Contributed By
Brian O’Keefe
In the early to mid 1980’s I was on the Orvis payroll as their Northwest (US) and Alaska sales rep. A lot of water has passed under my drift boat since those days but I was thrilled to join a media group last summer at the Orvis Rod Shop for a tour and then fishing. I shadowed Sean Combs, a product development specialist (if you like Helios 2, thank Sean). We did a few laps around the rod shop, then grabbed Tom Rosenbauer and Steve Hempkens from the marketing wing and went fishing.
These guys are serious about the brand and they are serious anglers, great casters and fly tiers. We fished the West Branch of the Ausable and the Beaverkill; historic and fun, with healthy browns to 18 inches. Tom and I have seen a lot of changes in the fly fishing industry since the 1980’s, and I am sure we agree the new, much younger guys who come to work pulling boats behind trout bum trucks are very good for the future.
