Fly Tying Area

I am the owner of Panther City Flies, a brand I started in 2022, based out of Fort Worth, Texas. I learned to fish from my dad who competed in bass tournaments frequently, alot of inspiration for my flies come from conventional bass lures. I am a board member of the FFI Fort Worth chapter as Fly Tying Director. When I’m not tying flies or fishing, I am a full-time professional chef. 

Pat started fly fishing at around age 10 with a Martin glass rod and model 62 reel from a kit found at an  S&H Green Stamps store, and his passion for fly fishing has grown exponentially from there. He caught his first fish on the fly, a big redbreast sunfish, on Turtle Creek in Kerrville, on that rig and still has it today. Pat has been fly fishing Texas rivers for over 35 years, and over those years, he’s learned, mostly the hard way, by spending countless hours on the water, how to successfully find and catch our Texas warm water species on a fly. Currently when not guiding, fishing, hunting, or tying flies, (or unfortunately at his regular job) he’s at home near Crawford with his wife and 18 year old triplets. He served as past treasurer and president of the The Waco Fly Fishing Club for several years. Pat enjoys sharing his knowledge of fly fishing and tying with others and teaching this great sport both on the water and off, having made many presentations to fly clubs and fly shops over the years, Pat has also been involved in teaching basic fly fishing and tying skills to college students as well as Scout troops from central Texas. Since 2016, he has been operating his own guide service, Bosque Valley Fly Fishing, guiding fly fishers on the rivers of central Texas and tying custom fly orders.

Katie Cowen is the current president of Texas Women Fly Fishers.  She grew up on the Texas coast in the Brownsville and Port Isabel area, and has fished all her life, but switched to fly fishing 6 years ago. Katie has earned a silver medal award for fly tying from FFI, and has been tying flies for 5 years. She ties everything from size 26 trout flies to larger articulated 2/0 and 3/0 flies, but primarily focuses on bass and carp flies that work well in Texas waters.

Chris is the owner and founder of Living Waters Fly Fishing, a fly shop and guide service based out of Round Rock, Texas. He has guided the Texas Hill Country for nearly two decades, and has fly fished the heart of the Lone Star State for over 25 years. In addition to guiding his home state, Chris has been a licensed fly fishing guide in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alaska. Chris is a FFI Certified Casting Instructor, Umpqua Signature Fly Designer, Tenkara USA Guide, and TPWD Angler Educator Area Chief. He is also a pro team member for Whiting Farms, Scott Fly Rods, Dyna-King Vises, and Scientific Anglers.

Chris is dedicated to sharing his passion for the sport and investing in the next generation of fly anglers. He often is a featured presenter and fly tier at fly fishing, outdoor, and community events throughout Texas and beyond.

Chris and his shop have also been featured in several outdoor publications including Trout magazine, Garden and Gun, and Tenkara Magazine. He was also awarded the 2014 Man of the Year from the FFI Texas Council and in the same year, Living Waters was the recipient of the FFI’s prestigious Lee Wulff Award.

In addition to fly fishing, Chris is passionate about fisheries conservation. He co-produced the short film “Unspoken,” to raise awareness for Rio Grande Cutthroat trout conservation. As a result, Living Waters is working with Trout Unlimited as a Gold Level endorsed TU Business to restore Rio Grande Cutthroat throughout their native range. Chris serves as the current State Council Chair for Texas Trout Unlimited and is the Conservation Chair for Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited as well. He is also a part of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the Rio Grande Cutthroat Conservation Team. Chris also serves as a member of the current Texas Freshwater Fisheries Advisory Committee and the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.

Chris is happily married to his wife Emily and together they enjoy fly fishing the world and raising their children in the sport.

Chase Smith is a commercial fly designer who lives in the heart of the Texas Hill Country with his wife and two kids. He ties and sells hundreds of flies through his online store, www.fishchaseflies.com, and designs fly patterns for Montana Fly Company and Blane Chocklett’s Chocklett Factory. Probably best known for tying complicated bass flies like GameChangers and for designing the Spiral Spook topwater fly, Chase also avidly pursues a wide variety of saltwater and freshwater species across Texas. His flies have been published in a variety of fly fishing magazines and have fooled trophy fish across the world. 

My fly fishing passion began the summer I turned eight. Papa bought me a bamboo fly rod and reel setup at our local five-and-dime store. As a kid, I spent summers with him and my Merna in southeastern Oklahoma, and going to the five-and-dime in the early ’60s was my weekly treat. I had spotted these “fancy cane poles” and was determined to save my summer chores money to get one. My Papa’s gift turned into a lifelong passion.

I spent each summer while growing up at their home, doing my chores quickly so he would drop me off at one of our local rivers—the Mountain Fork, Glover, or Little. His only request was that I bring home dinner for us.

As with most everyone, college, marriage, family, and career took precedence, and the pure joy of fly fishing was put on the back burner until my 40s. Owning and running your own business can be very stressful, to say the least. One by one, our kids were leaving for college, careers, and families of their own.

I had missed the pure joy of tying a fly, taking my rod out on a river, and fooling a fish into taking it. So I bought a glass rod and a few supplies for tying to see if I still had it in me. That tug—the one that brings goosebumps—every serious fly angler has it or has felt it, and I had found it again.

My wife and I were starting to contemplate retirement around that time, so we began traveling all over the USA and Canada—me fly fishing and her training for triathlons.

We had always loved the pure, clean, clear, cold water of mountainous terrain but wanted to be close enough to our kids and grandkids. Broken Bow and the Mountain Fork River trout fishery is so beautiful, and the climate here is almost perfect year-round. Not too hot, not too cold—just right.

We purchased our beautiful retirement property in 2012 and began to build. We were blessed to have been able to “retire” in 2015.

I started Beavers Bend Fly Fishing Guide Service, thinking I would guide when I wanted to, but this quickly grew to more than I could handle alone. We have been blessed with excellent, experienced guides who joined our team. In 2022, we started renovating an old cabin on our property for a fly shop. Finally, in late 2024, we opened Broken Bow Fly Shop.

Our shop includes a state-of-the-art wader and boot drying and storage room, a bunk room for our guides, a hickory slab tying bench, and a showroom.

Our shop specializes in flies tied specifically for the Mountain Fork River, along with general flies. We have six full-time professional guides and two apprentices. We can outfit and guide any size group in the beautiful Mountain Fork River.