Episode 176: Mike Dawes - The Permit Game

Mike Dawes has spent more than three decades chasing fish across the globe, building a life around the places, people, and experiences that make fly fishing far more than a sport. Raised in a family steeped in the tradition, Mike caught his first trout on a fly at just five years old. His grandfather helped establish the legendary Deep Water Cay Bonefishing Club in the Bahamas, introducing Mike early to the world of saltwater fly fishing and planting the seeds for a lifetime of exploration. After earning his MBA, Mike traded the conventional career path for a life in the fishing business. He joined WorldCast Anglers in Jackson Hole in 2001, eventually becoming its president and helping build its reputation as a premier outfitter and international fishing-travel operation. Today, he is the managing partner of Westbank Anglers in Jackson, Wyoming. Though he fishes for everything from trout to exotic tropical species, permit have become his great obsession. Mike has won the Del Brown Permit Tournament and captured the March Merkin twice — an extraordinary record in one of fly fishing’s most demanding pursuits. His travels have taken him from the flats of Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas to the remote waters of St. Brandon’s Atoll in the Indian Ocean, where he has pursued Indo-Pacific permit and other remarkable species. Beyond the fishing, Mike is deeply committed to conservation and protecting the watersheds that sustain the sport. Through his podcast, Permit to Think, he explores the people, experiences, and unexpected lessons that emerge from a life spent traveling the world with a fly rod in hand.