Eddie Pinkston - Member, Fly Fishing Team USA 2008

Eddie Pinkston grew up in Asheville, NC in the heart of some of the best trout fishing in the southeast.

At the age of 17 he was guiding fly fishermen for the local Orvis dealership. A year later when he was only 18, Eddie won the Western North Carolina Big Trout Contest, with a 6lbs. 2 oz. wild brown that was taken on a white wulff during a Coffin Fly spinnerfall. First prize was an Orvis Battenkill bamboo rod and Hardy reel – a pretty good outfit for a kid in those days.

In 1976 Eddie won a third place bronze pin in the Annual Field & Stream fly fishing contest with a 9lbs. 12oz. Wild brown taken from the Davison River. The next year he spent the entire summer camped on the Letort Spring Run in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

His interest in competitive fishing was fired upon viewing the Jackson Hole World Championship on television. Entering the first OLN Fly Fishing Masters, Eddie won first place in the Southeast Division and competed in the finals on Depuys Creek in Montana. Over the years he has fished most of the great trout rivers in the U.S., along the Chimehuin, Malleo, Traful and Alumine in Argentina.

After attending the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Western Carolina University, he has working for 30 years in his family’s printing business, Golf Associates, Inc.

He was selected to be a member of the 2005 Fly Fishing Team USA after competing in the Bend, Oregon Trials. Eddie’s goal is to help bring the team to the forefront of international competitions.