Jon Covich

My name is Jon Covich, and I am the founder and owner of World Fly. I have spent more than thirty-five years in and around the fly fishing industry, working in several different capacities along the way.

Long before fly fishing became such an important part of my life, I had already developed a love for travel. During my college years, I took my first extended international trip and spent fifteen months backpacking through Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

That trip shaped the direction of my life. I worked on a kibbutz, floated down the Nile in a felucca, was thrown off a train by guards at the border between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and formed lifelong friendships with people I met along the way. More than anything, the experience taught me how meaningful travel can be. From that point forward, exploring new places, cultures, and experiences became an important part of who I am.

After university, while working an office job at Nordstrom, I became increasingly obsessed with fly fishing. Nearly every weekend and day off was spent exploring rivers and lakes throughout the Pacific Northwest. It quickly became clear that the corporate world was not where I wanted to be, so I left and went to work behind the counter at Kaufmann’s Streamborn in downtown Seattle.

During my time at Kaufmann’s, I met many of the sales representatives who called on our shop and others throughout the region. Watching what they did, I began to think it was a career I could pursue myself. That eventually led me into the tackle business as a manufacturer’s representative.

It was also while working in the fly shop that I took my first international fly fishing trip—to the Bahamas. Belize followed, then New Zealand, Cuba, Argentina, and Chile. My interest in photography, which had begun during my travels through Europe, naturally became part of these fishing adventures as well. I almost always had a camera with me.

Over time, I developed a reputation not only as a photographer, but also as someone with extensive experience traveling the world in pursuit of fish on the fly.

About fifteen years ago, I was approached by one of the established fly fishing travel agencies and eventually went to work with them as a representative. I called on fly shops and began hosting trips to destinations around the world.

I quickly developed a particular passion for saltwater flats and remote jungle fisheries. Over many years and many trips, I gained firsthand experience in destinations such as Cuba, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, and beyond.

About five years ago, I decided to start World Fly.

The goal was not simply to create another fly fishing travel agency. I wanted to build something different—something based on firsthand knowledge, trusted relationships, professionally hosted trips, and a genuine understanding of the places we send people.

World Fly grew out of a lifetime spent traveling, fishing, photographing, exploring, and building relationships around the world. That experience continues to shape how we approach every destination and every trip we offer.

Backpacking on Crete with friends

Why World Fly?

During my years working with fly shops, later with a fly fishing travel agency, and simply watching how hosted trips were promoted, I began to notice a common pattern.

In many cases, a host can travel for free if they bring enough paying guests to a lodge. It is easy to understand the appeal. Someone who loves fly fishing suddenly has an opportunity to travel to an incredible destination and pursue the fish they have always dreamed about. In many ways, I started out the same way. I was working for a fly shop, earning a fly shop salary, and certainly did not have the means to travel the world on my own.

Over time, though, my role as a host changed.

After repeatedly traveling to the same places, I began to develop real expertise in certain destinations. Cuba is one of the best examples. If my math is correct, I have now traveled there thirty-six times. Colombia became another. Rather than simply showing up with a group, I made a point of learning the destinations as thoroughly as I could.

I learned to speak Spanish. I built relationships with local people who could help our guests better understand the culture and history of the places we were visiting. I fished different regions and fisheries myself, so when someone asked which destination might be best for them, I could answer from firsthand experience rather than from a brochure or someone else's description.

Eventually, guests began telling me that having an experienced host made a meaningful difference in their trip. They felt looked after. They learned things about the country and the fishery that they might not have discovered otherwise. Most importantly, they felt that the trip they had spent their hard-earned money on was handled professionally from beginning to end.

That feedback made me realize something was often missing from the idea of a “hosted” fishing trip.

Sometimes a host may know little more about the destination than the guests traveling with them. For some anglers, that is perfectly fine. But I believed there was an opportunity to build a different kind of travel company—one focused on destinations we know extremely well and where the host brings genuine value to the experience.

That became the foundation of World Fly.

We concentrate on a limited number of fly fishing destinations around the world. We want to know the fisheries, the lodges, the guides, the travel logistics, and the people on the ground. Whenever possible, we want to speak the language and understand the culture. Most of all, we want our experience to make the trip better for the people traveling with us.

We are not trying to be everything to everyone.

We would rather offer fewer destinations and know them exceptionally well than sell trips to places we barely know. Our goal is simple: to provide professionally hosted fly fishing travel that feels organized, personal, informed, and worth the investment.

If our guests return home satisfied, confident that they were well taken care of, and ready to recommend World Fly to their friends, then we have done our job.

“Jon, thanks for everything you did.  It would not have been anywhere near the same trip if you did not set up things for us.  It was flawless really.”

-Bryan Sohl