Dan Shepherd looked down at the vast expansion of the Andes Mountains in South America from the helicopter that would take his group to any fishing destination they desired.
“When we flew over some of those peaks it just looked like they went forever,” said Shepherd, the owner of Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop.
The point of heli-fishing is to fish at remote lakes and rivers that would otherwise be inaccessible to humans. “It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life,” he said. “If we saw a lake, we stopped. If we saw a river, we stopped. We probably made about 10 stops a day, just all fishing.”
Dan grew up in Utah and has been fly fishing since the late 1960s. He first came to Montana when he was in high school working at a ranch during the summer and fell in love with not only the landscapes and great outdoor opportunities, but with the people who live here.
Grizzly Hackle has been open since 1988 when the store’s founder, Jim Toth, ran the business out of his home before moving it to Missoula in 1990. Dan and his two life-long friends, Steve Jensen and Ray Coleman, bought the store in 2001.
“We loved to fish together and always talked about owning a fly shop,” Shepherd said. “It was one of those things where if you think about something long enough and hard enough, it happens.”
Although the three friends co-own the business, Dan is the man you’ll see in the shop running the day-to-day. Jensen and Coleman are both successful entrepreneurs outside of Grizzly Hackle and couldn’t leave their careers to live in Missoula. “They’re still very much a part of the company,” Shepherd said, “they just don’t get to live in Missoula.
Shepherd loves the satisfaction he gets from selling quality gear to fellow fly fishing fans, but his favorite part of the job is still the sport itself. Frequently guiding groups on the river means he still gets to fish all the time. Shepherd’s love for being on the river inspired him to startTwo Percent for the Rivers, a program that donates 2 percent of every sale to various river conservation groups.
Fly fishing is more than a hobby to Shepherd, it’s a way of life. His most valuable lesson was learned on a trip to Russia to fish for rainbow trout. “We fished all over at a bunch of different rivers,” he said. “A lot of them had never been fished by people.
“I never wanted to leave. There were teenagers there that had never left the village, but they were happy,” he said. “It just shows you that there’s much more to life than all the commercial stuff.”
Shepherd got his wish and ended up getting stuck there for five extra days because his group missed their flight out and there was only one flight per week. “It’s all part of the adventure,” he said. “It’s all a big adventure.”
Shepherd is still living the dream and plans to keep it flowing; going to work every day at a renowned fly shop that heowns, interacting with the people of Missoula, and traveling the world to fish and make friends.
“That’s the best part,” he said. “Seeing the sights and meeting the people; fishing’s great, too.”