Matt Klara joined the Big Sky Anglers team in 2016 when Justin recruited him to help with social media and website stuff. With each passing year, his role with us has grown from behind the scenes, to one of the faces of our business. Aside from being a great friend for over 20 years, Matt is formally the BSA Social Media Manager as well as an advisor, writer, instructor, computer nerd, and part time fishing guide.

Matt is originally from Rome, New York. He was introduced to fly fishing by his parents at a very young age and began his fishing life on the Madison River in the early 1980s. He spent the summers of his youth living in an RV with his folks at Campfire Lodge, between Hebgen and Quake Lake. The fishing bug bit Matt hard, and he continued the family tradition through his late teens and early 20s – living in campgrounds, fishing, and eventually working at fly shops and guiding throughout southwest Montana and Yellowstone National Park.

These days, Matt lives in Helena with his wife and son, but still makes frequent trips to West Yellowstone throughout the year for fun, to participate in shop events, to teach in our various fishing schools, and to lead instructional Trout Spey guide trips. Matt also conducts instructional Spey casting sessions on the Missouri River and other waters closer to his home.  In 2022, he became certified as a Trout Spey Instructor by Far Bank’s Simon Gawesworth, who he considers one of his Spey mentors.  Matt is Big Sky Anglers’ go-to source for technical information regarding all things Spey, a reliable source for Missouri River fishing reports, and one of our in-house stillwater fishing fans. 

Matt is a well-traveled angler and lover of angling variety. His broad experience on the water makes him a great resource for information about saltwater flats, inshore, and bluewater fishing, as well as west coast steelhead and salmon.  In an era of overused clichés, he is truly an observant and innovative fly tier, and an all-around angler who is proficient with conventional tackle as well as the fly. A passionate student of angling history as well as aquatic and riparian ecosystems, Matt also holds an engineering job specializing in stream restoration and is a contributor on www.sexyloops.com and other fishing related blogs.

If you ever have questions for Matt, he can be reach via email at mklara@bigskyanglers.com