Chuck Ragan began his music career as the leader of the American alternative/punk act Hot Water Music. Some 20 years later, much has changed for Ragan. He now tours the world as a solo act, trading in his electric for an acoustic guitar. He’s married and the father of a baby boy. And, instead of Florida, he now calls California home, but through it all, Ragan has remained a steadfast fisherman, recently scoring a guide license and recommitting himself to the work of conservation and bringing kids into the sport.

Words: Morgan Sherburne

Along with cranking out solo records and playing occasionally with his old band mates, Ragan toured. And over the last decade, his tours have followed rivers. “I’m looking at my tour itinerary and going, ‘All right. Cool. We’re playing Reno, so I’m going to fish Pyramid Lake,” he says. “Then, from there, I’m going to fish the Snake River. It isn’t that we take days off,” he says of his tour fishing. “It makes you even more exhausted—it’s hard to do. But it would be foolish not to really take advantage of the fact that you’re in a beautiful place and here’s an experience you may never have for the rest of your life.”

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