Euro Nymphing and Spanish Dry Fly Fishing

Guest Speaker: Devin Olsen

Devin Olsen is our guest speaker this month. Devin last spoke to our club in June 2019. He presented Euro Nymphing to our General Meeting then conducted a great clinic on the Little Truckee for some our members. Now, we get a chance to catch up with Devin again.

Devin is a long term member of the Fly Fishing Team USA and has competed in 15 World Fly Fishing Championships. Along with Devin’s life in fly fishing and international competition he is also the founder and owner of Tactical Fly Fisher. It is a popular on-line business that supplies fishers with fly fishing gear, flies, and fly tying supplies. Along with a great selection of gear, Devin has included a great collection of instructive videos and blogs. 

Since an early age Devin has been involved in fly fishing. His story is best described in his own words:

“I started fly fishing at age 9. I will never forget my first day where I caught a cutthroat on an ant in a stream in Yellowstone national park 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 Fly Fishing Team USA qualifier and made the team myself at the National Championship in 2006.

The ensuing years have been more educational than I could have ever imagined, and I'm still as 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. I've been lucky enough to fish in 15 World Fly Fishing Championships for Fly Fishing Team USA. In 2015 I was able to win 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 the years since, our team has earned bronze medals in the 2016, 2024, and 2025 World Fly Fishing Championships.

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 three 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?”

On the Little Truckee 2019