From Lake Erie to the Gallatin: A Conversation with Jessica Suvak

You came to fly fishing from ultra running and climbing. What actually hooked you?
I was already deep into the outdoors when I spotted some guys fly fishing while I was out on a training run. I was starting to burn out on running, and it just looked like another incredible way to be outside. I took my first course at Orvis Westlake with Steve Brugger and Jimmy Mucci, and that was it. I was gone. Not long after, I met Katie Johnstone and we realized we were basically the only two women in our area trying to figure this thing out. So we decided to build something around it, and Ohio Women on the Fly was born.

You cut your teeth on lake-run fish and toothy critters — how's the transition to trout fishing in Montana been?
Smallmouth, pike, and musky are my absolute favorites, so coming out West, I actually had a tough time catching trout. I'm like, I'm confident that there's fish there — but if they don't want the streamer, I'll find new fish. Back home I was a diehard streamer angler. Out here, I'm getting softer with my age. It's hard to deny that these fish want to eat little bugs. They don't always want to work super hard for it.
I've been nymphing more just to get used to where the fish are sitting. But now that I've been at it a bit longer and I know the water better, I'm getting back to streamer mode. And I'll say this — there's a big hungry brown out there somewhere that's just waiting for my fly to come past its face. I know it.

You're also starting to explore dry fly fishing more. How's that going for someone who loves throwing big meat?
I always joke that's why I'm probably not a great dry fly angler yet — I'm just not a delicate human. I wanna slap a huge fly down on the water. But the art of those tiny patterns is genuinely beautiful, and I'm getting more into it. My partner grew up doing a lot of dry fly fishing in New York and Vermont, so we'll be out on the boat together and it becomes this whole fun back-and-forth. It's a new experience for me that I'm really starting to appreciate. It's just as challenging in its own way.

One of the gals I fish with out here said she basically just ties dubbing and CDC for her dry flies and she catches more fish on those than anything intricate she spends an hour on. And I'm like — if it works, go for it. That's the whole philosophy, right?

Let's talk fly tying. What's your philosophy on it, and why do you do it?
At its core, I think fly tying just makes you a better angler. You pay more attention to what the fish are eating — you're flipping rocks, you're looking at everything, you're observing how things swim and what colors are actually in the water. Then you go home and try to mimic it. It's one more step into the sickness of fly fishing. How far down the rabbit hole can you go?

Beyond that, it's the best decompression at the end of a long day. Some people sit in front of the TV. I put a record on, sit down at the bench, and tie. It's meditative. And now we have three dogs, so sometimes I just lock myself upstairs and it's like — no sound, nobody bothering me. It's perfect.

A lot of new tyers hit a frustration wall early on. How was that for you?

For sure — even just buying all the materials at the start is overwhelming. But you know, mistakes happen, and that's where some of the best stuff comes from. I always tell people in my tying classes: most innovative things started as a mistake. If your fly looks a little funky, still fish it. You might have just invented something. Or you might learn something. Either way, you're not losing.

Do you have an example of a happy accident at the bench that actually worked?

Oh, absolutely. Way back when I was tying a zonker and ran out of materials — no time to get to the shop, so I just threw in whatever I had. We ended up calling it Dreamboat Annie, after the Heart song, because that's what was playing. Just a zonker-style fly with a wild bead head and the most random rabbit strip colors you can imagine. Fished it the next day and it absolutely crushed. My friends and I still tie it. It's nothing special on paper — but it works, and it has a special place in my heart.

Speaking of confidence in flies — do you think that actually matters on the water?

One hundred percent. If you're confident in a fly, you fish it harder, better, and it stays in the water longer. A fly in the water catches more fish than one that's not — that's just a fact. When I first got into musky fishing, someone told me: if a musky's hungry enough and you put it in front of its face, it'll eat. So make something you're confident enough to throw all day long.

A heavy, waterlogged sock of a fly that I can't cast properly? I'm not confident in it. But give me something lightweight that I can throw all day — I'm making my presentations, I'm dialed in, I'm catching more fish. Confidence in your fly directly affects how you fish it.

