, and Bodie are sharing adventures with their golden retriever Bridger.
Russ Winger
A Colorado native and lifelong outdoorsman, one of Russ’ earliest memories is the moment his love for the water (and the creatures that live in it) began. Crouched in the grass with his father along a small mountain stream, Russ remembers watching intently as his father tossed grasshoppers to hungry brown trout hidden under cutbanks and overhanging brush. He would squeal with delight as one of the spotted missiles darted to the surface to make a splashy ambush. Over 30 years later, that love of fish and the water has only grown but watching a hungry trout smash a hopper remains one of Russ’ favorite things in life. His passion for fishing has taken him all over the United States and abroad, chasing redfish and speckled trout in the estuaries of Florida and Alabama, bonefish and permit in Belize, pike and musky in Michigan, walleye and smallmouth bass in eastern Colorado, salmon and steelhead in Washington State and Canada, winter steelhead in Idaho, and many others. His favorite, however, remains backcountry trout that rarely see a fisherman. Russ loves to share his passion for fishing and the outdoors with others through guiding. When he isn’t on the water, he spends his time tying flies, planning hunting and fishing trips, brewing beer, enjoying said beer, looking for antler sheds, camping, hiking, and building things; much of it alongside his wife, Kara, and their yellow lab, Maddie.
Quotes:
“I’ve found that I love fly fishing so much because it’s one of the only times in my life that I can be fully present in that moment. When all of my energy and focus is pointed at that one thing. I don’t feel my attention being pulled in a dozen different directions like I often do in the rest of my life.”
“I love watching others experience genuine joy when they’re fishing. Some folks try to play it cool but real joy always shines through.”
“Seeing the excitement on someone’s face when they have a revelation on the river and it leads to a fish on the line is the best thing about guiding.”