Brant Oswald

I grew up in southern Idaho and was given my first fly rod around age 10. A lot of my early fly fishing involved dragging a Woolly Worm behind a float tube on local desert reservoirs.

I started tying flies commercially in my teens, and after discovering Silver Creek, I became fascinated with hatches, imitative flies and technical angling on spring creeks.

Brant Tying Bugs in a Bug
Silver Creek, Idaho, circa 1977

I left Idaho to pursue two degrees in linguistics at the University of Oregon, but I abandoned an academic career in 1983 to become director of Orvis’ fishing school program in San Francisco.

In 1985, I left Orvis to join Mel Krieger as co-director of Mel’s school program and sales manager for Club Pacific, a fly fishing travel service.

I left the Bay Area in 1987, and after an extended fishing vacation, settled in Livingston, Montana with my wife Pauline.

I have worked in nearly every segment of the fly fishing industry: As a fishing school instructor/director (for both Orvis and the Mel Krieger school program), fishing travel consultant, fly shop manager, commercial fly tier, casting instructor, and now as a guide and outfitter in Livingston, Montana. As a guide, I spend most of my days with clients on the Paradise Valley spring creeks (ArmstrongDePuy’s, and Nelson’s) and the Yellowstone River.

I have written extensively (if intermittently) for fly fishing periodicals as a columnist for both The Angler’s Journal and Wild Trout Journal, and I have been a contributor to Big Sky Journal, Fly Fishing Retailer, Rod & Reel, and Wild on the Fly, as well as Tight Loop and Flyfisher, both Japanese fly fishing magazines. I have contributed regularly online, particularly at Midcurrent.com.

Over the years, I have been active with conservation groups, including CalTrout, the Joe Brooks (Livingston, Montana) Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and the Park County Environmental Council. I also served on the Governor’s Upper Yellowstone River Task Force from 1997 to 2003. I currently serve as president of the board of directors of the Invasive Species Action Network.

On a professional level, I was a long-time board member of the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana, and I now serve as the senior advisor to the FOAM board. I was also a founder of Guiding for the Future, a program that provides advanced training in watershed stewardship and conservation to fishing guides and outfitters.

My other interests include cooking, photography, traditional bowhunting, and bird hunting with my Labradors.


I have had the good fortune to have worked with literally hundreds of fly fishing and casting teachers, both here and abroad.  Brant, a good friend, is absolutely one of the best, in knowledge, communication skills and his unusual ability to empathize with learners.” 
– the late Mel Krieger