Jim Andras grew up amongst the cactus, rattlesnakes, and sun of the Arizona desert. Fishing entered his life through a spinning rod and a carp but not until the sound of running water and the sight of rising trout did it fill his soul. At ten years old, he was obsessed. He burned through the pages written by the masters, practiced blood knots with twine, and cast in the family pool. It only got worse with a driver's license and an old Chevy. Yearly trips to Lees Ferry and Colorado became frequent trips to anywhere and everywhere.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rachel Andras has a gift for turning first impressions into lasting ones with everyone she meets. Rachel’s mom recognized how her young daughter would light up a room full of relatives or relative strangers and acted on it. Before long, advertising executives discovered her and Rachel found herself in front of the camera for nationally televised commercials and promotional films. Between shoots, her older brothers would alternate treating her to facials with sweaty gym socks and taking her fishing at the local pond.
Tom Derry lives on a steelhead river: literally. Those who know him might argue that the river does not merely run through his property but more appropriately, through his soul. Tom, a Portland, Oregon native, understands steelhead both as an angler and a conservationist like few others. Since 1989, he has spent a month or more annually exploring British Columbia systems and knows virtually everything on the map. At home, Tom fishes the central part of the state to the North Coast and also works as the Development Director for the Native Fish Society. Since 2005, he has served as a voice for wild steelhead/salmon, played an integral part in recovering winter steelhead on the Molalla River, and taken the organization’s River Steward Program to fifty participants in the Northwest.
