Nick, how did you first get into fly fishing, and what sparked your interest in sharing your experiences through writing?

Like many anglers, my fly fishing journey stems from family. When I was 16 years old, my now father-in-law took me out on my first fly-fishing trip. We floated a stretch of the Boise River during prime hatch season, a fly fisherman's dream. Growing up conventional fishing, I was reluctant to pick up the fly rod. After some persuading, I gave the fly rod a few casts and have not put it down since. He has been a mentor on and off the water as I pursued this passion through Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. My father-in-law introducing fly fishing to me forever changed the trajectory of my life, and I am beyond grateful for how it has played out thus far. Writing came into the picture when I spent a summer during college trout bumming the West (much better than a summer internship). I had a journal where I wrote about each day, documenting the day's fish, stories, and emotions. I thought the journal would be gratifying for my future self to reflect on. This is where my inspiration came to start a blog and continue documenting my fishing experiences. For my future self to remember who he was as a young angler and help others along the way.

Can you tell us about your journey as a writer and how it intertwines with your passion for fly fishing?

I have always enjoyed writing, whether I consciously knew it or not. The many essays required during school seemed easy and were projects I looked forward to. However, I only wrote if I was required to for a class or a scholarship. After graduating, my writing requirements dwindled, but I still yearned to write. Fly fishing and writing have always been connected, so it was a clear path to satisfy my desire and write about the pursuit.

What inspired you to start your blog, The Curious Angler, and what do you hope to achieve with it?

As mentioned, journaling my summer fishing and the desire to write were building blocks that spurred my interest in starting The Curious Angler. I also wanted to connect with and help other anglers who love fishing in the Greater Yellowstone region like I do. However, the deciding factor that got me on the laptop and creating the website was being proud of the life I live. The Curious Angler is something I will look back on as I get older and be grateful for. I will know I followed my curiosities, put myself out there, and lived true to myself. How cool will it be to look back in five, ten, or twenty years and read about my perspectives and fishing trips from my 24-year-old self? As for what I hope to achieve with The Curious Angler, all I want is to enjoy writing and running the blog for a long time, helping others through the process. With so many ulterior motives in today's world, whether it be money, popularity, status, pro deals, etc. I wanted to do something I enjoyed with no other expectations. These things may come along the way, but they are not my success measure for The Curious Angler. The satisfaction of helping others and the growth I experience as an angler and writer are more than enough. I wish more people would follow their curiosities for no other reason than the joy of pursuing them.

How has writing about your fishing experiences influenced your perspective onthe sport and the community surrounding it?

Writing, photographing, documenting, and creating through the blog has only humbled my perspective of fly fishing and its surrounding community. As I connect with anglers, fish new rivers, and prepare for various hatches, I realize how much there is to learn in this pursuit. Writing about it lets me take stock of what I know and seek what I still have to learn. It has changed my mindset on the river as I pursue answers to my curiosities and ask myself why more than I did before. The community of fly fishermen is unique. As I write about my fly fishing experiences and connect with other fishermen, I realize how different we are as anglers. We each have our own preferences, favorites, and curiosities. It's beautiful to connect with people from various walks of life through fly fishing, making the fly fishing community unique. We each have our own reason to be on the water, our own why.

What type of content do you enjoy creating the most for your blog, and why do you think it resonates with your audience?

The articles I enjoy most stem from a curiosity of mine. They are topics I must learn about before writing, whether through time on the water or hours researching. Articles such as The Salmonfly Hatch for the DIY Angler or Beginners Guide to Stillwater Fishing are great examples. If I’m genuinely interested in and learning while writing an article, I feel confident others will also be interested and learn. I believe these articles resonate with my readers as they can feel the passion in my writing. My blog posts are not repurposed to gain traffic to the site or general tips that aren’t helpful. I share my findings and what truly helps me on the water, and I hope my audience can feel my care and unselfishness in the article. I also express what I do not know and what topics I wish to learn more about (which are all of them). At the end of the day, I want my readers to have more fun on the water, and this shows in my blog posts.

Nick, what are some challenges you’ve faced as a writer in the fly fishing niche, and how have you overcome them?

Writing without exposing fisheries to more pressure, helping anglers without being by their side on the river, and changing my identity to the people around me are just a few of the challenges I’ve faced thus far as I started writing about fly fishing. However, the biggest challenge I have faced as I continue to write about fly fishing is imposter syndrome. Even as I contemplate these interview questions, I can't help but cringe when referred to as a writer, even though I have written 50-plus articles on the pursuit. With all the famous fishermen and writers in the Greater Yellowstone Region, who am I to write about the fishing in this region? I'm just an inexperienced 24-year-old kid who enjoys fly fishing and has the audacity to write about fishing a region already heavily written about, all in a public blog. I’ve found the best way to overcome these doubts is to keep writing and fishing as much as possible. To keep doing the thing until the stack of evidence is so high that the narrative begins to change in my mind. The more I fish, the more I learn, and the more I write, the better I get.

Looking ahead, what are your future plans for The Curious Angler, and how do you see your writing evolving in the coming years?

In the short term, I plan to upgrade the website with more resources to help my readers. I love tying flies and preparing for hatches, so I plan to share the flies I tie for the many hatches in the Greater Yellowstone Region. I also plan to incorporate more conservation into the website by highlighting a few organizations that do a lot of work to protect this region and its fisheries. As for my writing, I look forward to sharing my stories about fishing in the Yellowstone Region and writing about the emotions we feel while fishing. Fly fishing is so much more than tactics, flies, and where we fish. We all face psychological challenges daily on the river, and I see myself touching on these challenges in the blog. I also loved the challenge this article presented, and if given the opportunity, I hope to write for other websites or magazines. Writing an article like this is rewarding, demanding, and humbling, and I hope for more of it in the future.