On the water with Kayla Lockhart

Born and raised in Minnesota, Kayla Lockhart found fly fishing in her early 20s before eventually heading West and building a life around the water. Now based in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, Kayla is a fly fishing teacher, guide, community leader and outdoor ambassador whose work has taken her from local rivers to saltwater flats and plenty of places in between.

Along the way, fly fishing has become a way for Kayla to connect people with the outdoors, help newcomers find their footing and give back to a community that has given her so much.

Now also an official ExpertVoice Ambassador, we caught up with Kayla to talk about finding fly fishing, lowering barriers to the sport and the mindset she hopes more anglers bring to the water.

Kayla first picked up a fly rod nearly 15 years ago, during a period when she was looking for somewhere to put her energy.

Kayla describes herself as someone who tends to obsess when she finds something new, and fly fishing offered nearly endless room to explore.

A fly shop back home in Minnesota, Bob Mitchell’s, helped her turn interest into a newfound passion for the sport. Kayla enrolled in a months-long course that broke fly fishing into individual lessons covering insects, rivers, casting and the other pieces that eventually come together on the water.

Years later, Kayla found another side of fly fishing through The Mayfly Project, a nonprofit that mentors children in foster care through fly fishing.

Working with young anglers through the program gave Kayla a chance to combine the sport she had become obsessed with and the experience of helping someone else discover it.

From there came clinics, women’s trips, guiding and more opportunities to introduce people to the water. Kayla began focusing on something she remembered from her own early experience: How much easier learning can feel when someone is willing to share what they know.

During her time as a Redington ambassador, the brand’s Find Your Water campaign captured an idea she still believes in: Anglers can find opportunities almost anywhere.

Kayla has chased plenty of species herself, including carp and saltwater fish. If she had to choose one fish to pursue for the rest of her life, she says it might even be redfish.

Her broader point? There’s no “right way” to determine what kind of fly angler someone wants to become. That could mean years spent refining casts and chasing increasingly difficult fish on blue-ribbon streams. It could also mean carrying a rod on a backpacking trip, making a few short casts to an alpine cutthroat and calling it a great afternoon.

ExpertVoice has given Kayla another way to explore equipment and share what she learns. She originally discovered the platform through fellow guides around 2019. Since then, she’s found herself answering questions from other outdoor professionals, including a growing number of women who are entering fly fishing for the first time.

One ExpertVoice find has become especially important during Kayla’s travels: her Garmin inReach.

Nearly 15 years after she first started learning about bugs, rivers and casting back in Minnesota, Kayla still approaches fly fishing with the same sense of curiosity. And these days, she’s often helping someone else begin their own journey.