About Jeff

Jeff Bright moved to the west coast from Ohio in 1988 to pursue musical aspirations and other California dreams. He began fishing the steelhead rivers of Northern California in 1993, gravitating to the art and craft of flyfishing soon afterward. En route he soaked up stacks of flyfishing literature, from classic works to reports of the day addressing fisheries conservation. Jeff began documenting his outings on film with a simple but sturdy 35mm automatic camera and, through his graphic design studio, became involved with numerous organizations active in efforts to protect and restore the state’s wild steelhead and their environs. From these relationships and a dawning awareness of “what had been lost,” a conservation consciousness was born. And, simultaneously, through the camera’s lens, a pathway for creatively directing that consciousness was uncovered.

In 2002, Jeff published Found in a River: Steelhead & Other Revelations (Frank Amato Publications). Using photo-montage and sparse prose, the book chronicled the beginnings of a flyfishing passion and eventually opened the door to destinations further afield. In 2003, Jeff made his first visit to northwest British Columbia’s famous Skeena River and by the end of 2005 had become a booking agent for Nicholas Dean Lodge in Terrace, hub of the lower Skeena Valley. As of this writing, between March 2003 and May 2010, Jeff has logged over 36 weeks in the Skeena region, experiencing all seasons, as well as three summer weeks on BC’s Dean River, considered by many to be the crown jewel of summer-run steelhead rivers.

In summary, Jeff Bright is a steelhead flyfisher committed to the celebration, pursuit and conservation of the sea-run rainbow trout, wherever it swims. In support of those activities, Jeff is a writer, photographer, graphic designer and flyfishing travel host. His published works include the afrementioned Found in a River, magazine articles in Chasing Silver, The Contemporary Sportsman, Fish & Fly, Southwest Fly Fishing and Salmon Trout Steelheader. His photography has appeared in galleries and periodicals including Catch Magazine, American Angler, Fly Fishing Life and on numerous covers of California Fly Fisher. Fine art prints of Jeff’s photographic works are owned and displayed by collectors of angling art throughout the Pacific Northwest and can frequently be seen as auction and raffle items serving fundraising events and campaigns for fish-focused non-profits from Alaska to Southern California. Jeff's design clients include Wild Steelhead Coalition, California Trout, Friends of Trinity River, Smith River Alliance, California Coastal Conservancy and California Hydropower Reform Coalition. He is an agent and host for Nicholas Dean Lodge on the Skeena River in Terrace, hosts a week each summer at Blackwell’s Dean River Lodge, both destinations in British Columbia, and resides in San Francisco with his wife Clair.

Moving forward, Jeff’s goals are to: 1) continue to fish, photograph and write about the world’s great steelhead rivers, 2) become better acquainted with and a better advocate for the Pacific Northwest’s wild steelhead and salmon and their rivers, and 3) in the long term, galvanize support for an International Sea-Run Society, an organization whose mission is to promote coastal river and anadromous fisheries protection and restoration through education, awareness and appreciation campaigns, as well as unique travel programs.

For more, read the interview with Jeff published in the December 2005 issue of California Fly Fisher magazine. Click here (PDF).