Ryan was born and raised in Bountiful, UT. He fell in love with the outdoors throughannual trips with his family travelling throughout Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. And the surrounding areas of SW Montana and Wyoming. At 12 years old the family moved to the small mill town of Camas, WA. Throughout junior high and high school Ryan fell into a lifelong love affair with flyfishing. Still taking annual trips to the Madison River and Yellowstone, Ryan began honing his skills on all the waters of SW Montana and the Greater Yellowstone area. While in school in Washington he had the chance to chase Steelhead and Salmon on rivers such as the Washougal, Kalama, East Fork of the Lewis, just to name a few.
At 21 Ryan took a job at Beartooth Flyfishing as Dan’s first shop employee through the summer of 1992. During that time he learned so much from his new mentor Dan Delekta. The friendship has grown and grown throughout the years. For 13 years Ryan helped manage a successful woodstove, bbq, and hearth products dealership with his brother Scott. But Montana continued to call and he then moved permanently to Montana in the fall of 2006. Ryan spent 14 years in Bozeman as a member of the management team at the Sportsman’s Warehouse store in town. Running the fishing department, then the Camping and Optics departments. Now in the spring of 2021 life has come full circle and Dan and Nancy have asked him to return to help them with this amazing business.
Ryan loves all aspects of flyfishing including: Dries; nymphs; streamers; and soft hackles. With the growing popularity of Trout Spey over the last few years Ryan has made that one of his newest addictions. Fishing for Fall runners out of Hebgen on the Madison in YNP in the fall is one of his most favorite passions. It’s an experience that every angler should have a chance to do at least once in their lifetime. When not working at the shop you’ll find Ryan and his Black Lab Addie wading or floating the Madison, Big Hole, Beaverhead, Ruby, Gallatin, or Yellowstone Rivers.
Ryan sincerely looks forward to meeting all the regular customers and new ones at Beartooth Flyfishing. His commitment to everyone is to provide the best customer service possible and create new friendships and adventures that will last a lifetime. Tight Lines everyone!