Weekly Round-Up: Adding Up the Little Wins
As we head into Thanksgiving week in a chaotic world, let's stop and pause to consider the good things in life. Because there are good things.
Thanksgiving week 2025. It’s hard to believe we’re here already; it sounds cliche to say the year has flown by but here we are. I’m getting ready to head back to Argentina in January and it seems like I was just down there, though in reality it was ten months ago.
In a world which seems to be getting more chaotic by the day sometimes it’s hard to not let ourselves get caught up in the bad news headlines, the changing day-to-day landscape we’re navigating, and the general unrest of a world where we’er tethered to our phones 24/7 and it’s hard to spend a day wholly away from screens. So try this at some point in the upcoming week: set the phone aside. Abandon the computer. Spend a few hours—maybe a whole day—in the analog world and see how you feel. Enjoy friends and family or, if you’re flying solo for the holiday, take yourself on a nice long walk and leave the phone at home.
You might be surprised at the good it does your brain.
Friends Made Along the Way
Sometimes the friends made in the strange corners of the world are the real highlight of the adventure.
“We are all travelers in the wilderness of the world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
I’ll never stop being surprised about the people we meet in awesome places. Sure, not every person is a stand-out—there are a few folks over the past year I’d love to forget—but when we’re lucky enough to meet a stand-out soul in some random circumstance, it’s a wonderful thing. And a moment that makes the less-fun times (remember, what you see here online is the fun 5-10% of the job… the rest of it is running a business, sleeping on airport floors, and hauling heavy camera, fishing, and personal luggage around the world solo) seem like they all balance out somehow.
The past eleven months have been some of my busiest to date. I’m incredibly grateful for the hustle—it makes the business go ‘round, after all—and while I’m also very thankful to be at home base right now for four weeks in a row for the first time since last March, the days are still taken up with trip logistics for 2026, 2027, and even 2028.
The year started out in Argentina, as seems to be my tradition (looking forward to getting back there to see amigos and fisheries both new and familiar in January!), where I spent nearly a month at some of my favorite operations: Estancia Laguna Verde and the Golden Dorado River Cruiser, both of which feel like home. I then headed to SET’s Spring Creek Lodge to spend a week making new friends and fishing new, wonderful rivers.
After a grand total of two days at home I flew down to the Denver Fly Fishing Show to give a talk, take meetings, and rendezvous with industry friends. These shows end up being like a big, weird family reunion for industry folks, and I’m always grateful and surprised to see old friends in random places like hotel lobbies and trade show halls.
April was taken up with shoots in Montana and then a surprisingly-awesome trip down to Alabama’s Beaches with Colombia PFG. I fell in love with the area and will be back to the Alabama Coast next spring… more coastal goodness coming your way soon.
May was a hosted trip back at Darién Lodge in Colombia, with a great group of clients.
June was a visitation to Turneffe Island Resort, and then right over to Iceland to spend time with some of my favorite humans on the planet at FishPartner. It’s the absolute best when the teams at destinations morph into great friends, and it feels like I’m going to visit family (if only my extended family were that fun) every time I go see the team at FishPartner. I’ll be back over there in 2027 bringing a hosted group, and I can’t wait to make it back to the Land of Fire and Ice.
July into August was spent up in Alaska, and then the rest of August and half of September was my monthlong adventure in Brazil at Rio Marie and then Kendjam. This trip was a long time coming… I’d originally planned to head down last year but the trip was delayed due to spine surgery, and so it was doubly sweet to be able to finally make it down this year. I ended up getting a few weeks fishing and working with both Rodrigo Salles, the partner and sales director at Untamed Angling’s Brazil destinations, and Vaidas Uselis, a Lithuanian sportsman who is hands-down the best videographer I’ve worked alongside in the field.
It’s rare in life that you get to work alongside people who are at the top of their game; who can get shit done while enjoying the process and having a laugh here and there. People who are pros.
The month in Brazil was a reminder that while any destination might be awesome in its own right, being there with the right team—the right humans—makes a good experience into something phenomenal. Sometimes it’s important to sit back and realize, this is a really good moment. I had a couple of those moments in Brazil, and look forward to carving out more good moments in that country in the future.
This fall has been spent on stateside trips. Running over to Idaho’s Clearwater River to visit some of the best humans I know while we chase a few steelhead around. A dip down to Santa Fe for a quick job and a visit with good humans. Now that I’m back in Missoula for a few weeks, days are a frenetic mix of hosted trip and photo shoot planning, gym and pool, and general business work while juggling my contract clients.
Even at home base, it’s never boring.
And I’m grateful for the chaos. Even on the days when news headlines make me shake my head and wonder where the world will be in five or \ten years.
