New Year’s resolutions can be lame. Intentions for lifestyle, fitness, diet, or personal development are important, maybe even healthy, but usually not enjoyable. This year, instead of traditional resolutions, everyone at Skwala HQ decided to set 2026 fishing goals. They might not make us stronger, leaner, or more successful, but they’ll be a lot more fun to track than calories and mileage.
We invite you to do the same. Send us an email, join us on social, and share your 2026 fishing goals. We’ll update you at the end of the year on what we achieved and what remains on the list.
Kevin Sloan—Founder/CEO
A couple years ago, I took my first trip to the Amazon Basin for golden dorado and pacu. Goal number one for '26 is to go back and specifically target big peacock bass. I spent years fishing the California Delta for striped bass and big largemouth, and I’ve always been curious to see how peacocks compare to those other species. I know they’re not related, but they’re all called “bass” for a reason—they’re big, aggressive predators that smash flies and baits on the surface.
I’ve been a steelhead junkie my whole adult life, and have been lucky enough to swing flies on most of the great steelhead rivers in the West. Almost every year for the past two decades, I’ve made a pilgrimage up to British Columbia. This year, I’m going to force myself to branch out and fish at least two new steelhead rivers, even if it means I can’t spend as much time in the fisheries I know and love.
The past few years, I’ve had some amazing fishing in some incredible places, but I’ve been neglecting my “lawnmowing” spots—the places where you can sneak away for a couple hours with a three-weight, a fistful of flies, and some floatant in your pocket. My third goal this year is to get reacquainted with intimate home waters.
Ryan Cantrell—Operations (aka the guy who makes everything run)
Goal number one is simple—fish more. Fish more around home, on the road, with friends, with family, fish more alone, just spend more time on the water with a fly rod in my hand, period.
Second, I really want to get better at spotting fish and sight casting. The past couple years, I’ve discovered saltwater fly fishing and learned how different casting is when trying to identify, track, and aim at a target. Which end is the tail? Which is the head? Where do I need to cast in order to put the fly in front of that fish? It’s one thing to learn how to gather that information, it’s a whole other thing to teach your arm how to execute that cast, especially while walking a beach or a flat.
Third, I want to continue getting my nephew out on the water with me. Two years ago, I took him to Rock Creek where he caught his first trout on a fly rod. Last year, I took him to the Texas coast where he got to pull on his first redfish. I don’t exactly know what we’ll do together this year, but I am already looking forward to seeing and sharing his new angler enthusiasm again.
Rich Hohne—Brand + Marketing
Number one, I’m planning to join Miles on a Kiwi backcountry trip. Calling New Zealand special feels cliched—incredible landscape, big trout, you know the deal—but going back holds specific resonance and meaning for me. I last visited in 2017, and shared one of my favorite places on the planet to fish with my brother just a few years before he passed away. I’m pumped to get back there, experience a new part of the country, and spend a few days backpacking with friends.
I also want to spend more time exploring closer to home. My second goal for 2026 is to do more overnight fishing trips—multi-day floats, and backpacking missions in the mountains of Montana. With the Madison, Gallatin, Yellowstone, Big Hole, Beaverhead, and Missouri all within a couple hours' drive from home (not to mention other, less well-known rivers, creeks, and streams), it’s easy to follow the day-trip path of least resistance. This year, however, I’m going to put in the work to plan and execute multi-day adventures. Day trips are fantastic, but they usually just leave time to focus on fishing. Overnight trips let you slow down and expand your experience, listen to the river, absorb the sunset, stare at the stars.
Finally, I want to chase muskies with a fly rod again. I have history with those fish but haven’t grinded through hours slinging a 10-inch fly on a 10-weight in years. We’ve got some great friends at fly shops in the Midwest, and this year I’m going to finally take them up on their invite to come out and exhaust my casting arm in search of muskellunge.
Miles Nolte—Storytelling + Brand Development
I’ll start with the easy one. There’s a river on the North Island of New Zealand (where I live) that I’ve wanted to fish for years. More than once, I’ve heard it referred to as “the best trout river in New Zealand” by people qualified to make such a grandiose statement. Access is difficult. You can either hike for two weeks over the top of a mountain range just to reach the river or finagle dates with the only helicopter company that has permits there. This year, I scored a prime season invite on a heli trip.
Goal number two is to take my seven-year-old fishing more often. Here’s a confession. I love fishing, and I love hanging out with my kid, but I don’t love taking my kid fishing. I’m selfish about my fishing time. After nearly two decades as a guide, I'm over untangling other people’s leaders and tying their knots. Fishing is my time, and I don’t get nearly as much of it as I would like. But, since I want my child to develop his own relationship with fly fishing, I know need to suck it up and take him with me more often.
My third goal is to land a kingfish (aka yellowtail) on fly. I’ve come so close—missed eats, broken leaders, hyper-aggressive stingrays (that’s a whole other story)—but never brought one to hand. It'll be a stretch. Spare time is a luxury I currently lack, but if I can carve out a few days to camp on a particular beach and fish every good tide from dawn to dusk, I should be able to get it done.
Scott Batista—Media, Marketing, and Customer Service
I moved to Bozeman to take a job at Skwala more than a year ago now, and while I’ve sampled many of the local fisheries and gotten pretty familiar with the lower Yellowstone River, there’s so much more water to fish! My first goal overlaps with both Rich and Kevin: fish more locally in general, and get into the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park in particular, because I love backpacking and catching cutthroat on dries.
Like many other fly anglers, I might have a permit problem. This year, I’m heading back down to Florida to feed that monkey. Goal number two is to land both a permit and a tarpon in the Keys.
Goal number three is to catch a billfish on the fly. I don’t really care which flavor of billfish, but later this month I’m going to Cabo San Lucas, and I hope to see something big put a serious bend in a 14-weight.
Are you starting the year with a list of fishing goals? If so, shoot us an email and tell us what they are. We’ll update everyone at the end of the year about our successes and failures, and would love to know how you did on your list as well.