meet Matt
Matt Klara joined the Big Sky Anglers team in 2016, the start of the Trout Shop Era, when Justin recruited him to help with social media and website work. With each passing year, his role with us has grown from mainly 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 point of sale system Data Manager, as well as a casting/fishing instructor, writer, 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 semi-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. Matt is appreciated by his friends as a passionate student of aquatic and riparian ecosystems having spent over 20 years working as an engineer/geomorphologist specializing in stream and river restoration. In another past life, he was also a regular 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
position - Data Manager & Spey Nerd
Rome, NY
I have worked for BSA from Day 1 of the Trout Shop Era back in 2016.
My parents have been fly fishing SW MT since before I was born. They introduced me to it and I couldn't be more thankful.
My work for BSA doesn't really have an off season.
Nothing is on the books, but I'd like to get back to the Bahamas again someday. It's been too long. As far as a place I've never been that is on the list, I'd have to say northern Canada - Nunavut or the NW Territories.
I'm usually working on a couple of books or magazines. Right now I'm digesting the super detailed MAYFLIES: An Angler's Study of Trout Water Ephemeroptera by Knopp & Cormier, and casually reading another of Carl Hiaasen's classics.
Definitely not the product data manager for a fly shop. Hahaha!
Dad life, tying flies, writing, gardening, deer hunting, and skiing.