Our Shop Staff

The people who make up the Yellowstone Angler are recognized as some of the most helpful in the business. All expert fishermen, they'd be happy to respond to your questions by phone or via e-mail: staff@yellowstoneangler.com.

George Anderson
George began his fly fishing career in the Catskill mountains of New York. During his college years at the University of Colorado, George reputedly spent more time on the South Platte river learning the fine points of nymph fishing, than he did in business school. During his college summers he managed a tackle shop in West Yellowstone, and it was a rare day that he didn't get in some fishing. After graduating he spent six years with Dan Bailey's Fly Shop, leaving to open his own shop, the Yellowstone Angler, in 1980. George enjoys sharing his fly fishing expertise with others, and has authored many articles over the years that have appeared in Flyfisherman, Trout, Big Sky Journal, Saltwater Fly Fishing and several Scientific Anglers publications. George has appeared as a fly fishing celebrity on many television shows over the years including ESPN "Fly Fishing the World" shows, ESPN 2 José Wejebe's "Spanish Fly", and in 2000 and 2001 on Trevor Gowdy's shows about flyfishing Cuba's Jardines de la Reina on both OLN and ESPN 2. An exceptional angler in both fresh and saltwater, George won individual honors at the Jackson Hole One-Fly in the only two years he fished in the event, 1989 and 1990, setting records for numbers of fish caught, on his own Brown Stone Nymph, that stand to this day. He has fly fished worldwide for a variety of fish in both fresh and saltwater, but his first love is flyfishing for tarpon. He likes golf, alpine skiing, scuba diving, bird hunting, and fast dirt bikes and cars. He is lucky his wonderful wife Kitty puts up with all of this. George's e-mail address is: georgea@yellowstoneangler.com

James Anderson

Born and raised here in Livingston Montana, "Jamie" was exposed to the outdoors, fishing, hunting, and skiing at an early age. Even before he could walk Jamie joined his father on fishing expeditions, from the comfort of dad's kiddypak.  Jamie's first real fishing came early at age 4, chucking spinners with his Zebco spin cast rod and slamming browns and rainbows at Nelson's fish hatchery and DePuy's ponds.  Not much later he began working at the Yellowstone Angler.  Early job opportunities included picking up cigarette butts out of the dirt parking lot for a penny a piece and swatting flies. Through high school he was promoted to shipping and receiving manager and retail sales.  Later in his college years, he spent most of his time on the water, guiding clients around the state.  James still guides on his days off, but spends most of his time in the shop as general manager. 

Growing up in Montana, Jamie acquired a love for the outdoors, and earned the rank of Eagle Scout at the young age of 13.  At about the same time, he got into ski racing, and went on to become one of Montana's top downhill ski racers. The desire to ski on an NCAA team and an opportunity to experience a different environment prompted Jamie to go East, where he attended Middlebury College in Vermont.   Ski racing got sidetracked with his need to buckle down and study hard, as he graduated with honors in Chinese. 

After graduation, James moved to Taiwan, where he worked his way up to the director of marketing for Genimex, a heavy hitting import/export trading company.    After making and saving some money in Taiwan, James decided to take some time off to travel while he was young.  He traveled with friends and alone through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Macau, China and Tibet.

Upon returning to the states, James worked as a croupier at Barona Casino in San Diego, with the idea of hosting and translating for high profile Chinese gamblers.  To learn about the mentality of gamblers however, James started off as a dealer for Blackjack, Baccarat, Poker, Let it Ride, and Casino War.  Since he worked the graveyard shift, James would surf the "early morning glass" almost every day. Some of his favorite breaks were at Black's Beach, Mission Beach, and Tourmaline.

Missing the outdoor life Montana has to offer, James returned to Livingston in 2004 to help his Dad manage the Yellowstone Angler.  James has hosted several world wide flyfishing trips to Argentina, Alaska, Belize, Costa Rica, and other saltwater destinations in the Caribbean.   If you ever want to share a photo or fishing story, e-mail James and he can help you publish it on our web site!  You can contact James at:  James@yellowstoneangler.com

Sam Cornthwaite

Growing up in the small fishing community of Petersburg Alaska, Sam was fishing at the age of two.  At the age of seven, his Dad taught him how to fly fish and tie flies, bringing a whole new dimension to fishing. With his new-found passion, Sam started fishing for salmon in the Blind River, steelhead in Petersburg Creek, as well as for trout in small streams such as Ohmar Creek and Fivemile.
 
