Bill Horn
Fly Fisher, Author
Bill Horn started fishing in the Florida Keys in 1958. He took to fly fishing in 1965 primarily for trout. His first bonefish was landed in the Florida Keys in 1974. Bill has pursued bonefish, tarpon, and permit on the flats of the Florida Keys and Everglades, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Hawaii.
Before Bill Horn started writing saltwater flats fishing books, he had deep connections to Alaska, especially the Bristol Bay region. His 50 plus years connection with Alaska began in 1972 when he was part of a Trout Unlimited delegation making recommendations to the U.S. Department of the Interior for salmon and trout conservation in the Bay region, including Lake Iliamna. Later, he worked for the Alaska Congressional Delegation, started fishing in the 49th State in 1977, and worked on the major Alaska Lands bill enacted into law in 1980.
Listen to Bill Horn's Show...
On The Bow
Bill Horn has chased bonefish, tarpon and permit for over 40 years in the Florida Keys, Bahamas, Hawaii and Mexico. He's been "On the Bow" too many times to count. Join us to hear Bill share his experiences, the good, bad and ugly of chasing these trophy fish in the salt. You might just pick up a tip or two you can use next time you are on the bow.
Just a few of the questions asked and answered during the interview:
- Are the bonefish coming back in Florida?
- Do you have more success fishing for bonefish from a boat?
- Where do you find the larger bonefish?
- Are bonefish bigger in the Bahamas?
- What flies work best for bonefish?
- Are bonefish, permit and tarpon easier or harder to catch now than in the past?
- How do you present your flies to permit?
- What's the best way to set the hook on a permit?
- Is Florida still a "go-to" location for tarpon?
- Where can you find the larger migrating tarpon?
- Is the juvenile tarpon fishery still great?
- What flies are working best for tarpon through the seasons?
- Looking to the future how do you see the health of the flats fisheries and their fish?
Bill followed that by serving as Deputy Under Secretary of the Interior Department in charge of implementing the Alaska bill and, in President Reagan's second term, became Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, overseeing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service, including the many Wildlife Refuge and Park/Preserve units that cover 100 million acres in Alaska.
Following government service, he joined an Alaska law firm (Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot) and represented an array of clients in the state, including sport fishing lodges, bush pilots, hunting guides, Alaska Native corporations, the State of Alaska and Trout Unlimited- Alaska among others. During his four decades of fishing in Alaska, he has cast a fly line into every major drainage in the vast Bristol Bay region while pursuing rainbow trout, arctic char, dolly varden, all five species of Pacific salmon, arctic grayling, and northern pike. The Crimson Wave is Horn's fifth book, having authored Seasons on the Flats and On the Bow and contributed to A Passion for Grouse and Appalachian Grouse Dog. He lives in the Florida Keys and Teton Valley, Idaho.
