Wedeking's Shellac (October Swinger)

A Pacific Northwest native, Brett Wedeking was born with steelhead on the brain. He has spent over 20 years pursuing these elusive creatures, and most of that time with a spey rod in hand. Every winter he spends countless hours guiding fly anglers on the hallowed waters of the Skagit and the Olympic Peninsula swinging flies for ghosts. He spends part of the year guiding for chinook and steelhead in remote Alaska too. His fly designs and steelhead fishing philosophies reflect knowledge gleaned from Northwest luminaries like Harry Lemire, Mike Kinney and Dec Hogan. Wild steelhead are his spirit animal.

Steelhead are far from his only pursuit however. Brett also fishes and guides Puget Sound for sea-run cutthroat, from his 17' Lund. He lives in Seattle, near the saltwater and his passion for this fishery is evident in his high regard for these native trout. This year-round, Seattle centered fishery is one of the most fun and dynamic fisheries on the planet and Brett is always concocting new patterns and plans to catch cutthroat. 

His fly fishing pursuits are wide ranging. He has fished trout across the American and Canadian West, Alaska and New Zealand. He also knows the heartache and pain of chasing permit, among other species, across the flats of the Caribbean and Hawaii. Brett's varied experience and contact with a multitude of tyers and anglers influence and inform his fly designs and constant tweaking and revising, in pursuit of effective and attractive patterns.