Akasha Bopp: Hosted Travel Manager & Guide

Join us every Sunday for our 'Meet the Staff' Series

When did you start fly fishing? It has been a  few years ... hard to remember that far back into history. 

What or who got you started? My dad took me fishing as a young kid. Fly fishing was just a natural progression in my fishing addiction.

Favourite place in Alberta to fish? Anywhere that I am fishing with friends and family.

What’s your favourite fish to target? The one that isn't too smart - it is my only hope to catch anything.

If you could fish anywhere on the planet for a week (and money was no object) where would you go fishing and why? Tanzania for Tigerfish. I was there as a kid but missed the opportunity to fish for that amazing species. 

Top 3 fish on your bucket list? Tigerfish, GT, Milkfish.

What’s your Top 5 Go To Flies on the Bow? Don't really have any. Every year my favorite flies change. 

Go To 5 Weight Rod? The one in my hand as I cast to a sipping fish. 

Favourite Fly Line? The one that that is perfectly matched to the rod I am using and the conditions that I am fishing in.

Would You Rather: Strip a Streamer or Swing a Streamer? Strip a streamer.

Would You Rather: Dead Drift a Dry Fly or Skate a Dry Fly? Skate a dry fly.

Most Embarrassing Fishing Story? I dropped anchor so that some guests could fish a pod of sipping fish from shore. We all moved upstream and away from the boat to get into position to cast. A jetboat came ripping down the river making waves, clouding up the water, and putting the fish down. After waiting a few minutes it became obvious that the fish were not going to start feeding again. We turned to go back to the boat and it wasn't there. I knew immediately what happened. The waves of the jet boat had dislodged the anchor and the boat had floated into deeper water where the anchor wasn't touching. Of course panic set in. I scanned everywhere and luckily saw the boat across a channel floating down the bank. Luckily I was able to swim to the boat and get it back to the clients. For the rest of the day I was affectionately called Shamu, Willy and any other whale name that the clients could come up with and asked if my anchor was down every time we stopped.