Jonathan Heames

Jonathan began his journey along the banks of the Henry’s Fork river at the age of 13, spending summers in Island Park with his best friend’s family. The river and its surrounding landscape captivated him and he moved to West Yellowstone at 17. He began to guide fishing as soon as he was old enough, getting his start with Bob Jacklin out of West Yellowstone, for whom he worked 10 years. He then worked for Trouthunter and guided for Rich Paini and Jon Stiehl until 2017 when, along with two partners, he purchased Bud Lilly’s Fly Shop and re-christened it Big Sky Anglers. Jonathan is now the primary outfitter for Big Sky Anglers and still guides 60-70 days a year on home waters because he loves to share this area flyfishing with others.

For the past 20 years, he has spent part of the winter guiding anglers in Chilean Patagonia and co-managing a flyfishing lodge with his wife, their two boys in tow. Now that he has minimized his time guiding in Patagonia, he hopes to reinvest in and give back to the Henry’s Fork, the river that has given him so much as an angler, guide, person, and father. He hopes his experiences and perspectives will allow him to be of use to this work and he looks forward to learning even more about this incredible river.