TroutLegend Member Bios

[Dejon Hamann]

If you would like to have your Bio included in this list please send a 500 word Bio w/ a minimum 500x500 pixel pic to me (Dejon Hamann).  This list will be sorted Alphabetically first by Country then Last Name.  Many thanx to all the participants.

CANADA
HAMILTON, JEREMIAH
MONTREAL, QUEBEC

As a kid Jeremiah’s family lived in a fifth wheel, his father would park it at some rocky mountain lake for the summer near the oil rig he was working. When you grow up in a family addicted to trout fishing it’s bound to rub off. His father bought him his first fly rod at the age of 9 from a flee market and at the age of 12 a fly tying kit. At about the same time Jeremiah’s family moved to Quebec where he really started to fly fish, exploring all the small rivers on the NY and Quebec boarder.  His Father took him on is first Atlantic Salmon trip to the Gaspe when he was 14 and that experience “sealed the deal” for a life time of fly fishing.  The addiction only grew, all throughout high school he would fish whenever he could get a moment, and after graduation, he moved back to Alberta to play rugby and fish. He applied for a job at a local fly shop, but didn't get it right off the bat. Jeremiah spent so much time on the river though and would run into the owner every time that he was soon offered the job.  Later he took a pilgrimage to Missoula living out of his car, to fish the great waters of Montana. At 21 Jeremiah came back to the East to visit friends, but ended up hitch hiking the Gaspe for Atlantics for a month. Since then Jeremiah has fished from East to West for Steelhead, Trout, and Salmon. Jeremiah now lives in Southern Quebec where you will find him fishing the Adirondacks or the Salmon River in Pulaski NY for Steelhead. He is starting a new chapter in his life, in competitive fly fishing, and says: "I love the fact that I can combine my competitive side with my passion and have a team pushing to boot!”  Jeremiah is a proud member of Team TroutLegend and hopes to one day represent Canada on the National Fly Fishing Squad.

2009 Individual silver metal and Top Rod in the Quebec Provincials
2009 Team gold in the Quebec Provincials


OISHI, TODD
MAPLE RIDGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Todd Oishi resides in the small, Fraser Valley town of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. He is an avid fly-fisher, who is passionate about fly-tying, writing and outdoor photography. He has had numerous photographs and articles published in magazines such as: The Canadian Fly Fisher; BC Outdoors; Outdoors Canada, and on several websites. He has appeared as a featured fly-tyer at British Columbia’s largest outdoors and fishing show, and performed as a guest speaker at several fly-fishing clubs. He has developed a series of thought-provoking and highly-informative clinics and seminars that cover advanced fly-fishing techniques and strategies for still-water fishing and for targeting trout and salmon in rivers and streams.  

Todd is very active and involved in the world of competitive fly-fishing. He has competed at the Trojan Pond Fly Fishing Tournament for the past seven years, where his teams have consistently placed within the top three positions and finished in 1st place on four occasions (out of a field of 40 – 50 two-man teams).

At the Canadian National Fly Fishing Championships: Todd won the Individual Gold Medal in 2005; the Individual Bronze Medal in 2009; the Individual Bronze Medal in 2010; as well as four Team Gold Medals in the past six years. He has competed internationally a total of ten times as a member of the Canadian National Fly Fishing Team at the North American (2 times), Commonwealth (2 times) and World Fly Fishing Championships (5 times).

He served as the Captain of Team Canada at the 2009 Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships in Scotland, where Team Canada finished in 4th place overall, which is Team Canada's highest ever finish at an international championship.

With an insatiable hunger for knowledge; Todd traveled to Europe in 2006 and 2007 to study the river nymphing and dry-fly fishing techniques that are used by the top-ranked, competitive fly-fishers within the Czech Republic, France and Poland. He has also made several trips to the United Kingdom, in order to study their still-water and loch-style fly-fishing techniques, and to train with various international team coaches in England, Scotland and Wales. He openly shares his experiences and knowledge of these techniques through his articles, clinics and presentations…


VARGA, ARRON
FERGUS, ONTARIO

He has been fishing for 35 years and fly fishing for about 20 of those years.  Since 2006 when the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships where held on the Grand River, he has been competing in the FFC Canadian National Fly Fishing Championships.   As part of his competitive fly fishing he has become adept at many competitive techniques including Czech nymphing, French nymphing and loch style stillwater fishing.
Arron spends most of his time fishing the Grand River and Conestogo River with a few trips a year to the Credit and Saugeen Rivers.  With his competitive angling, Arron has been fortunate to travel and fish across most Canada.
On the river, he is always ready to share his knowledge and open his fly box with other anglers and has recently started teaching learn to fly fish and czech nymphing courses locally.

