RIO X JUSTIN MCGUFFIN

Justin McGuffin’s been an angler nearly his whole life. From age four, he grew up on a steady diet of whatever was biting. His obsession with bodies of water and their inhabitants lead to most weekends and summer breaks filled with riding bikes and pond hopping for bass and bluegill with the occasional family fishing trip to the U.P. of Michigan, a far-off lake, or a local river. His path to creating seriously cool patterns is somewhat nontraditional, as he was tying long before ever picking up a fly rod. Inspired to tie light jig rigs for conventional angling but needing a way to throw them further – he needed to fly cast. The rest is history. A self-proclaimed fishing nerd – he’s hyper-focused and downright obsessed with patterns and getting them to swim just right. The greatest reward for him as a tier is the feedback he receives from folks after a day on the water with one of his patterns. Justin approaches his home water with the same dedication used for his flies. The way Justin sees it – there are no shortcuts to success when fly fishing Chicago’s lakefront, so when you succeed, there’s no better feeling of satisfaction. Not only do we appreciate Justin’s seriously standout fly patterns, but the guy shares two of our core beliefs – that the best fishing experiences are the ones shared with good company, and there’s always something new to learn.