Massive thanks to all the anglers, guides, lodge owners and managers, transfer drivers, logistics coordinators, and everyone both in front of the camera and behind the scenes who makes this complicated travel and work schedule possible. Thanks to everyone who let me stick a camera in your face this year, or in years prior. Y’all are absolutely the heroes here—thank you for all you do, and here’s to continuing to configure that puzzle a little more each year.
Upcoming Hosted Trips
Estancia Laguna Verde (Jurassic Lake), Argentina: January 24-31, 2026
More info below.
Turneffe Island Resort (Classic Flats Fishing in Belize): May 23-30, 2026
SOLD OUT - WAITLIST AVAILABLE
Bolivia Heli-Fishing (Trophy Golden Dorado): June 28-July 5, 2026
Three spots open due to cancellation—more info below.
Fish Partner’s Highlands Lodge, Iceland: July 1-6, 2027
SOLD OUT - WAITLIST AVAILABLE
NEW: Rio Marié (Giant Peacock Bass in Brasil): September 5-12, 2027
HEADWATERS CAMP - two spots remaining
More info below; inquire for more information.
Jurassic Lake: Estancia Laguna Verde
I’ll be returning January 24-31, 2026 with a hosted group. This is a top-notch lodge in a wonderfully unique fishery. Expect some of the world’s best guides, excellent lodging and food, a stellar lodge team, and wonderfully large, healthy rainbow trout in an environment that will make you think you’re fishing on the moon.
This PDF has more details—give it a read, and then get in touch to secure your spot!
January 24-31, 2026
Estancia Laguna Verde, Lago Strobel, Argentina
$7,950 (7 nights, 6.5 days fishing)
Bolivia Heli-Fishing For Trophy Golden Dorado
Two Spots Open Due to Cancellations
This trip was sold out, but due to a cancellation I now have two rods remaining for this return to Untamed Angling’s Tsimane Pluma Lodge Heli-Fishing Program June 27-July 4, 2026—an exclusive program in the Bolivian Amazon, designed to target trophy golden dorado. We’ll have the opportunity to fish not only for large dorado but also pacu, yatorana, and even moturo, in incomparable quantity and quality. The rivers and tributaries here are wild, untouched waters seldom seen by human beings.
Read more info HERE about this limited trip.
June 27-July 4, 2026
Tsimane Pluma Lodge, Bolivian Amazon
$17,250 ($16,000 plus $1,250 indigenous Indian fees)
Argentina Two-Lodge Week: El Encuentro
Brook, rainbow, and brown trout, and two wonderful lodges.
I’m excited to announce I’ve opened up dates for a January 2027 Hosted Week at El Encuentro Lodge. We’ll spend three nights at El Encuentro itself before heading out for four nights of adventure at the luxury tent camp of Brook Trout Base Camp. Expect stellar guides, comfy quarters, awesome Argentine asados, and overall a proper Patagonia experience.
We’ll be fishing for browns, rainbows, and brookies throughout the week, both from boats and while wading. There are plenty of opportunities for non-anglers as well, such as cooking classes, horseback riding, hiking, and more, which makes this a wonderful trip for non-angling spouses or families with grown-age kids.
January 9-16, 2027
Double Occupancy: $7,700 angler, $5,775 non-angler
Single Occupancy: $10,010 angler
2027: Rio Marié Headwaters Camp
We scouted out bits of the Headwaters fishery this past August, and I’ve locked in dates for the 2027 version of the same thing—only with more nights of camping! This program only accommodates four anglers a year, moving further upriver each day and fishing the very headwaters of this incredible river. These spots will go fast, so if that sounds like your kind of program, let me know.
September 5-12, 2027
HEADWATERS CAMP - four anglers only per season, two spots remaining
$10,490 / person, shared room and guide + $740 native fee
6 full days fishing / 2 nights on the Untamed Angling mothership, 5 nights camping
Want to learn more about any of these trips?
Send me a DM on social media or shoot over an email.
Recently Published
Pick up the latest issue of Shallow Water Sportsman to read Notes From the Vineyard, an ode to overnight striper tournaments on Martha’s Vineyard.
Shouting at the Sky, a story about Kayapo life in the Brazilian Amazon, just ran on Field Ethos.
Mooning Helio Pilots in the Alaskan Bush. Only Field Ethos would run an article with that title… and every word of it is true.
H20 Magazine just ran a feature on Estancia Laguna Verde in their most recent Italian edition.
Read A Week of Learning Life Skills From Fishing Guides, a story about Argentina’s SET Spring Creek Lodge, in the latest In The Loop Magazine.
The Beckbe Journal just published this piece about weird yet utterly memorable moments in the Darien: Darien Dance Parties.
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