Jim Hickey - Member, Fly Fishing Team USA

Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Jim Hickey grew up fishing the rivers, streams, ponds and lakes of Virginia and North Carolina with his parents and younger brother – from the Shenandoah Valley to the Smokey Mountains. Jim graduated from the Collegiate School in Richmond and then attended Hampden-Sydney College, where he graduated with a BA in English in 1993. During both high school and college, Jim fly fished for trout as well as large and smallmouth bass and other freshwater, warm water species.

After college, Jim moved to Lander, Wyoming and began his instructing and guiding career in the Wind River Mountain Range. Jim and his wife Jenny owned and operated their own fly-fishing guide service for five years, hosting and guiding trips to Virginia, Wyoming, and Patagonia, Chile. In 2001 Jim and Jenny moved to Jackson Hole, and Jim joined WorldCast Anglers Ltd., where he continues to guide and instruct.

The World Championship will not be Jim’s first fly-fishing competition. In 2001 with fellow US Team member Pete Erickson, the WorldCast Angler Team won the 2001 ESPN Team Fly Fishing Challenge. Jim also won the “Largest Trout Award” in the 2004 Jackson Hole One Fly. Also in 2004, Jim won the silver medal in the fly fishing competition at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

While Jim has fished competitively on many occasions, the US Team and the World Championship will be a new and exciting experience. Jim says that he looks forward to the opportunity to fish with the US Team and represent the United States at the 2005 World Championship in Sweden.