Trey Combs is my father, he’s also an esteemed author, angler, and fly-fishing enthusiast whose work has significantly influenced the world of sport fishing, particularly in the niche of steelhead, Atlantic salmon, and bluewater fly fishing. With a career that intertwines literary prowess and angling expertise, he’s dedicated his life to the exploration and documentation of fishing, both as a sport and a cultural phenomenon.

As a father, Trey included me in his fishing journeys – these are my best childhood memories. Sitting on a rock at a young age, watching him work the water – I knew he was special – not unlike the moment in the movie River Runs Through It when we see Brad Pitt’s character fly fish for the first time (a scene that always make feel nostalgic). Like many father and son relationships – we bumped heads, but when we traveled to fish – all that went away. I was given experiences as a young boy to fish or float some of the great rivers in the Pacific Northwest. I vividly remember struggling as a 13-year-old with issues and then being whisked away to spend the weekend fishing the Deschutes River in Oregon with Trey and Frank Amato, the lifelong publisher of Salmon Trout Steelheader – it was the perfect medicine for an unhappy teenager.

 So, with much admiration for his body of work, I’ve decided to build a permanent home for all his writing – a place for his legacy to continue long after we’re both gone. My commitment to anyone that frequents this site is a space that’s free of advertising or click bait - we won’t ever ask for any type of identifying information. All you’ll find here is 50+ years of fly-fishing information.

Trey was drawn to the water at an early age, developing a passion for fishing that would shape his life's work. His grandfather, Harry Cotton, from Port Townsend Washington, was a well-known outdoorsman and taught Trey how to fish. Trey has spent most of his life in the Pacific Northwest. He was a 5th grade schoolteacher, a trade he started early in life that enabled him to retire early so he could fish and write full time.

Trey realized early in life that he wanted to write about steelhead fly fishing. His understanding and appreciation of aquatic ecosystems and the fish that inhabit them became the foundation for his writing. Through his detailed narratives, he’s not only shared his enthusiasm for fly fishing but also educated countless anglers about sustainable fishing practices and the importance of preserving aquatic environments.

In the late 1960s - Trey began to write articles for the Salmon Trout Steelheader. His first article sent to Frank Amato was unsolicited- Frank’s response was a $5 check and the promise of publishing in the next month’s edition -  Trey was thrilled and thus began a lifelong friendship with Frank and the start of Trey’s writing career. He went on to become the associate editor of the Salmon Trout Steelheader, and later in his career became the associate editor of Fly Fishing Magazine, which was known as the #1 magazine of the sport. Many of the articles from these publications will eventually be reprinted on this site as blog entries.

In the 1970s – Trey began to set the stage for a deep dive into fly-fishing in the Pacific Northwest. His early work started exploring the cultural and technical aspects of fishing, laying the groundwork for what would become comprehensive guides and thoughtful narratives. He published two books: The Steelhead Trout (1971) and Fishing The High Country (1973). In The Steelhead Trout, Trey was the first person to ever describe the exact ocean migration of the Steelhead, which for steelheaders up to this point was considered something of a mystery. His 3rd book, published in the late 1970s, Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies (1976), became the “Bible” of steelhead fly fishing - a book that remained in print for nearly 20 years.

In the early 1990s his recognition continued to grow when Steelhead Fly Fishing (1991) was published and became an instant classic, a book that went through a decade of reprints becoming a must-have for any fly-fishing aficionado. Taking over five years to write, Steelhead Fly Fishing provided in-depth details covering tackle and techniques, the great rivers, along with biographies of famous anglers and their fly patterns, providing readers with both practical advice and a deeper appreciation of the sport's cultural significance.

In the mid 1990s Trey expanded his reach beyond the traditional boundaries of freshwater fishing into a new frontier. This new direction culminated with the publishing of Bluewater Fly Fishing (1995) which documented everything needed to fly fish in saltwater environments from various parts of the world. This book was groundbreaking. In addition to providing the kind of technical details his readers had come to expect - it read like a travel guide, as each chapter paired a global location with an exotic species, 17 species in all, in multiple countries including: Mexico, Africa, Australia, Columbia, Florida, New Guinea, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest.

His Bluewater book was informed by 7 years of trips, hosted by Trey, to Costa Rica’s Bahia Pez Vela Lodge for Pacific sailfish. He ultimately caught five different species of billfish on fly, more than 100 marlin and sailfish in all, fishing offshore in Australia, Papua New Guinea, both coasts of South America and Africa, and through the Americas from Panama to Mexico. For over a decade he worked as the lone charter-master for a long-range fly-fishing program out of San Diego, chartering Royal Star and Shogun for marlin trips to “the ridge” off Mexico. Then, with film crews, he led exploratory trips to the Revillagigedo Archipelago-the Mexican Galapagos–and to the French-owned Clipperton Atoll, islands never visited by fly fishers.

Finally, in the mid 2010s, Trey began work on his crowning achievement – Flies For Atlantic Salmon & Steelhead (2023). This oversized limited-edition masterpiece (only 1500 copies printed) rounds up a “who’s who” of supremely gifted fly dressers from the salmon rivers of Scandinavia, Scotland, Russia’s Kola, Eastern Canada, and the steelhead rivers of the Pacific Northwest. This book features over 1000 stunning photographs and illustrations of remarkable fly-tying creations, old and new, that informs this beautiful and inspirational tale of a timeless sport fishing craft.

Throughout the decades, Trey has had multiple relationships with the fly fishing equipment industry. He’s currently on the pro staff for Burkheimer Fly Rods. Trey’s experience with Burkheimer is that fly fishing experts all over the world rate them as the finest of all fly rods made. When he fished in Norway his experience was that 50% or more of all the rods racked up in the large stand by the dining tent were Berkheimer’s – he’s always maintained that these rods are expensive but the best. He was also on the pro staff for Thomas and Thomas Fly Rods, and for SAGE, then as now, the #1 rod maker in terms of numbers and popularity. He’s always felt they make great rods.

Today Trey lives a quiet life with his beloved dogs along the banks of the Klickitat River in the little village of Klickitat, Washington. There he engages in his favorite pastimes, tying flies for steelhead and tubes for Atlantic salmon, and giving them a swim in rivers near and far.

Mark Combs - Publisher - Trey Combs Fly Fishing Publications