In 2001, Sam and his family moved to Clyde Park, Montana where he continued his passion for fly fishing on the Yellowstone and Shields Rivers. Continuing his love for fly tying, he started tying flies commercially for the local fly shops and continues to supply them with high quality Montana made flies today. If you haven't tried one of Sam's beetles yet, you better get a handful!  

In 2004, Sam started a whole new venture by building fly rods, and starting a his own rod building business, Shields River Rods. Shields River Rods offers American-made fly rods that suite every style of fishing. From the 6' #6 wt. Drift to the 9’0” #8 wt. Oceanis, Shields River Rods carries over 30 fly rods varying in actions and target species. His fly rod company has been written about in magazines such as The Fly Fisher and Distinctly Montana as well as newspapers like The Montana Standard, The Missoulian, and The Billings Gazette.
 
He is currently a senior at Shields Valley High School, and he plans to attend Montana State University next fall where he intends to major in AgriBusiness. He is also working on gaining the Federation of Fly Fishers – Certified Casting Instructors Certificate and his MGOA Guide License. He is also active in the Shields Valley FFA Chapter where he serves as an officer.
 
Sam specializes in small stream fishing, and enjoys fishing the Boulder, Shields, and other “blue lines” that most people overlook. He has traveled to Canada to fish the Bow River and Kananaskis Country, Alaska to fish salmon, and has hiked to several mountain lakes in Montana. In a nutshell he is a Trout Bum and always will be.

Doug McKnight

Doug learned to fish on some of the Eastern United States' best and most challenging waters.  Growing up in Pennsylvania provided him with the opportunity to learn technical, spring-creek-style fishing at a very young age. By the time Doug was 15, he began tying flies commercially and has taught fly tying lessons since he was 18.  In the Fall of 2005, Umpqua Feather Merchants added Doug to their list of fly tying designers.  You can find several of Doug's flies in the Umpqua catalog. 

Doug's career has provided him with the chance to fish around the world, including: New Zealand, Chile, Alaska, Russia, Bahamas, Belize, Mexico, the Florida Keys as well as all over the Western and Northeastern United States.  Doug has had over 10 years of experience outfitting clients who travel the world.  He can rig anything from trout to billfish and would be glad to help you plan your next fly fishing adventure.

As an aspiring artist, Doug has a growing portfolio of oil paintings and pastel drawings of the many fish and flies he has come in contact with.  Many of his flies have been framed and displayed in galleries.  You can contact Doug at: doug@yellowstoneangler.com

Rick Wollum

Rick started flyfishing at the age of six, at an uncle's cabin in Minnesota for bluegill. Flyfishing quickly became a lifetime pursuit in Colorado, with Rick spending a lot of time fishing Colorado's South Platte while he attended Denver University.  He then started guiding with mentor Steve Herter at Elk Trout lodge in Colorado, and later in Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. Rick guided Jackson Hole's One Fly for ten years, and also spent many summers guiding on Montana's Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers. Later, Rick went on to host ESPN's FLY FISHING AMERICA, traveling and fishing extensively around the U.S.   Rick has fished for trout, steelhead and salmon all over the world,and his vast knowledge of tackle, techniques and places to go makes him a great asset here in our shop. If Rick has one passion in fishing, it's steelhead fishing with two handed spey rods.  Rick is a great fly tier, and his classic spey flies are works of art.  In the off season Rick has been working as a ski instructor at both Big Sky and recently at Bridger Bowl, where he now teaches skiing during the winters.  You can contact Rick at:  rick@yellowstoneangler.com

James Wilson

James (or "Jimmy" as he's known around the shop), has been fly fishing since he was 10 years old. He learned how to fish at Nelson's Spring Creek Ranch here in Paradise Valley. Being from the East coast, Jimmy values every day he gets to fish in the big sky country and has recently found a deeper love for fishing and fly tying. When we asked Jimmy how he liked Montana he said, "You don't have the unbelievable scenery of Paradise Valley back on the East coast. Fishing in Yellowstone Park is one of my favorite things to do out here; waking up at the crack of dawn and fishing one of the most beautiful places in the world for native cutthroat.  I'm pretty lucky."

Aside from trout fishing, Jimmy loves to fish for Salmon, Halibut, and Cod.  Every summer he heads north to Alaska in search big fish and wild adventures. Last year he managed to land a 28 pound silver! We told him this year he will have to get us a few shots for the big fish 2007 page...

If Jimmy isn't floating down the Yellowstone in his super fat cat or at his fly tying desk, there's a good chance you'll see him hanging around - rock climbing! Whether at the climbing wall or outside, Jimmy rock climbs on a daily basis. He's even lead a few 5.10's although you would never have guessed it from his modest demeanor.