Christian Hill was born and raised in Colorado, where he and his twin brother, Colin, wasted little time learning how to crawl, walk and fish. “Some of my earliest memories are fishing the community pond where we would chase bluegill, bass, carp, giant goldfish and even the occasional snapping turtle,” he says. “Fly fishing has been a staple in my life since before I could ride a bike.”
Dad, aka Pops Hill, tells many fishing stories, but this one’s a family favorite: “Pops was watching me walk back from a stream in Telluride, wearing a ridiculously oversized, overstuffed vest that was basically dragging on the ground. A gentleman stopped me, saying, ‘Hey little fella… are you fishing with worms?’ I paused, completely annoyed, turned to the man and snapped back: ‘Dad’s elk-hair caddis!’ Apparently, I just put my head down and kept trucking on toward home.”
Still trucking forward, Christian’s journey has brought him from the community pond to his Roaring Fork River stomping grounds to new ocean-size opportunities in the salt. His mother's side of the family hailed from the east coast of South Florida, on into the Keys. “I feel so fortunate to have been exposed to such a diverse mix of fishing, having no idea the gravity it would have on the rest of my life,” he says.
Today you can find Christian rowing drift-boats and running skiffs – guiding year round from a couple hard-to-beat homebases in Carbondale, Colorado and Southwest Florida.
