Encouraging the Next Generation of Conservationists

Matt Mendes understands how fortunate he is. The 32-year-old owns Spin the Handle, a fly fishing guide business on Oregon’s Warm Springs Reservation that enables him to have his boots in the water 180 days out of the year. Mostly, he’s fishing for steelhead, a legendary species that’s been known to drive anglers to either depression or ecstasy. Sometimes both in the same day. Mendes has one of the few commercial permits to work on the same ancestral fishing grounds of the Deschutes River where he learned the art from his grandfather. Learn more about the anglers who are redefining the sport for the better, the ultimate fly fishing vehicle, and the trout highway.