My addiction to fly fishing started as a band-aid for a back injury incurred during my addiction to wind surfing...... (See a pattern developing here?)

My partner Jeff was sick of my complaining during my recovery and suggested I try fly fishing to recoup (and get me out of his hair). He has been fly fishing his whole life.

He gave me a Bamboo Leonard rod and an old Pfleuger reel to start -I was instantly obsessed, and I spent the entire summer on one stretch of the Ausable.

I was living in NYC; fresh out of Yale School of Art with an MFA trying to be an art star........I found a job at a now defunct cult fly shop called Manhattan Custom Tackle. This place was like the CBGBs of fly shops--I met and learned so much there........ (Not all good).

I went north to the Adirondacks for the summer and found a job at a brand new fly shop called The Hungry Trout, on the West Branch of the Ausable River. It wasn’t long before I started guiding........during the next five winters I traveled the fly fishing show circuit for a reel company. This allowed me to be exposed to all the fantastic people working in the industry........I also got Jeff and I a job guiding float trips in Alaska- which we have been doing now in July and August for ten years- and to date is the most incredible experience I have had.

The rest of the fishing season we guide on the beautiful intimate streams and ponds (that's a lake for you guys) of Northern New York. Winters are spent teaching 4-6 yr old kids to ski (or fly cast when it's really cold, Tim's Echo casting rod is the bomb). I also make art, which is mostly on the piscatorial theme, and often includes fly tying materials as an ingredient.

My first experience with Airflo lines was a while ago- we were looking for the perfect sink tip for Alaska and finally found it in the Depth Finder series......since then the product development has been impressive, especially the Ridge lines - from trout to tarpon - they are awesome.

My new addiction is Spey fishing and being humiliated by Great lakes steelhead. Thanks to my Yale education and Jarrod's cheat sheet, I can now tell the difference between a Skagit and a Scandi head.

I love to cast for fun and occasional bragging rights, and can often be found at the casting pond before the show opens--hungover, and trying all the new toys.

Does Betty Ford have a fly fishing wing?