Category: Get to know

How long have you been a TU member? I had been a member for several years before becoming a Life Member in 1995, so over 20 years. 

Are you a chapter board member and/or officer? Currently a Board member, but have been VP and Co-Presiding Officer with Keith. 

What drew you to joining TU? A good friend in Virginia was a member and he enjoyed his experience in his local chapter. I became a member after I moved to Nebraska because I wanted to meet others with an interest in fishing and conservation. 

When did you move to the valley and join CPC? We moved to the BV area permanently in 2006 and transferred our membership to this chapter.

Where are you originally from, and what did/do you do for a living? I was born in Atlanta, GA, but grew up in the Miami, FL area. After a 3-year stint in the Army, I went to college, worked as a math teacher, then back to grad school. I received a PhD from Florida State University in 1972, while working at the Florida Department of Education. I then moved to the Oregon Department of Education from 1973 until taking a faculty position at Virginia Tech in 1976. Two years after an amicable divorce, I took a soft money position as an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. After retiring as a Professor Emeritus in 2006, Barbara Plake and I moved here. 

What section of the Arkansas do you think fishes best, and when? Usually the section of the river that I’m fishing on at the moment, otherwise I would be fishing someplace else. My favorite section is Hayden Meadows. 

What is your favorite Ark River fly? An Elk Hair Caddis dry with a caddis pupa dropper, unless it’s in the early spring or middle fall, when my favorite is a BWO with either a cripple or Barr’s emerger dropper.

How long have you been a TU member? I’ve been a member since 2012. 

What drew you to joining TU? It was sort of an accident… A friend gave me a membership for a Christmas gift in 2012 and it proved to be a good way to meet people when we moved here the following year.

Are you a chapter board member and/or officer? Yes, I’ve been serving as the chapter secretary for the past 4 years.

When did you move to the valley and join CPC? We moved here in September of 2013 and I started going to local meetings in 2014. In 2015, I was elected chapter secretary.

Where are you originally from, and what did/do you do for a living? Well, I was born at Ft. Carson Army Hospital in Colorado Springs, so technically, I’m a Colorado native. I lived in about a dozen different states between the ages of 2 and 22. After graduating from Oregon State University in 1982, I drove up to Alaska on a bit of a whim with my college girlfriend. We soon found employment and I spent my professional career as a mechanical engineer working out of Anchorage. The design work I did gave me the opportunity to travel to remote corners of the state including many small villages far off the road system. It was a unique experience. I also dabbled in commercial photography for a while. We did many great recreational trips in Alaska, too; fishing, camping, fly-out float trips, wildlife viewing, sea kayaking, etc. After thirty one winters up there, we decided it was time for a change, so the same girl (now my wife) and I finally drove back down to the lower 48 and settled in Salida. 

What section of the Arkansas do you think fishes best, and when? I’m partial to the section just below Stone Bridge, mainly because that is where I live and so I fish there most of the time. Spring and Fall are my favorite times, but I fish it all year long. It is very interesting to see how the fish move around the river at different seasons and water levels. We are so fortunate to live in a place where you can fish open water year round. I really like Hayden Meadows in August and September, too.

What is your favorite Ark River fly? Whichever one is catching fish! While we all love catching fish on a dry fly, that doesn’t always work. Two of my go-to droppers are a flashback pheasant tail and a zebra midge. They will catch fish all year long.