Carter Andrews Featured on the "Fly Fisherman Loop to Loop" Podcast
DENVER (June 9, 2026) – On the latest episode (#32) of the Fly Fisherman Loop to Loop podcast, Ross Purnell, Editor/Publisher of Fly Fisherman Magazine, sits down with world-renowned angler, Carter Andrews, the longtime host of The Obsession of Carter Andrews who also happens to be launching a new, more in-depth, hour-long version of his obsession called Gone Fishing with Carter Andrews – coming soon to the Outdoor Channel! For this podcast episode, Purnell is Andrews' guest at his home office and farm near Vero Beach, Florida, and the timing couldn't be better, because Andrews also was welcoming the American Saltwater Guides Association to his farm for the weekend as they held their annual Lefty Kreh Tie Fest event and fundraiser.
Andrews grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and he got an early start fishing conventional tackle for bass on local waters, but his family had a cabin at Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and that's where he discovered the joys of catching trout on a fly rod. Andrews and family made the move to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in the late 1980s, and he called that area his home for more than three decades. Andrews made a reputation for himself in the Western fly fishing scene as a fisherman and guide for giant trout, and he went on to win the prestigious Jackson Hole One Fly several times and later became a key member of the U.S. Fly Fishing Team (now Fly Fishing Team USA). The travel related to competitive fishing introduced Andrews to the world of saltwater angling, first in the Bahamas, then to Panama, and eventually to destinations all around the globe.
What's immediately clear is that, given his incredible experience fishing and guiding and filming around the world – most recently in the Galapagos Islands – Carter Andrews has an abiding respect for angling of all kinds, and for fish of all kinds, whether gamefish or otherwise.
"You, know, as long as we talk about that, and you talk about Rocky Mountain trout fishing, which is near and dear to me," started Carter Andrews, "I lived 32 years in Jackson Hole. Guided for Jack Dennis. Jeff Currier gave me my first job in fishing," Andrews continued [getting emotional], "and that's why I'm here today. I got to hang out with some of the best… Imagine, I lived there in 1988 and got to see Jackson Hole, where I was fishing with… I traveled the show circuit with Jeff [Currier], Jack Dennis, Mike Lawson and Gary LaFontaine – founder of The Traveling Fly Fishermen. And so that was what I got to cut my teeth on. It was just exceptional."
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"I watched the South Fork of the Snake go from – it's still probably one of the greatest trout fisheries in the country, and it has so much pressure it's unbelieveable – but I was there when they built the new boat ramp at the access there at South Fork Lodge…that went from a parking lot that maybe took 20 trailers to a parking lot that now…takes 150 boats. But, I'm going to tell you that in the beginning, we started fishing that river – and there were plenty of people who fished it before me – but the average size fish, the average, was a solid 18 inches. Yes, you did catch 16s and 14s, but there were so many good fish that you very rarely caught fish smaller, and on any given day you could catch a half-dozen or a dozen fish in that 19-22 inch range."
"The average fish on the river right now is 14 inches, maybe," continued Andrews. "Yes, you do catch your 18s and 20s and bigger ones, but we're talking about the days of 40 and 50 fish a day, dry fly fishing – it was one of the greatest dry fly rivers; it's now a lot of nymphing – but that impact on the fishery, I believe, is truly due to the amount of anglers, and I want everybody out there enjoying it, but it's the amount of anglers and the mortality on those fish – mishandling."
"Every 18-inch fish wants to get a picture of it," Andrews added, "every one of them. Even a guide properly holding it, maybe the net under it, it drops in the bottom of the boat – shit happens! – it flops around, yes, you get it back in the water. I've done it myself. But, I just think we go back to fish handling, fish respect and all those things."
"And I don't know what the real answer is," Andrews admitted. "Just be as careful as you can whenever you can, because we've got more people fishing than ever before, we have better equipment, we have more advanced technology and we're, from a conventional side of things, we're blistering fish at a pace that we've never touched before. And I think you have more and more people enjoying fly fishing…probably the most conservative group of fishing there is and primarily advocating catch-and-release and everything like that, but we still want to, because of social media and everything…to [make sure] a big part of it is a good release."
"I'm a strong advocate for wild trout. I mean, I certainly get native trout, but we as man have [messed up] so many different things that if a species is there and existing really well as a wild trout, just let it be, just let it be, because we have already messed up," Andrews pled. "I mean the South Fork of the Snake is a prime example. They're trying to get all of the rainbows out of the South Fork. Well, they've already bastardized the cutthroat that's in that river so bad. That's not the original Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat. That's not the same cutthroat. Yes, some of them are, but that's not the same cutthroat that's in the river up above. It was the same river, but they put the Palisades Reservoir in the middle. Those aren't the same trout. They want to classify Yellowstone Cutthroat and the Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat as the same fish. They don't even look the same. They don't even stay in the same water. They don't cohabit. Nothing is the same about them, yet they say they're the same species. So that cutthroat has been so bastardized, and they're trying to get rid of the rainbows.
"Here are a couple things to think about," Andrews continued, "and I'm not saying it doesn't change a little bit, but in general, cutthroat are tributary spawners. They go up the creeks. Those rainbows, they're all spawning in the river. You can go see the colonies of rainbows spawning. They're not spawning in the same places those cutthroats are… Everywhere else, rainbow trout are prized. There's a river that runs into the South Fork of the Snake River, runs into it just about 60 miles below the dam. It's called the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. The Henry's Fork is Idaho's prized trophy rainbow trout fishery. So, you've got two rivers that come together…one of them they're protecting the rainbows and the other they're killing the rainbows. Now, there's a real good reason to have a true native trout fishery, but the stuff that we're talking about is [different], with the added pressure that the South Fork experiences with the load of boats that are out there and everything else – manage it as a trout fishery. These are all my opinions," Andrews finished "and everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but make that [trout fishing] experience even better."
"It was such a pleasure to visit with Carter Andrews," said Purnell. "So many of the places where he has fished are on my bucket list, and I cannot wait to watch his new program, Gone Fishing with Carter Andrews, premiering Monday, July 6, at 9 p.m. ET on Outdoor Channel. Fans can expect to see more of his obsession, not only for great fishing but for the people and places that make those great fishing experiences possible."
Available on Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, and at FlyFisherman.com the latest episode of Fly Fisherman Loop to Loop podcast is a must-listen for fly fishing enthusiasts of all levels who want to stay informed.
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