Tell us about Brendan Ruch's Nut Job. What's the story behind it and what does it fish like?

[Editor's note: You can find Brendan Ruch's full Nut Job tying recipe and materials list here. It's tied with Fulling Mill hooks and materials that we carry — details below.]

It's basically a cheaper, more accessible version of a leggy streamer — legs, two hooks, and a weighted bead. My biggest pike ever came off a fly mimicking this pattern. It's a great pre-spawn tie for smallmouth and pike, but honestly it crosses over into a lot of fisheries. Brendan, the fly's creator, can tell you more about the design decisions, but the short version is: it's simple, it swims great, and fish eat it.

You've transitioned from tying big streamer stuff to trout patterns. Does the skillset transfer?

Some of it absolutely does — understanding movement, materials, profile, proportion. But sitting down to tie a size 18 nymph after years of five-inch predator flies is genuinely humbling. I remember sitting down one day and thinking, what do trout actually eat? I had to do real research — looking at what local tiers were doing, studying the hatches. The principles carry over, but you scale everything way down and you have to retrain your hands and your patience. I still find myself tying one nymph and immediately wanting to switch to something more interesting.

Talk to us about community building — you've dedicated a serious amount of energy to it.

My whole life I was in team sports, through college and beyond, and when I graduated I suddenly missed that sense of being part of something. I started a group called Green Girl before fly fishing was even in the picture — just an outdoor recreation group to get more women outside in Ohio. The lifelong friendships that came out of that alone were insane. Women who are now going out solo, planning their own trips, hosting events years later.

Then I met Katie Johnstone, we both got into fly fishing at the same time, and we were basically the only two women in our circle trying to figure it out. So we started a Facebook page and organized meetups at Mohican State Park — it's a beautiful spot, stocked river, easy access, safe for everyone. It just grew and grew. Watching people from that community go on to become guides and work at fly shops — that's the whole point, right there.

Here's what I always say: people think community building is so much work, and it is, but it's also the minimum amount of work for the return you get. With Girl Talk Live, I'm giving an hour a month to feature a woman who doesn't always get the spotlight in this industry — and it's making a real difference. One hour. That's it. The impact is disproportionate to the effort, and I think that's underestimated by a lot of people.

What is Girl Talk Live, and where can people find it?

Girl Talk Live is an Instagram Live show I host once or twice a month, typically on Monday evenings around 6pm Mountain Time. Each guest picks a time around her schedule, so it varies a little, but I'm pretty transparent about when things are happening — just follow @girltalk_live and you'll know.

The format is simple: I bring on a woman from somewhere in the fly fishing world — a guide, a tier, someone doing interesting things in her fishery — and we tie flies in real time and just talk. The whole session stays up on the page so you can rewatch it. We're also looking at clips and potentially a YouTube channel down the line.

I try to spotlight patterns that don't circulate widely online — guests bring flies from their specific home waters that actually work, and we end up having these great conversations about cross-species applications. A carp fly that would make a killer striper fly. That kind of thing. It keeps it fresh and it keeps people learning.

I didn't even know this was going to become something. It started as a way to stay connected with my friends through a Montana winter, and it just kept growing. Flylords Mag picked it up in their Women on the Water series, which was a really cool moment. I'm just riding the wave and seeing where it goes.

Final word — any advice for someone sitting on the fence about getting into fly fishing or fly tying?

Just go. Reach out to every fly shop, every angler. Reach out to me. The worst anyone can say is no, and then you move to the next person. You're going to look like an idiot sometimes — I do all the time. But you make mistakes, you get better, you make a ton of friends along the way.

Know that fly shop owners genuinely want you to walk through the door. We're in an age where people want you in there. So just walk in.

Follow Jess on Instagram at @jessicasuvak and catch Girl Talk Live at @girltalk_live, typically twice a month on Monday evenings. Full Nut Job tying recipe and materials here.