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TWO WORLDS. ONE PURPOSE | WITH RIO AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN HILL

Geoff Mueller June 12, 2025

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.

RIO: Talk us through your beginnings as a trout guide.

CHRISTIAN: Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley is where it all begins. Back in winter 2008, I interviewed at Taylor Creek Fly Shop for a position on the floor, in hopes of transitioning into guiding. Shortly after that I purchased my first drift boat and rowed and rowed and fished and rowed some more and finally got my start as a float guide. My first day was unreal, rowing alongside peers that have since become lifelong friends and mentors.

RIO: Biggest lesson back then?

CHRISTIAN: Early on my buddy Jeremy Stot gifted me with these words: “Your best fishing day isn't a measure of how many you catch. Instead, it’s everything that goes into making a day on the water something more."

To this day, when I'm on the water I do my best to enjoy every part of the experience: the cold water on my feet as I launch the boat, the sounds of the birds, the smell of the air, the colors as they change with the season and so much more. Those to me are just as important as filling the net.

RIO: You live in two worlds nowadays: Tarpon and Trout. How’s that program coming along?

CHRISTIAN: My life has recently changed a ton. I've always longed for the ocean. Every salt trip would leave me grappling, feeling like I never had enough time in one location. So, my travels turned from a week to three weeks to several months to eventually pursuing a guiding career in my home away from home – South Florida baby!

The last couple winters, I've been learning the waters off Pine Island Sound and the Nature Coast – chasing tarpon, snook, redfish and everything else that’ll eat a fly. I purchased my first skiff and was literally just issued my OUPV Six-Pack Captain’s License. This absolute dream of mine is now coming true thanks to the support of my friends and family, and a push from my incredible partner in crime.

RIO: That’s a crazy shift, man.

CHRISTIAN: Yea, I knew it was my path but struggled to take the leap for fear of not being good enough, plus the financial strain and being away from my family in Colorado. Looking at that bigger picture, those hardships would seem trivial as an old man reminiscing upon never chasing my passion. So here I am, back to ground zero as the “new guy” and I couldn't be more excited. But not to worry Colorado, my season runs as normal from June through December floating my home rivers, only now we have the option to shake off the winter frost in this giant salty aquarium.

RIO: Colorado’s Roaring Fork River – something spellbinding there, right?

CHRISTIAN: Right. The watersheds of that valley never cease to amaze me: the hatches, the quality and quantity of our trout, the beautiful views, the ever-changing seasons and – most importantly – the community of gifted guides I get to call my peers, friends, brothers and sisters. I’ve planted my roots here and am still close with the people that took me under their wings in the early years. Being in Carbondale is the perfect place to settle down, my family’s close and my dad often comes to visit and fish the same rivers we’ve fished together for decades.

I caught my first drake hatch here, guided my first trip, rowed my first drift boat and it’s where I began my professional journey. I’ve been asked by customers if I ever get burned out fishing the same stretches for so many years. It’s an easy answer and a hard no – I wouldn't want to be anywhere else during trout season.

RIO: Every guide brings a certain style to the equation. Tell us about yours. 

CHRISTIAN: In all the years I've spent rowing theses rivers, I've developed a style I consider my own… but don't deny that it was inspired by what I've learned from the guides I admire. Walking down the Carbondale ramp on any given day in the summer can be a total cluster of trucks and boats. To a first-timer fishing here it can be daunting. I try to stay unfazed by it all. That means taking my time and finding a position that doesn’t impede other guides and floaters, making sure my anglers are ready and understand that opportunity is lurking around every bend.

Starting with a fighting clinic, displaying what the bite will look like and what the explosive first run will feel like, I’m trying to build up their confidence. Taking the time to get out of the boat for this portion can feel uncomfortable to do in front of other guides and their guests but it’s a great way to show you care and that your committed to providing the best experience you can.

Of course as fishing guides we have to be masters at reading the room and adjusting our programs accordingly. One day you’re all gumdrops and rainbows, the next you’re a therapist talking your boy off the ledge.

RIO: How are you rigging for success and what line/leader/tippet combos are you relying on to get it done?

CHRISTIAN: The beauty of fishing the valley is the diversity of the habitat. The biomass is insane. We have incredible drakes, caddis, PMDs, stoneflies, midges, brown and rainbow trout fry, sculpin, hoppers and crawfish. You name it, we got it! And as a guide, I try to keep things as simple as possible to accommodate any level of angler.

On a typical day I have one streamer rod, usually a 6wt or 7wt, two rods rigged for hopper-dropper, usually 6wts, and one ready with a proper dry fly, a 5wt or 6wt. As early season runoff’s winding down, the rivers are swift, so running my heavier rods equipped with heavy tippets get the job done quickly without over-fighting the fish to exhaustion. As the season continues, flows drop, the water clears and the fish begin eating smaller, more subtle patterns. That's when the 5s and 6s come into play. I enjoy medium-action rods as they protect the smaller tippets and tend not to spring-load small patterns out of fish mouths. In a nutshell, I run the “whooping sticks” early season and slowly rope down to accommodate the smaller bugs that become more prevalent as fall approaches.

RIO: What’s the key to a quality day in your driftboat… and now skiff?

CHRISTIAN: Whether I’m launching my boat in the Rockies or sliding the skiff into the backwaters of South Florida, having fun is the goal. I wholeheartedly enjoy my time on the water with friends and clients, and at the end of the day, I wouldn't do it if I wasn't excited every time I pulled onto the ramp. I told myself a long time ago, if I wake up and dread going to work, I'll quit. But that day my friends is never going to come. I’m a lifer for sure.

RIO: Tell us about some of the R&D work you’ve been involved in at RIO?

CHRISTIAN: A couple years ago I had the opportunity to help RIO test and develop the new RIO Gold series fly lines. What I needed was a solution that covered the full range of applications I encounter on my home waters. On any given day, I fish several different ways and finding a versatile fly line to do it all has proven difficult. RIO’s Gold XP and Gold MAX have changed that.

When turning over big fluffy streamers and chubby dropper rigs that cast like winging a parachute through a tornado, Gold MAX delivers, making it easy to stretch the rig with beautifully matched accuracy and power. Gold XP, on the other hand, has become my absolute favorite for casting drys and technical nymph rigs to wary trout. Within two casts I know whether or not I enjoy a fly line. This one had me grinning at hello.

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