Growing up outside New York City, Karlin didn’t take the typical path into fly fishing. His early forays were anything but conventional; hopping chain-link fences to chase largemouth bass in golf course ponds and casting for bluegill in roadside drainage ditches, always keeping one eye on his back cast and the other on Route 1 traffic. From those modest beginnings, Karlin has fished his way through the mountains of West Virginia, explored nearly every corner of Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes and the historic waters of New York’s Catskills. Eventually, his adventurous spirit took him to Alaska, where he once fished the Kenai for 24 hours straight. He then traded his fly rod for a giant net during a season of commercial sockeye fishing in Bristol Bay, a wild experience that proved both humbling and profitable.
For the past 13 years, Karlin has called Teton Valley home, guiding clients with equal parts wisdom and wit. He believes a day on the water; especially one filled with laughter, learning, and a few trout; can be medicine for the soul. When he’s not guiding, Karlin is a devoted husband, father to two fish-obsessed kids, an ordained Presbyterian minister, and a licensed mental health counselor. Whether he’s helping a client land their first trout or listening to a streamside life story, Karlin brings patience, presence, and just the right amount of sarcasm to every day on the water.