Featured Angler: Ellen Bogucki - From the Colorado Rockies to Global Conservation in Fly Fishing
- The Fly Box LLC
- Mar 18, 2025
- 4 min read
This interview was conducted by The Fly Box and featured in Casts That Care, our charity-driven fly fishing newsletter.
Casts That Care brings you in-depth stories, expert insights, and the best of the fly fishing community. Our content is always ad-free, never sponsored, and dedicated to providing unique, high-quality information.
Subscribe today and use promo code: "Fish4Change" at checkout for 15% off and we'll donate 25% MORE to charity for exclusive interviews, insider tips, and to support fly fishing charities with every subscription—50% of all subscription fees go directly to a different fly fishing charity each month!
Fly fishing has a way of shaping lives, and for Ellen Bogucki, it’s been a lifelong journey that started in the streams of Colorado and led her to the world of conservation through Fish for Change. From her early days exploring the Arkansas River with her dad to leading students in Honduras, Ellen’s story is a testament to the power of fly fishing as a tool for connection, exploration, and environmental responsibility.
Growing Up on the Water
Ellen was born in San Francisco, but her family moved to Colorado, partly so her father could fly fish—a decision that would shape her love for the sport. While she grew up watching him fish, it wasn’t until high school that she seriously picked up a rod herself and fell in love with it. Living in Lakewood, Colorado, she had easy access to some of the best fly fishing waters in the country, including the Frying Pan and the Arkansas River.
“The Arkansas is my personal favorite. I think it has the best brown trout ever,” Ellen shared, speaking about the legendary Colorado fishery that boasts record-sized browns. Her early years were spent wading small streams before gradually venturing into larger rivers like the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan, exploring the state's vast fisheries.
From Colorado to Montana: Adapting to Big Water
Now living in Bozeman, Montana, Ellen has had to adjust to a whole new style of fly fishing. Montana’s waters, like the Gallatin, Madison, and Missouri Rivers, are big, powerful, and often best fished from a drift boat—a stark contrast to the smaller wadeable creeks of her youth.
“When I first got here, I stepped into the Gallatin and just thought, ‘I don’t even know what to do.’ You see people floating by in drift boats catching fish left and right, and it changes everything.”
Despite the shift in fishing styles, Ellen has embraced the challenge, seeking out hidden wadeable spots where she can still find solitude and wild fish. The Montana fly fishing culture, while welcoming, has its own unspoken rules—like the unwritten code of secrecy, where anglers blur out backgrounds in photos and keep their best fishing holes under wraps.
Fishing Philosophy: Adaptability Over Purism
When it comes to fly fishing techniques, Ellen is anything but a purist. “I’ll do whatever catches fish,” she laughed. While she loves dry fly fishing, she prefers dry-dropper rigs, finding them the most logical approach. “If they don’t eat this, then they’ve got something else right underneath,” she explained.
She also doesn’t shy away from nymph rigs and believes in using what works. “Some people dog on worms, but if you’re gonna throw one, this is the time.”
Her first setup? A Redington Butter Stick for small water and she likes her Redington Trailblazer 9’ 5wt for everyday fishing, paired with an Orvis Battenkill reel—a budget-friendly setup that proves you don’t need the most expensive gear to catch fish.
Fish for Change: A Life-Changing Experience
Ellen’s passion for fly fishing goes beyond personal enjoyment—it’s deeply tied to her work with Fish for Change, a nonprofit dedicated to using fly fishing as a vehicle for education, conservation, and community impact.
She first learned about Fish for Change at the Denver Fly Show, where she met the program director. After a few years of waiting for the right moment, Ellen finally joined a student program in Guanaja, Honduras, in 2023. “It absolutely rocked my world and changed my life,” she said.
Now, Ellen serves as Fish for Change’s social media intern, helping to tell the organization’s story while continuing to travel back to Honduras to participate in and help lead programs. The experience has given her a global perspective on fly fishing and conservation, reinforcing her belief in exploration, education, conservation, and community—the organization’s four pillars.
Building a More Sustainable Fly Fishing Culture
When asked about her broader initiatives within fly fishing, Ellen emphasized the importance of conversation and conservation.
“In today’s world, those are the two biggest things anglers should focus on—talking to people who aren’t like us and making sure we don’t leave the rivers worse than when we came.”
She believes that anglers need to take an active role in sustainable fishing, whether through habitat restoration, or simply leading by example. Her time in Honduras has shown her firsthand how fly fishing can be a force for good, helping local communities and protecting ecosystems through programs like mangrove restoration, lionfish removal, and coral rehabilitation.
Final Thoughts
Ellen Bogucki represents the next generation of fly anglers—passionate about the sport, conservation, and building a community that lasts. From the rivers of Colorado to the flats of Honduras, her journey is proof that fly fishing is about more than just catching fish—it’s about connecting with the water, the environment, and the people around you.
As she continues her work with Fish for Change, Ellen is inspiring young anglers to look beyond the cast and see the bigger picture. Whether she’s exploring new waters in Montana, teaching students in Honduras, or simply sharing her adventures, she’s proving that fly fishing can be a vehicle for meaningful change in the world.
Follow Ellen’s journey and learn more about Fish for Change: 🌎 Website: www.fishforchange.org 📸 Instagram: @fishforchange
This interview was conducted by The Fly Box and featured in Casts That Care, our charity-driven fly fishing newsletter.
Casts That Care brings you in-depth stories, expert insights, and the best of the fly fishing community. Our content is always ad-free, never sponsored, and dedicated to providing unique, high-quality information.
Subscribe today and use promo code: "Fish4Change" at checkout for 15% off and we'll donate 25% MORE to charity for exclusive interviews, insider tips, and to support fly fishing charities with every subscription—50% of all subscription fees go directly to a different fly fishing charity each month!
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