Meet Mike Lawson

Mike Lawson was born and raised in southeastern Idaho. He has fished the local trout streams, and especially the Henry's Fork, all of his life. He attended Sugar Salem High School in Sugar City, Idaho and received a B.S. from Brigham Young University in 1970. After college, he taught school at South Fremont Junior High in St. Anthony for six years. During those summers he ran a survey crew for the Forest Service in Island Park and fished the Henry's Fork in his spare time. Later, he and his wife Sheralee started tying flies commercially. They tied for Cal Gates' Au Sable Lodge in Grayling, Michigan and for many of the shops in the Yellowstone area. In addition to tying flies, Mike also worked as a fishing guide for Jim Danskin in West Yellowstone. In 1977, Mike and Sheralee opened Henry's Fork Anglers in Last Chance, Idaho. The shop is a full service fly fishing specialty shop and sells the finest in flies, tackle and outdoor clothing. The shop employs a staff of about 15 guides who take guided fly fishing trips on the waters of Idaho, Montana and Yellowstone Park.

Mike's fly fishing experience is not limited to the Yellowstone region. He has fly fished all over the world and has led trips to Alaska, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Christmas Island, Mexico, Belize and the Florida Keys. In addition to his travels, he has written articles on fly fishing for several magazines including Fly Fisherman, Fly Fishing for Trout, the Fly Fisher, Trout Magazine and the American Angler. His photographs have also appeared in many of these publications and he has been featured on many of their covers. Mike is a staff writer for Southeast Idaho Hunting and Fishing Magazine and he is currently writing his first book entitled, Spring Creeks. He has also contributed to several books on fly tying, fly fishing, wild turkey hunting and upland bird hunting. Mike is also featured in several fly fishing videos including: Tying Western Dry Flies with Mike Lawson and Jack Dennis, Tying and Fishing Caddisflies with Gary LaFontaine and Jack Dennis and Fishing the Golden Ring by Gordon Eastman. His latest video Tying Flies for Spring Creeks and Tailwaters, was released in 1998.

During the off season he conducts slide programs and seminars at fly fishing clubs and fly shops throughout the country. Mike has also teamed with Jack Dennis and Gary LaFontaine to form the Traveling Fly Fisherman. This group has appeared throughout the U.S. and Canada presenting two-day seminars on fly tying and fly fishing. Mike is a member of the Sage Advisory Team and has been a contract fly tier for Umpqua Feather Merchants since 1979. His flies can be found in almost every specialty fly shop and fly fishing mail order catalog.

In addition to fly fishing, Mike enjoys most outdoor sports, especially bird hunting. He loves turkey hunting as much as fly fishing and has hunted the wary birds extensively throughout the west and Midwest.

Mike and Sheralee have a beautiful home overlooking the Henry's Fork in St. Anthony, Idaho. They have two sons, Shaun and Chris and one daughter, Jeanette. They also have two grandsons, Beau and Tanner.