Devin Olsen

Founder and Obsessed Fly Fisherman

I started fly fishing at age 9. I will never forget my first day where I caught a cutthroat on an ant in the first meadow of the famed Slough Creek in Yellowstone on a hand me down fiberglass 7 weight! Though I’d been fishing with hardware since I was a toddler, that day started an addiction to fly fishing that I can't seem to shake. When I fished against Lance Egan and Ryan Barnes in the former Outdoor Life Network’s Fly Fishing Master’s in 2004, I knew I had to find a way to compete in the sport I loved. It was serendipitous that I worked with both these anglers a year later after they had made Fly Fishing Team USA. I fished in my first regional and made the team myself in 2006. The ensuing years have been more educational than I could have ever imagined and I'm as hopelessly obsessed with fly fishing today as I've ever been. This obsession has brought dedication, which has helped me to have competitive success domestically and abroad. The year 2022 marked my 12thth consecutive berth as an angler for Fly Fishing Team USA in the Fips Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships in Spain. In 2015 I was incredibly fortunate to finish with the individual bronze medal and even more fortunate to have been a part of the squad that won the first team medal (a silver) for the USA at the world fly fishing championship in Bosnia. In 2016 we followed that feat with a team bronze in Vail, Colorado. Fly fishing competitions have exposed me to tactics and techniques from incredible teammates and fellow fly anglers from across the globe. Away from competitive fishing, fish have sculpted my professional life as well. I hold a bachelor's degree in ecology and a master's degree in fisheries science and spent 3 years working as a fisheries biologist before taking on Tactical Fly Fisher as a full time business in 2017. I have a wonderful wife Julia and two great kids showing some early interest in fishing. What more could a guy ask for?

Kramer Bookman

Shop General Manager and Co-obsessed Fly Fisherman

My fly-fishing story is a bit backward compared to most people’s, I think. I had a few materials handed down to me from a grandfather when I was about 11 or 12 and by the time I was 13 I was tying small orders for a couple of my local shops and had set up my own business, complete with business license and a federal employer identification number. It didn’t take me long to figure out I wasn’t going to be able to compete with the big boys, but I kept tying consistently for myself for years, even though I didn’t have the time and/or money to actually start fly fishing till I was in my 20’s.

I started working full time in construction when I was 17, had a couple other jobs, and then joined the Navy when I was 21. I spent eight years in the Navy as an avionics tech and maintenance shop manager and got the opportunity to fish conventional and fly gear in Florida, Washington, and Japan during my time in. I continued to tie flies throughout this time and threw myself into catching up all the trout fishing I’d missed out on for years when I got out of the Navy and returned to Colorado. I was running my own construction company (unhappily I might add) and seriously looking to find a way into the fishing industry when the opportunity to work at Tactical Fly Fisher arose earlier this year as they relocated the warehouse and needed a new shop manager.

I am a hardcore tinkerer/experimenter and love constantly trying new things, whether that’s leader formulas, flies, species pursued, techniques, gear, etc. I do believe that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and fishing is certainly the thing I’ve found that is worth doing for me, so I’m constantly trying to find ways to do it better. I cannot describe how thankful I am for the fish and the pursuit of fishing that has always been a bright spot in my life.