John Yousko

“Snook are the toughest fish I’ve ever fished for from the beach,” he admitted. “Roosters and tarpon — you can chase them down the beach and sometimes take multiple shots at them. But these guys (snook) are very camouflaged and sometimes all you see is their lateral line. That lateral line is so sensitive that they feel the vibration of you
walking or running on the beach. That sounds crazy, but you see one swimming down the beach, you take one or two steps, and they head for deep water. So you just have to wait and be patient, let one swim to you, get super low and cast.”

If you’re thinking that the rep life sounds like a slam dunk and you’re about to call SIMMS to see how you can get on the bandwagon, realize that Yousko makes some serious sacrifices to live the angling lifestyle he so enjoys.

“Being on the road all the time is the worst part about being a rep,” Yousko said. “I’m not in Bozeman very often so I don’t get to fish the local waters that I really like. Sometimes I’m on the road 25 days a month. That can be tough on friendships and relationships.”

While Yousko wouldn’t mind being home more often, he’s not about to give up a gig he loves. And besides, he wouldn’t know what to do aside from the rep life.

“I’ve been a rep for 18 years,” Yousko said. “If I didn’t do this I would just fish, to be honest with you. I’d be unemployed. I wouldn’t mind writing, and I like being super-creative, but I despise the actual task of writing. It feels like I’m in college and I have to write a paper. Way too much pressure. I drive around all the time and I think and I have so many good ideas, but once I try to write about one of them I say, ‘This is painful.’

“The best thing about being a rep is getting to fish,” Yousko added. “I travel and get to fish so many cool places and I meet so many awesome people. I have an independent lifestyle and I fish a lot of water that other people don’t get to. That’s the awesome part.”

When I interviewed Yousko in October, he was prepping for a two-month long trip to British Columbia to fish for oversized steelhead. You could say, that’s Yousko’s favorite place in the world to fish.

“I think if I could only fish one more place in my life, that’s where I’d go,” Yousko stated.
“No question. I’d go to B.C. for steelhead. That’s where my friends are right now. That’s where my heart is. The fall colors are out. There’s snow on the mountains. I just got off the Clearwater River (ID) and I didn’t touch a fish in three days. Yea, British Columbia for steelhead is what I would do.”