Arron has competed as part of the Canadian National team at:
2008 Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand where the Canadian team came 5th
2009 Commonwealth Championships in Scotland where the Canadian team came 4th
2010 Qualified for the Worlds and Commonwealth teams


UNITED STATES
BISHOP, BRET
BOISE, IDAHO

Anyone who has ever fished with Bret Bishop will tell you he has a gift for catching fish and for teaching people how to catch fish. Currently a high school English teacher in Boise, Idaho with a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, he credits his fly fishing experiences with igniting his passion for teaching. “I started young” he said, “Each summer my family would pack up the V.W. Van and become fishing gypsies.” The times he spent traveling from river to river around the West shaped him as an angler and it seemed natural to blend his love of angling with teaching. After graduating from Colorado College, he started fly fish guiding in Taos, New Mexico on the Rio Grande and its tributaries with The Solitary Angler. He has also guided in Wyoming on the Green River below Fontenelle Reservoir and the Ham’s Fork. He currently guides during the summer months were he grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho on the Big Wood, Silver Creek and the Big Lost for Silver Creek Outfitters. If you can not find him on the rivers of Idaho, he might be fishing some remote rivers in Alaska or stalking tarpon in Florida.

Bret sees competitive angling as another facet of a great sport.  For him it is a venue to lay all ones preparation, experience, knowledge, and skill on the line. “I get the same thrill out of competition angling,” Bret says, “as I do casting to tarpon, stalking wild trout, or teaching a client to set the hook. I love to fish; everything I do, I do with passion.”  Furthermore, he believes as a guide and member of Fly Fishing Team USA that he is an ambassador of the sport: “What I teach and what I do exemplifies a respect for the environment, the trout, and the other anglers.”

Here is a list of Bret’s accomplishments in competitive angling:
2005 Fly Fishing Team USA Trials Bend— 10th
2006 National Championships Boulder— Individual Gold and Team Silver
2006 World Championships Portugal— Team finish 10th
2007 Western Regions Cody Wyoming— Individual Gold
2008 National Championships Boulder—Individual 14th and Team Gold
2008 World Championships—Team 8th
2009 Rocky Mountain Regional Utah— Individual 8th
2009 America Cup— Captain, Individual 3rd and Team Gold
2009 Rocky Mountain Regional Bend— Individual 5th
2009 Rocky Mountain Regional Bozeman—Individual 4th
2009 National Championships State College—Individual 6th and Team Silver


BOURCQ, PAUL
FRANKLIN, NORTH CAROLINA

Paul was raised in Western North Carolina, the heart of some of the best trout fishing in the southern Appalachian mountains. As a true trout junkie Paul spends most of his days off chasing fish.  Along with Trout, Paul spends  the summer monthes chasing Smallmouth and the elusive Musky. In 2005 while working as the sous-chef of a fine dining kitchen Paul was introduced to European Nymphing by co-workers overseas and never looked back.

 In the spring of 2009 Paul got invited to be part of the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team. His focus and competitive nature lends well to competition fly fishing.  "Becoming a part of the NC Fly fishing team is a huge honor and I look forward to contributing to the team however I can, we have some of the most talented fisherman in the southeast. Its a real pleasure to fish and refine techniques with these guys".  "I have learned more from a year of competitive fly fishing then one person could learn in a lifetime."  Paul averages 150 days a year on the water.

2009 Olympiad Fly Masters-7th Overall
2009 Olympiad Fly Masters-5th Overall Casting
2009 Pisgah Fly Masters-16th Overall Casting
2009 Rumble in the Rhodo-8th place casting
2009 Rumble in the Rhodo-8th Overall (televised event)
2009 Team USA SE Qualifier-12th Overall
2009 Bakersville Trout Fest-5th Overall


EGAN, LANCE
LEHI, UTAH

Lance Egan was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has been fly fishing since age 12.  He now lives in Lehi, Utah with his wife Autumn where he is minutes away from many lakes and streams that Lance considers his “home waters”.   Lance has made a career of fly fishing and is currently employed at Cabelas in Lehi, Utah. Lance comes from a family of non-anglers, yet fish have intrigued him since he was too young to talk.  Lance's parents claim to have caused his “fish frenzy”.  When he was a baby, and not sleeping through the night, Lance's parents would prop him up in front of a large fish tank where he would abruptly stop crying and watch the fish until falling back to sleep.  Now Lance is a completely obsessed angler.  When Lance earned his drivers' license, he was off fishing every chance he could get.  Currently, Lance fishes an average of 150 days per year, and says “he never gets tired of wetting a line”.  Lance has been competitive all of his life, and fishing is no exception.  

