April Vokey
Photo by Jeremy Koreski
April Vokey began fishing as a toddler. By the sixth grade she was saving her allowance for weekend visits to the local tackle shop where she eventually stocked her ‘hand-me-down’ Plano box with every lure and bait she could afford.
After discovering a passion for fly fishing in her late teens, April soon dedicated her entire life to the pursuit. She began her guiding career on the Fraser and Harrison rivers for sturgeon and salmon, but left after several season to found her own guiding operation, Fly Gal Ventures, in 2007 at age 24. The company was built on the basis of the promotion of education and encouragement to those who looked to chase their dreams. She has since established herself as a respected authority in the sport and has traveled the globe in pursuit of gamefish on a fly rod.
Her writing has appeared in numerous industry leading publications including Fly Fisherman, Fly Rod & Reel, and Fly Fusion magazines. In July 2012, April became the first fly angler to be featured in Outside magazine for their “XX-Factor” segment.
Also a popular TV personality, April has been featured on the Outdoor Channel’s Buccaneers and Bones series, 60 Minutes Sports, The Steve Harvey show, Discovery Channel’s Refined, Discovery’s/OLN’s Close Up Kings, and WFN’s Fly Nation TV.
Most recently, Vokey proudly wrote and hosted her own exclusive series, ShoreLines with April Vokey, as shown on the World Fishing Network. The series focuses on fly-fishing’s rich history and the people it consists of. Feeling limited by airtime, she has since branched out with her podcast, Anchored with April Vokey, an uncensored series dedicated to archiving the stories and personalities from some of fly-fishing’s most influential people. The show is one of the only fishing podcasts solely recorded in a face to face environment where April ensures to ask questions apart from the norm.
She now resides in Canada for six months of the year, and in Australia for the other six. Her dog, Colby, travels with her between countries, keeping her safe from grizzlies and kangaroos alike.
She is a FFF certified casting instructor, a fly-tying instructor, an active conservationist, traveling speaker and an eternal student of life and love.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beauty. Balance. Brutality.
3 things Nature taught you?
How small I really am.
That every day on this planet is a gift.
That predatory animals are more ruthless than an ethical human hunter/angler could ever be.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
BC’s north-west
Australia’s north-west coast
New Zealand’s South Island west-coast
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humbled
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Complete
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Intimidated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Thankful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Invigorated
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Eager to bunker down
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was around seven years old my parents took me to a nearby river. A large, chrome chinook salmon lay dead and washed up on the rocks. It hadn’t spawned yet, but had died from a head injury during its migration. My parents explained salmon and their lifecycles. It was an invaluable lesson. In that moment, I learned: how complex BC’s eco-systems are, how the inevitable death of the salmon had a bigger reward in the end, and that I could catch these enormous creatures if I just waited for them to enter the river. From there I became an angler.
