Joe KlementovichJoe Klementovich is a freelance photographer who, a few years into an engineering career, realized he would rather be on the bow of a boat or knee-deep in a mountain stream than sitting in a cubicle. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Adventure Journal, among others. Joe keeps things interesting by taking on projects that run the gamut from Atlantic salmon restoration in Maine to centuries-old barns being restored and rebuilt. He lives in the mountains of New Hampshire not far from a clear, cold brook trout stream.

Val KropiwnickiWorking under the moniker “VK Steelworks,” artist and high school art educator Val Kropiwnicki creates one-of-a-kind pieces of functional steel and flyfishing-related art that explore environmental and sociopolitical issues. He lives in Branford, CT, with his wife, Delia, and their Brittany spaniel, Chloe, where he wrestles for answers to the same old question each day: freshwater for trout, salt for stripers, or back to the studio? You can see more of his work and the VK-S5.RF fly reel he designed at www.vksteelworks.com.

Bridget MoranBridget Moran grew up squid fishing with her dad in Washington state’s Puget Sound on cold, wet school nights. After three decades in western Washington, she remains an avid angler and conservationist. Moran is an ecologist with the Skagit River System Cooperative, focusing on salmon habitat protection in the Skagit River and North Sound nearshore. She is also the advocacy chair of North Sound Trout Unlimited and has published the occasional piece of writing with Outside Magazine and The Flyfish Journal. In her free time, Moran lets loose in rivers with rods and in the mountains on bikes and skis.

Paul PuckettPaul Puckett is a sporting artist based in Charleston, SC. After working the fly shop circuit throughout the United States for 22 years, Puckett decided to take his art more seriously and settled in the Southeast. Growing up in Dallas, his foundation was bass fishing, which eventually led to taking up flyfishing for bass and trout. If he is not casting a fly, he usually has a pen in hand, jotting down sketches and notes that eventually lead to images on canvas or paper. His art and illustrations have been featured in numerous flyfishing and sporting publications.

Bret RutherfordBret Rutherford is a psychiatrist based in New York City. After dreaming of mountains and rivers while growing up in northern Illinois, he caught his first trout after moving east to study philosophy at Harvard College. This gateway fish led to two-handed casting practice in Central Park and steelhead trips to northern British Columbia. These days, when Rutherford is not in the office, he and his dog Skeena can be found chasing Atlantic salmon somewhere in Gaspé’s Chic-Choc Mountains. His writing about fishing and hunting has appeared in The Drake, Gray’s Sporting Journal, The Upland Almanac and other outlets.