Below is a list of his competitive fly fishing accomplishments:
International Sportsmans Expositions distance fly casting events:
2001 Salt Lake city, UT ISE 1st place
2001 Best of the West, 2nd place
2002 Phoenix, AZ ISE 2nd place
2002 Salt Lake City, UT ISE 1st place
2002 Best of the West, 2nd place
2003 Pomona, CA ISE 2nd place
2003 Pleasanton, CA ISE 1st place
2003 Best of the West, 4th place
2004 Pomona, CA ISE 3rd place
2004 Pleasanton, CA ISE 2nd place
2003 ESPN Fly Fishing Challenge 2nd place
2003 ESPN Great Outdoor Games Fly Fishing Event t place – Gold medalist
2004 ESPN Great Outdoor Games Fly Fishing Event 1st place – Gold medalist
2004 OLN Fly Fishing Masters, West 2nd place
2005 Teva Mountain Games Fly Fishing 1st place – Gold medalist
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Fly Fishing Team U.S.A. Member
2006 National Fly Fishing Championship Qualifiers, Fresno, CA 1st place – Gold medalist; Heber City, UT 2nd place – Silver medalist
2006 National Fly Fishing Championships Boulder, Colorado; Gold medal team
2006 High Mountain Masters Aspen, Colorado; 3rd place team
2006 World Fly Fishing Championships, Portugal; 8th Team; 24th Individually
2007 VERSUS Fly Fishing Masters; First place team
2007 National Fly Fishing Championships Boulder, Colorado Silver medal team
2007 World Fly Fishing Championships, Finland; 27th Individually; Lead Team USA to highest finish ever – 6th
2008 World Fly Fishing Championships, New Zealand, 8th Team, 24th Individually
2009 National Fly Fishing Championships Qualifiers, Bend, Oregon 1st place – Gold Medalist, Bozeman, Montana 2nd place -- Silver Medalist
2009 World Fly Fishing Championships, Scotland, 8th Team, 35th Individually
2009 National Fly Fishing Championships State College, PA, Gold Medal Team, Silver Medalist Individually

Lance is also a pro staff member of Ross Reels and Scientific Anglers and he is an Umpqua Feather Merchants Signature Fly Designer.  Lance also tests prototype fishing gear for Simms Fishing Products.  

ERICKSON, PETE
BOISE, IDAHO

Born and raised in Seattle Washington, Pete received an early introduction to fly fishing. His parent's love of the sport enabled him to experience some of the world's great fly fishing Meccas at a very young age. Pete has explored places such as: Alaska, Florida, British Columbia, Europe, the Olympic Peninsula and the Rockies. Pete received his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Oregon, and then his Masters from Boise State University.

Combining his love of fishing and teaching, Pete is a 9th grade English teacher as well as an accomplished guide. Pete has appeared on ESPN, ESPN2, Verses, ABC Sports, and The Outdoor Channel. Pete is an Orvis Endorsed Guide, and on the Pro-Staffs of: Clackacraft, SA, Loon, and Rajeff Sports. Pete is an 8 time member of Fly Fishing TeamUSA.

Fly Fishing TEAMUSA and World Team member (2002-2010)
2002 ESPN Fly Fishing Challenge (Team Gold Medalist) -Bozeman, Montana
2002 ESPN Outdoor Games (Individual Gold Medalist) -Lake Placid, New York]] [2]
2003 Fly-Fishing World Championships (Team 8th)(Individual 24th) -Jaca, Spain
2003 OLN Fly-Fishing Masters(Team 12th)(Casting Finals) -Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club, San Francisco
2004 Fly-Fishing World Championships (Team 9th)(Individual 12th)-Slovakia
2005 Fly-Fishing World Championships (Team 15th)(Individual 34th) -Lycksele, Sweden
2006 Fly-Fishing World Championships (Team 9th) -Coimbra, Portugal
2007 U.S. National Championships (Team Gold Medalist)(Individual 4th)-Colorado
2008 Canadian National Championships (Team Gold Medalist)(Individual 11th)-Quebec, Canada
2009 Fly-Fishing World Championships (Team 9th)(Individual 13th)-Drymen, Scotland
2009 U.S. National Championships (Team Silver Medalist)(Individual 10th)-State College, Pennsylvania


HAMANN, DEJON
BUFFALO, NEW YORK

Dejon (Day-john) grew up as both a dry fly purist in the heart of the Catskill Mountains and a steelhead junkie in the middle of Steelhead Alley, Buffalo NY.  Every evening his Grandparents would take him down to fish the evening bite behind the A&P on the fabled East Branch of the Delaware River.  “Sleepy” Floyd Henderson was his first tutor of the fly and instructed him on using nothing but Adams in sizes 12-18.   Near his twenties he set off to test his grit in the wild and did several tours as an Alaskan Guide first with SilverTip Lodges out of Anchorage and then Tony Sarp’s Katmai Lodge which was heralded as the largest fresh water lodge in the world at that time.  Fighting off big brown bears with nothing but his knuckles and instructing rich Texan trucker barons on how to catch Sockeye Salmon by swinging egg flies became second nature to him.  

