John Herzer - Orvis 2016 Fly Fishing Freshwater Guide of the Year

John Herzer from Missoula, MT was honored at the Orvis Guide Rendezvous as the Orvis 2016 Fly Fishing Freshwater Guide of the Year. Herzer and his wife Terri Raugland own Blackfoot River Outfitters, a Gold Level TU Business member.

The honor comes as no surprise to Herzer's clients. John and Terri get it. They get the idea that we all share a responsibility not only to enjoy the fishing we have today, but to make fishing better for future generations. But they make it personal. They make it part of the family.

Nobody gets the connection between fishing and family better than John and Terri. They started Blackfoot River Outfitters in 1996, after years of guiding for other outfitters who failed to measure up to their standards of fun, energetic professionalism. Terri started fly-fishing in her home state of Colorado upon entering Durango's Fort Lewis College in 1984, and has since angled all across the West and numerous saltwater destinations. A Fort Lewis grad himself, John guided fishing and whitewater rafting in his native Colorado, plus New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and even Africa before moving to Montana. Terri and John recently realized that they have now lived in Montana longer than they did Colorado, providing fly fishing guide services there for twenty-six years.  And now, they’re teaching Hunter and Dawson – the next generation of great guides and environmental stewards.

Maybe it’s that multi-generational aspect that makes this shop – and this family – special. Maybe the role of guide and that of parent aren’t really all that different. After all, there’s a teaching component. There’s a leadership component. There’s even a code of ethics common to both. There’s a list of “things we do (or don’t do) in our family” just like there’s a list of “things we do (or don’t do) in our shop or in our boats”.  As John says, “It is pretty basic really; we instill in our guides, shop staff, as well as our kids a healthy respect for other people together with this amazing place we live and make our living.  Caring for someone or something cannot begin without respect.”

A lot of shops claim that they treat their customers like family. But sometimes it’s more like the Manson Family than the Brady Bunch. Not so here. Come by the shop – you’ll see what I mean. And if you can’t drop in, check out their website. To paraphrase the great Norman Maclean, in their family there is “no clear line between family and fly fishing” – or elk hunting, or teaching people to love the legendary waters of the Clark Fork and the Blackfoot with the same passion that they do. That’s treating your customers like family. That’s Blackfoot River Outfitters.

Blackfoot River Outfitters, Inc.  TU GOLD LEVEL BUSINESS MEMBER

John Herzer and Terri Raugland

Missoula, MT 59808

(406) 542-7411

john@blackfootriver.com

www.blackfootriver.com