Guide Profile: Tim Huckaby

Guide for Peppermint Falls Ranch and Golden Trout Wilderness Pack Outfitters 
Years Teaching & Guiding: 25+

Meet Tim Huckaby, a true software industry luminary whose career reads like a tech adventure novel. Tim has over 35 years as an AI pioneer, Microsoft insider, and keynote speaker with more than a few curtain calls alongside Gates and Ballmer. But when he’s not lighting up the stage or engineering the next tech breakthrough, Tim’s wading into wild rivers with a fly rod in hand. A passionate and deeply experienced fly angler, he’s chased fish across the Rockies, the Sierra, and his own backyard waters.

CAFF: How did you decide to become a guide?

TH: Well, I had been teaching guiding for years for free and loved it. I started out teaching camp counselors for free how to fly fish, so they could, in turn, teach kids how to fly fish in the upcoming summer. I was doing this without a permit but worked with the Forest Service to obtain a permit to guide in the Golden Trout Wilderness area. Once word got out that I had a permit, people began hiring me. 

CAFF: How do you balance guiding with family and personal life?

TH: With two adult kids, one in Bozeman and one in Denver, visiting them is not a sacrifice.  After 36 years of marriage to my college sweetheart, I can tell you that she enjoys stretches where I’m not in her way at home. 

CAFF: Are there specific conservation concerns in your area that you wish to draw attention to?

TH: Conservation starts with awareness. I want people to know about how awesome the Golden Trout Wilderness is. I want more people to visit it and fish there. Especially young people. And I want the Forest Service to have a legitimate budget to facilitate access and monitor the wilderness.

CAFF: How do you deal with difficult clients?

TH: By setting expectations. I have everyone I guide complete a questionnaire that outlines what they want to learn and how they want to approach it. Then we discuss it. I have never encountered a difficult client. I strongly believe this is due to all the communication that establishes expectations before we ever step into the river. 

CAFF: Is mojo a thing?

TH: It’s not mojo; It’s karma.  I strongly believe in the karma factor of fly fishing.  “If you feel it, do it.”  If you have good karma, your fishing success will show.

CAFF: What changes, for better or worse, have you noticed since you started guiding?

TH: It concerns me that the demographic of fly fishing is still dominated by older white guys like me—that we don’t have more young people involved in fly fishing. It worries me that the generation below mine doesn’t even let their kids go to a park, let alone venture into the wilderness, where real-life lessons are taught. It also bothers me that hot spotting is now viewed as a bad thing. It seems acceptable to be selfish by keeping your fishing spots a secret. I want to proactively share the places I love to fish and will help anyone who asks. I’m the guy who gives up his hole to a total beginner and shares flies that are working with so they can enjoy success.

CAFF: What is your most memorable catch and why?

TH: I only remember the fish I screw up and lose. There’s the 3-foot blue trevally on Mahaulepu Beach in Kauai. The giant roosterfish in Baja that got away because of my poorly tied knot. I could go on and on.  Last week, it was the 24-inch cutthroat in Wyoming that shook me by leaping 10 feet in the air because I tightened the line on him.

CAFF: Describe your ideal client.

TH: Fun, excited, willing to learn. Willing to take in the entire wilderness experience, not just the fishing. And willing to laugh … a lot. Because I’m a storyteller. 

CAFF: What’s the #1 thing you wish every client knew or would do?

TH: Set quickly when I scream, “Go!”

CAFF: One piece of gear/equipment you can’t live without?

TH: The ½ liter Katadyn BeFree water filtration flask. It lets you drink cold Upper Kern River water whenever you want, without the need for pumping or hassle.