After dragging his beloved wife across the continent several times fishing from California Redwood Streams to the Peaks of Colorado back to the coast of Maine Dejon has settled down like a good little migratory trout to rear his young only a few miles from where he was born in Buffalo, NY.  His wife Erin, son Jett, and daughter Elle are probably waiting patiently right now for daddy to return from a fishing trip.

In addition to guiding and tying/casting instruction, Dejon spends his time writing volumes of yet unpublished articles and books on progressive fly fishing techniques and generally funny and insightful stuff.

As founder of TroutLegend.com and one of the founding father’s of the “Troutlegend Competitive Fly Fishing Cooperative” Dejon hopes to strengthen and grow the roots of competitive fly fishing in American soil.

6th Place Individual; Team USA Southeast Regional (2007)
Official Selection to SE Regional Team; Team USA National Championships (2007)
Utah Regional Individual; Team USA Qualifying Rounds (2008)
Bronze Medal Team; Canada National Fly Fishing Championships (2008)
13th Place Individual; Canada National Fly Fishing Championships (2008)
4th Place Individual; Team USA Midwest Regional (2009)
Official Selection to MW Regional Team; Team USA National Championships (2009)
21st Nationally Ranked Competitive Angler; Team USA National Point System (2009)


SMITH, CHRIS
FORT MILL, SOUTH CAROLINA

Raised fishing the streams of West Virginia, Chris evolved as most fly fishermen do…from spinning rod to fly rod.  A member of the Federation of Fly Fishers and a competitive fly fisherman on the southeast circuit, you’ll find Chris on the Mitchell or Davidson Rivers almost any weekend of the year, save two annual trips to his  “native” water…the Cranberry River in WV.  

As a member of Team Stonefly, Chris’s mission is to contribute to the field of competitive angling while pursuing the dream of fishing for Team USA.

Chris and his family currently reside it Fort Mill, SC.

Competition History:
2009 Project Healing Waters Blue Ridge Tournament – 5th Place team
2009 Rumble in the Rhododendron – 5th Place Individual Casting, 9th Place Team Casting, 11th Place Team Overall
2009 Southeast Regional Qualifier, Team USA – 11th Overall
2009 Olympiad Fly Masters – 4th Casting, 4th Overall
2009 FMFF Grand Pupae Tournament – 2nd Place Team


WILLIAMS, LOREN
WESTVALE, NEW YORK

Loren Williams was born and raised in northeastern Pennsylvania, where he was the youngest of three boys.  His childhood memories focus largely on family events and time spent in the outdoors.  After high school, Loren attended and graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science.

Throughout his life, Loren was exposed to, and developed a passion for, all things outdoors.  Very prominent in his young years were times spent with dad chasing the breathtaking beauty of the native eastern brook trout.  These  adventures spawned Loren’s current passion for coldwater fly-fishing.

Loren’s first exposure to competition fly-fishing occurred when he traveled with Team USA to Lycksele, Sweden for the 2005 WFFC as an accessory member.  Watching the competitors “gear-up” and get on the bus each morning was all it took to inspire his commitment to joining Team USA as an angler.  That dream came true in 2007.

Loren currently resides with his wife Heather, daughter Mickayla, and son Ryan in Westvale, NY where he is a full-time fly fishing guide specializing in salmon and steelhead tactics and teaching top-level trout fishing skills.    

 Loren’s angling accomplishments for Team USA include:
2006 Midwest Regional: 4th
2006 West Regional: 7th  
2007 Midwest Regional: 1st
2007 Southeast Regional: 1st (perfect score)
2007 Oceania Championships: Team Bronze
2007 Ausable 2-Fly Challenge: Pro Division Winner
2007 NFFC: Team Bronze; Top 10 Individual USA finish
2008 Ausable 2-Fly Challenge: Pro Division Winner
2008 America Cup:  Team Gold; 4th Individually
2009 Southwest Regional: 5th
2009 Midwest Regional: 1st
2009: NFFC Team Bronze Medal
2009: Selected to 2010 Fly Fishing Team USA