About Me

I started tying flies commercially back in high school — a small fishing shop in Bogotá would take everything I could make, though it was never really about the money. I'd trade my flies for materials, hooks, and gear, just to keep fishing.

I grew up chasing trout, sabaleta and tilapia but the day I first cast a fly in jungle waters, something changed. First Silver Dorado then In 1999, I landed my first 20-lb Payara — and that fish taught me more about fly design than any book could. Back then, there was almost no literature on this kind of jungle fly fishing. You figured it out on the water, fly by fly, fish by fish. Peacock bass came next, and then other jungle species, each one demanding its own patterns and its own approach.

Guiding happened almost by accident. People wanted to come see what I was doing in the jungle, and somewhere in that process, I found myself tying commercially again — not just for myself, but for the anglers I was guiding.

For years I lived a double life: a corporate job during the week, the river on my mind the whole time. I sold flies here and there, but it was always on the side. Around 2015, Orinoco Flies was born — named for the river basin where I was spending most of my time on the water each season. By 2017, it wasn't a side project anymore. I quit my job and went all in.

I'm a biologist by training, and that's shaped everything about how I tie. I'm as interested in ichthyology, fish behavior, and conservation as I am in the cast itself. Every handmade fly in this catalog has been tested by me, on the water, before it ever reaches you.

Since 2017, Orinoco Flies has stood for one thing: flies that hold up, cast after cast. Today, beyond tying, I also host groups at jungle fishing destinations across Colombia and other countries.