Doug Wright grew up fishing British Columbia’s productive lakes for large trout, while chasing sea-run cutthroat, salmon and steelhead throughout their migratory seasons. Under the tutelage of his father, he tied his first fly at age 4. And by the age of 11 he was tying commercially for a local fly shop in exchange for store credit.

In 2005, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fish the Dean River as a camper resulted in a dream job as a steelhead guide. Doug now spends his summers on the Dean, fine-tuning his steelhead flies and everything else related to those legendary fish. Coming up on his 20th season, the Dean is undeniably his home away from home. Now living in Smithers for the rest of the year, Doug also guides on the Bulkley River during the fall.

For him, fly tying is just as important as fishing. Now married with two kiddos, his time at the vise is spent matching the hatch and designing deadly imitations for stillwater trout, while also playing around with the vast array of materials available to solicit steelhead grabs.