NOTE: I penned this piece for Big Sky Journal last year. Thought all of you might enjoy the read, too. And thanks to Travis Lowe for the image and video. Check out more of Lowe’s work at Spring Creek Film.

Adam Trina got it like most of us get it, only his “What are you going to do with your life?” moment came from a client he was guiding on Montana’s Smith River, not from his family back in Ohio. That happened in 1991 and Trina’s answer to that client’s question didn’t suffice. Trina, who’s now 38 and the owner of Columbia Falls-based Montana Fly Company, told the man, “I’m just going to guide during summers and tie some flies and ski during winter. That client, however, had spent much of the 1980s in Costa Rica and thought the region was ripe for a fly-tying factory. And he thought Trina was the guy to spearhead such an effort. So he posed the question. By 1998 Trina had investors and a business plan in hand and moved from Montana to Costa Rica to oversee the new operation, which grew quickly to employ Continue reading →